Local rivers used to replenish the area’s underground aquifers with drinking water, but previous decades had brought drought – and it was getting worse. In 2022, Vacarisses was mandated by Spanish authorities to initiate supply cuts. This brought a new focus on Vacarisses’s technical challenges, says Pere Casas, 3rd Lieutenant Mayor and a councillor in water management.
THE CHALLENGE
In the mountainous Vacarisses municipality near Barcelona, Spain, the local water utility was challenged with a combination of old technology, drought problems, and leakages coming from unknown parts of the pipe network. As a result, leaks in the pipe network were equivalent to 40% of the total consumption, according to Josep Maria Ortiz Prat, Municipal Energy Manager.
The municipality’s water consumption was monitored via more than 2,900 mechanical meters – most of them 20-30 years old, and in some cases 40. The meters were estimated to have lost between 20% and 100% of their accuracy, according to Josep Maria Ortiz Prat. The pipe network covers 17 towns along more than 100 km (60 miles) of roads. It took the municipality 21 days to read the meters manually.
THE SOLUTION
Two things happened that encouraged action, says Josep Maria Ortiz Prat. First, Spain implemented a ministerial order to upgrade water meters. Second, Catalonia set aside funds to subsidise projects that help to mitigate the drought. “Vacarisses started to work with this and looked for the best way forward. After a market study, we found the flowIQ® smart water meter from Kamstrup.”
RESULTS
- Meter reading time reduced from 21 days to less than 5 hours
- 15% of total water consumption is lost in leakage
- Savings of more than €70,000 per year
– Josep Maria Ortiz Prat, Vacarisses Municipal Energy ManagerBefore, four men could spend three weeks to read all the mechanical water meters. Today, we can do it all in under five hours. We are moving the municipality towards digitalisation.
