By leveraging Diehl Metering’s water loss management software as part of its data-driven strategy Brønderslev Water Company in Denmark has reduced non-revenue water from 10% to less than 5% When Thorkil Neergarrd became CEO and managing director of Denmark’s Brønderslev Forsyning A/S – the holding company of Brønderslev Water Company (BWC) – back in 2013 he had an ambitious plan: to establish Brønderslev as a Danish standard for digital innovation promoting sustainable development and the conservation of water and energy resources Neergarrd recognised it was necessary to tackle BWC’s growing problem of non-revenue water (NRW) – the water that is lost in the network as a result of leaks meter inaccuracies and other unanticipated events particularly because of the sheer amount of water that BWC is responsible for it supplies around 980,000 cubic metres of water to 16,000 consumers in Brønderslev – all from its 365 km long water network While a typical amount of NRW in Denmark is around 8% if a water company’s annual NRW exceeds 10% then it receives fines from the national authorities With BWC’s NRW regularly exceeding the 10% rate That’s why he took the strategic decision to implement a new digital strategy for water loss management (WLM) so that he could gain full control over the city’s water losses including Diehl Metering’s HYDRUS 2.0 Domestic ultrasonic water meters These are supported by a fixed network infrastructure which includes fixed antennas and extenders that collect meter readings every hour from at least 98% of installations The entire water distribution network was then carefully subdivided into 22 unique district meter areas (DMAs) each of which were equipped with a HYDRUS 2.0 Bulk meter to determine the quantity of water distributed so that the NRW per zone could be established The pipe recording database and the DMAs were digitized Very few water companies in Denmark are leveraging the data that comes from smart meters and even less are applying intelligence to this data This provided a good grounding for the next – and crucial – part of Neergarrd’s strategy: the intelligent use of data While over three-quarters of all meters in Denmark are smart meters most water companies use these purely to automate the meter reading process Very few are leveraging the data that comes from these meters and even fewer are applying intelligence to this data Neergarrd believes that water companies should be far more ambitious He argues that smart metering and the strategic use of meter data may be considered as the most important link in the new digital value chain in the water industry future government mandates and standards for the adoption of intelligent water meters will boost the outlook By infusing artificial intelligence and predictive analytics the location of a leak can be estimated without manual effort or hardware use Neergarrd implemented an advanced data analytics solution for water loss management This geographic information system (GIS) is an online application that combines household meter data with DMA inlet-data from BWC’s supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system 24 hours a day Comprehensive analysis is then carried out on this mix of data which can be supplemented with data from pressure sensors or noise detectors Combining smart meter data with municipal utility internal data allows the continuous measurement of the difference between network input and withdrawal This facilitates the early identification of leaks so that water companies like BWC can react as quickly as possible and keep losses to an absolute minimum That’s not all: as well as identifying the water loss and quantifying the amount of water loss in cubic metres per day automated system also reduces the traditional manual effort involved in the search the complexity of water management can be further reduced The data transmitted from the DMAs already enables the leak to be localized By then infusing artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics the location of the leak can be estimated without manual effort or hardware use the annual savings soon outweigh the costs Perhaps the greatest advantage is that all these functions can be realized automatically data-based tool thus continuously analyses and monitors the condition of the water network and alerts employees to problems – targeted and prioritized While large amounts of data are processed and analysed in the background municipal utilities can focus on what is important: maintaining infrastructure and providing enough high-quality water It’s a very simple way to proactively counter the future of water scarcity and take control of a water network Since implementing its water loss management platform in 2023 since it has largely automated – and thereby expedited – the process of identifying NRW it is benefitting from reduced unsustainable water losses combined with new organizational processes has resulted in it halving its water losses with it dropping its NRW from an annual average of 9-10% between 2017 to 2018 to an average of 4-5% between 2019 and 2023 Smart meters combined with an intelligent water loss management platform have established BWC as a Danish standard for digital innovation As well as flagging new leaks faster and more easily which may have been hidden for several months or even years Every water distribution system across the world has a lot of these small these types of leaks can result in needlessly expensive repair work it is estimated that a daily loss of 24 m³ running for 180 days would cost BWC approximately 2,000 euros BWC has already found and eliminated four such background leaks saving it approximately 8,000 euros to date BWC has also been able to optimise the way it organises its labour With automated and tedious tasks performed by the software technical teams can be more efficient in the field an operational manager and his team can assess the situation of the network – a process that takes just ten minutes thanks to the water loss management platform can be prioritised immediately in the zone indicated by the software It isn’t just BWC that benefits from its advanced water loss management platform Customers now benefit from new services such as instant leak warnings that can prevent significant damage from occurring in their homes BWC was able to warn 235 customers about in-house issues: 160 had leaks with a flow between 5 and 30 litres per hour (l/h) 20 between 100 and 500 l/h and 12 were above 5,000 l/h Automated text messages can be sent to the consumer as soon as the household meter detects an internal leak furniture and other materials and also avoids the growth of mould that can be hazardous to health Detecting leaks in the local area earlier also reduces the extent of damage to roads This means that faster and simpler repairs can be carried out reducing the need for road closures or temporary traffic restrictions – measures that often result in congestion and saving significant sums of money The combined benefits that BWC is realising result in lower overall operational expenditure While the total costs of the domestic smart meters including the antennas and the bulk meters the annual savings from lower annual water losses better technical performance and improved control That’s without considering that providing more value to customers could allow the company to increase its annual subscription fees smart meters combined with an intelligent water loss management platform have enabled Neergaard to realise his vision of establishing Brønderslev as a Danish standard for digital innovation is the foundation of a modern water company and the data can be one of their most important assets CEO of a danish public utility that has halved losses and unbilled water thanks to early leak detection software incorporating the latest developments in AI When the daily work of water network operators is punctuated by emergencies and they are unable to anticipate essential network repair the question arises: how can they regain control?  This webinar will tell the story of Bronderslev Førsyning has halved its water losses and significantly reduced Non-Revenue Water (NRW) After the "10-minute analysis" introduction which offers a new perspective on efficient water management through the introduction of a daily routine with Water Loss Management Software Neergaard will share how he implemented a data-driven water loss strategy and how it is now used by WLM Software By immersing ourselves in the essential functions of the WLM software we will understand how leaks identification time can be reduced to one day the SCADA system and other devices such as acoustic loggers or pressure sensors are given their full added value The user-friendly interface and detailed local map make the software easy to learn and use The return on investment (ROI) of digital leak management will be one of the main points on the agenda Bronderslev Førsyning's experience has enabled us to understand how to make the investment in an Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) profitable by making full use of its data In addition to the organizational improvement made the benefits for the network operator's teams have also been felt by end consumers By fully exploiting the potential of water meter data water utilities can quickly reap the benefits of their investment in an AMI meter reading infrastructure The software interprets the stream of data received in real time into useful information to detect leaks or metering errors faster accurately assess their impact on network operations and Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is any water that is produced but is not billed to the end-consumer The impact of NRW on utilities businesses and the wider world can be extensive ranging from financial and economic to humanitarian and ecological By helping you to reduce non-revenue water network analytics software enables you to cut maintenance costs reduce the economic impact of leaks and networks' incidents and improve customer relations You'll also pave the way for a whole range of new billable services such as automatic alerts to customers or applications to help customers manage their consumption.  A question-and-answer session will close the webinar The audience will be able to put their questions to the speakers live It's a great opportunity for everyone to get the information they need to move forward with their professional projects or simply to gain a better understanding of network analytics solution benefits Join the webinar and register here More about the webinar agenda Diehl Metering is hosting a webinar in collaboration with Smart Water Magazine that delves into the critical challenges faced by water network operators When daily schedules are dictated by emergencies a pressing question emerges: how can operators regain control of their operations What measures can be implemented to reduce water losses especially in times of dwindling resources where every cubic meter lost significantly impacts the operating budget and Following a 10-minute introduction outlining the routine established with Water Loss Management software Thorkil Neergaard will share his insights on a data-driven strategy Drawing from his experience as CEO of Brønderslev Forsyning in Denmark Neergaard will demonstrate how investments in Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) can yield profitability by effectively leveraging data The presentation will also cover the core functions of Water Loss Management and explore upcoming advancements in the field Join us for this free informative session to gain valuable insights and practical strategies for enhancing operational efficiency and minimizing losses in your water network Whether you are an industry professional or simply interested in sustainable water management this webinar promises to deliver essential knowledge and innovative solutions tailored to today's challenges Simultaneous translation available: Translation into any language will be provided to ensure accessibility for all attendees Certificates of attendance: Participants will receive a certificate of attendance after the webinar “10-Minutes Analytics” offers a fresh outlook on efficient water management What does the daily routine mean for a water operator using Water Loss Management (WLM) software Which key performance indicators should be monitored each morning to enhance water network management efficiency will show the attendees an example of how the software is used every day will share his experiences with the software he will delve into the Return on Investment (ROI) of digitized Water Leakage Management His experience in Denmark has equipped him with valuable insights on making investments in Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI) profitable through effective data utilization Maximilian Oberndoerfer will discuss the design process of the Water Loss Management software highlighting the active role our customers played in its development He will also explain how the software continuously incorporates the latest advancements in digital water management There will be a 15-minute interactive space where attendees will be able to ask Maximilian and Thorkil questions The Brønderslev Forsyning A/S holding company is responsible for the district heating and water supply as well as for wastewater treatment of the Danish city of Brønderslev As a pioneer in the field of smart energy Brønderslev Forsyning A/S is implementing a “District Heating of the Future” concept: power and district heating supply is generated in its own combined heat and power unit which is one of the most efficient plants worldwide due to the combination of solar Together with Diehl Metering a comprehensive fixed network solution has been implemented enabling energy-efficient heat production and distribution The innovative fixed network solution provides fully automated data acquisition and intelligent analysis Reduction of average return temperature from 40 °C to 35 °C Energy-efficient heat production and distribution and selective consulting in case of unfavourable heating behavior leads to significant reduction of costs It was not possible to efficiently control the forward and return temperature since the deployed mechanical meters were unable to record data on the current temperature conditions within the distribution network Households with unfavourable heating behaviour This leads to low temperature spreads with high return temperatures and causes extra costs for consumers and utility For lack of integrated communication capability of the old heat meters neither consumption data nor meter alarms could be transferred to the utility Meanwhile the absence of an automated and prompt detection of failure or deviation increased the risk of costly damages to buildings due to leaks or bursting of pipes Within the scope of implementing an innovative fixed network solution a fully automated readout as well as a leak protection was realized by 5,000 SHARKY 775 ultrasonic energy meters in combination with SHARKY FS 473 ultrasonic flow sensors in the return pipes Integrated radio modules provide a fully automatic transmission of the current data In the process the connected flow sensors and meters record and compare the flow rates in the flow and return pipes and transfer their data to permanently installed receivers which transmit the received readout several times per hour to the IZAR software for smart analysis purposes In case of any deviation the energy meter will set off an alarm after 90 seconds From a burst pipe to a dripping heater any problem can be detected quickly and reliably Because IZAR software enables us to perform smart analyses we can better adapt heat generation to our customers’ consumption patterns and notify them of disadvantageous heating patterns This has allowed us to reduce our return temperature from an average of 40 °C to 35 °C resulting in cost savings of € 100,000 per year at the CHP-production plant due to better flue gas cooling and reduced energy losses in the distribution network directly in our ‘District Heating of the Future’ concept Managing Director at Brønderslev Forsyning A/S Thanks to the fully automated readout of ultrasonic energy meters the customer service was improved and incorrectly submitted meter readings were eliminated The reliable and correct billing as well as an energy-efficient heat production and distribution based on the smart analysis of meter data are essential and convincing results For each meter the analysis dashboard of the IZAR PLUS Portal monitors the temperature spread as the difference between the forward and return temperature and unfavourable heating behaviour of households can now be quickly detected and regulated In addition to that households with a suboptimal  heating behaviour can be specifically advised in order to avoid unnecessary heating costs Thereby the smart analysis function of IZAR PLUS Portal provides huge savings for supplier and consumers Furthermore the customers benefit from an improved safety service due to a fully automated monitoring of meter alarms Households can even choose an optional service to be notified directly by a personal leakage alarm via E-Mail or SMS insurance companies acknowledge the safety benefits and offer attractive discounts on their fees of leakage insurances for customers using the smart Diehl Metering infrastructure Overall the enhanced services have led to sustainably increased customer satisfaction You can read here how Brønderslev Forsyning A/S has introduced a pioneering Motivation Tariff using our consumer app IZAR@HOME More information in our Case-Study Brønderslev brochure SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you King Frederik will undertake his first Royal Run since ascending the throne this May and he’ll be joined by Queen Mary and Crown Prince Christian for runs around Denmark The Royal Run website shared the Danish Royal Family’s run schedule earlier this week King Frederik will take part in the Royal Run in Fredericia before joining in runs in Aarhus and Copenhagen/Frederiksberg Queen Mary will participate in the Royal Run in Kalundborg Crown Prince Christian will take the lead on his own run rather than join members of his family for a group race The heir to the throne will run in Brønderslev we greatly appreciate the Royal Couple’s commitment to the Royal Run but the fact that we will now also be joined by the Crown Prince in a new way will be something very special,” said Morten Mølholm Hansen the CEO of the Danish Sports Confederation and the Royal Run Steering Committee Crown Prince Christian will join over 9,000 runners in North Jutland and his participation is being lauded by the Mayor of Brønderslev “It is really great for us that the Crown Prince is coming to Brønderslev to take part in the Royal Run We promise that we will probably have to buckle down to give him a good experience on his first trip out of the country in this way,” said Mayor Mikael Klitgaard in a statement on the Royal Run website Over 95,000 participants will take part in this year’s Royal Run—a new record of participants There are five participating cities: Fredericia (the host city) The Royal Run was founded in 2018 for then-Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th birthday celebrations Brønderslev Forsyning A/S further strengthened its solution by offering consumers the possibility to download IZAR@HOME for free the utility shares insights with consumers about their consumption patterns empowering them to change their habits and save money As well as offering added value to consumers IZAR@HOME simultaneously provides a tool for Brønderslev Forsyning to increase the efficiency of its district heating network the utility defines its own “utility target” that is consistent with its strategy of reducing return temperatures in the network to 30 °C or less This target is visible to consumers in the app and they can track their current average return temperature over the past 12 months Brønderslev Forsyning A/S benefits from new efficiencies in its network operations Consumers can improve their return temperature Motivate consumers to reduce their return temperature with a pioneering pricing model Brønderslev Forsyning A/S introduced a new “motivation tariff” for its customers in 2021 The idea of this tariff is to encourage end users to adopt behavior that positively impacts the operation and overall economy of the heating plant as well as reducing the volume of water pumped through the district heating system consumers who do not sufficiently use the energy of the district heating water and are consequently responsible for high return temperatures in the system have to pay a surcharge on their kWh consumption of 1 % for each degree they surpass the targeted average return temperature of 30 °C As the utility is legally not allowed to make a profit on its new tariff and does not intend to do so it has reduced the base heat price for all consumers Brønderslev Forsyning A/S offers consumers full transparency on their consumption habits and clearly illustrates if their average return temperature is below the 30 °C threshold or not This creates a win-win situation whereby consumers are motivated to change their consumption behavior or optimize their own heating system and thus reduce their heating costs which in turn drives greater efficiency of the district heating network By introducing the motivation tariff and the IZAR@HOME app Brønderslev Forsyning A/S can further reduce the return temperature in its district heating network including reduced heat loss in the distribution network lower costs for pumping district heating water lower consumption of wood chips by the power plant and reduced overall CO2 emissions for greater sustainability this innovative use of IZAR@HOME results in a more efficient district heating network while reducing heating bills and further increasing customer satisfaction Wholly owned by the Danish town of Brønderslev the Brønderslev Forsyning A/S holding company is 100% responsible for the town’s district heating and water supply The Danish utility company has proven to be very interested in innovative solutions and was awarded the 2018 district heating prize by the Danish District Heating Association for its decentralised combined heat and power unit we have implemented a comprehensive fixed network solution for the automated reading of more than 4,600 SHARKY 775 ultrasonic energy meters The intelligent analyses of our IZAR PLUS portal thus enables energy-efficient heat generation and distribution for the town of Brønderslev we can provide additional customer services such as leakage alarm or consulting on unfavourable heating behaviour Read our latest case study and learn more about how the Danish utility company has managed to save €60,000 a year by reducing the average return temperature from 40°C to 37°C You can find more details about this innovative project in the corresponding brochure Case Study Brønderslev Forsyning A/S: District Heating of the Future. Brønderslev Water Company faced a serious increase of its NRW volume succeeded at limiting its water loss to just 5% over the past three years When a series of serious and hard-to-identify leaks quadrupled Brønderslev Water Company’s volume of non-revenue water (NRW) The company’s leadership team turned to Diehl Metering for assistance who helped the firm develop its LEAK365 smart meter technology it has been able to limit its water loss to just 5% over the past three years Brønderslev Water Company (BWC) is wholly responsible for supplying water to the growing population of Brønderslev in Denmark we supply around 980,000 cubic meters of water to 16,000 consumers – all from our 365 km long water network,” said Thorkil Neergaard But maintaining a water network this long – a stretch which includes 140 km in urban areas and 224 km in rural areas – is no easy feat “Non-revenue water (NRW) was becoming a growing problem,” said Neergaard NRW is water that is produced by a utility firm but cannot be billed to the consumer because it is lost – usually as a result of leaks BWC maintained its NRW rate at around 5 – 8% well under the 10% limit enforced by Danish regulators our legislation does not permit leakage of more than 10%,” said Neergaard “Leakages exceeding this limit are subject to pecuniary penalty – each cubic meter lost costs us one euro.” “A series of serious and hard-to-identify leaks raised water losses to around 12% in 2017 and then one month the water loss exceeded 22%,” said Neergaard BWC isn’t alone in its need to address NRW – in fact According to the IWA (International Water Association) NRW represents 346 million m3/day and its financial cost exceeds 39 billion dollars a year a number that represents nearly 50% of the average flow of the Ganges River water is becoming scarcer as the global population increases and climate change makes extreme weather more common Around 1.1 billion people lack access to water and 2.7 billion experience water scarcity at least one month a year two-thirds of the world’s population may be facing water shortages This means the role of utilities is crucial in ensuring water is delivered as efficiently as possible to populations all over the world “We knew we had to change our water loss strategy as a matter of urgency,” Neergaard said “That’s why we set an ambitious target – to limit NRW to just 5% a year.” To meet this target the company realized it needed a better and faster way to identify new leaks in its network we installed new fixed network smart meters – including remote automatic meter reading infrastructure – covering the complete area for the distribution of potable water,” said Neergaard are the basis of an efficient water network The installation of reliable and durable meters and the ability to maintain accuracy over their entire lifetime then water network evaluation cannot be reliable The role of utilities is crucial in ensuring water is delivered as efficiently as possible to populations all over the world “We’d also begun a sectioning scheme to divide the entire water distribution network into unique and well-defined District Metered Areas (DMAs) We decided to ramp up this progress already made BWC began to regain full control over its infrastructure and the associated water losses It did this with the help of Diehl Metering manufacture and supply of smart metering solutions and related services “We saw the potential of Diehl Metering’s water loss management application so decided to use it and build on that to create a solution that would meet our own specific needs,” Neergaard said Combined with data from BWC’s existing supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system LEAK365 automatically compares the delivered volume of water in each DMA against what is sold “The delivered volume is measured at the entrance of the DMA in a bulk inlet meter connected to the SCADA system,” Neergaard said “The sold volume consists of the sum of the meter readings from each household smart meter connected to the specific DMA.” Data collection is based on a reliable and high-performance communication network (AMI - Automatic Metering Infrastructure) connecting meters of the whole water network smart meters send measurements every hour via permanently installed receivers 22 distinct DMAs covering the complete supply area were created we installed a new integrated digitized system which is accessed via a web portal,” Neergaard said We used Diehl Metering’s water loss management application and built on it to create a solution that would meet our specific needs The solution continuously creates ‘X-rays’ of the current leakage situation Real-time data detects and estimates the specific water losses at each DMA 24 hours a day “It is an automatic process with predefined algorithms and analytics which deliver with 100% transparency the performance of the infrastructure,” Neergaard said The new water loss management application reports the latest leakage levels through zone colour indicators in a digital map of the BWC water infrastructure BWC defines green as a performance of 5% or less orange between 5 – 7.5% and red for anything above 7.5% NRW operators can immediately identify anomalies and make informed decisions to rapidly resolve the issue Historical values for each DMA are easily accessible Advanced reports can be created based on a specific period (weekly Several views of the analysed data are possible within the application it is possible to compare two different DMA’s performance during a month in a single graph Anomalies in infrastructures are detected easily As each DMA stands for the total sum of all households it represents an ideal monitoring of the entire supply network from the single inlet to many of the hundreds of household outlet meters The application also facilitates threshold alerts for anomalies in a specific DMA so the team can target their leakage search efforts users can achieve a granular level of insight with access to information on water loss history These features support BWC staff in tracking the progress of the general network efficiency and water balance reporting we have achieved an average stable water loss of between 4.5%-5.9%,” Neergaard said By reducing the complexity of its infrastructure – and its NRW volume too – BWC is experiencing substantial cost savings “We have lower OPEX and improved asset management through rapid identification of leakages reducing unsustainable losses in terms of water repair costs and downtime,” Neergaard said Because meter data is delivered automatically team members no longer need to physically drive to locations to capture meter readings via their mobile devices This means they have more time available to fix problems as they occur – and to prevent them from becoming disastrous Consumers can now utilize daily smart meter readouts to monitor deviating consumption because BWC is aware of a problem as soon as it happens “Consumers face less severe breakdowns in the distribution system and quicker repair of leaks in domestic installations,” said Neergaard we installed a new integrated digitized system which is accessed via a web portal Because water losses within households are identified and stopped immediately which means there is less chance of damage and a reduction in insurance claims the household saves money on both its water and the sewage bill,” said Neergaard “All of this contributes to improved customer satisfaction.” the entire population of Brønderslev is seeing advantages leading to diminished complications in terms of infrastructure,” said Neergaard so there’s less disruption to traffic – and fewer delays as a result.” the team at BWC feel better equipped to meet their environmental objectives and be more sustainable in the long term “We have linked our strategic goal of a maximum water loss of 5% to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation – to demonstrate the sustainable development process and the green transition of the society,” said Neergaard “Reducing water losses means we can protect our natural resource and empower a far more sustainable future.” if the total amount of NRW were reduced by just one-third the savings would be sufficient to supply 800 million people That’s why governments and enforcement agencies are tightening regulations and setting targets that require increasing intervention which can pinpoint problems before they become too expensive and disruptive to fix are obviously key solutions to protect water resources While his success with this project has been impressive he hopes to investigate what’s possible when combining different data sets into even smarter and more integrated digital solutions “To ensure we maintain – and even improve on – the low levels of water loss we have achieved so far securing and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations we look to the new smart possibilities that are continuously being investigated and evaluated,” Neergaard said One way Neergaard and his team hope to achieve this is by monitoring night flow “Data from the SCADA system continuously records the water flow into each DMA and so for each DMA we hope to define a limit for minimum night flow helping us to identify new leaks,” Neergaard said Smart temperatures are another avenue that Neergaard is keen to explore “An example is the use of temperature data from the smart meters to set up a machine learning algorithm to identify and localize new leaks within the DMAs even quicker based on unexpected variances in the water temperature in the distribution network.” “We aim to use semantic modelling for the precise prediction of water consumption,” he said Neergaard believes that the smart use of data can help BWC improve water quality we have been running a water quality monitoring program called ‘Bactiquant’ which measures the total bacteria present in the distribution network,” he said “This knowledge helps us to track and delineate pollution events caused by we believe we can do even more to improve water quality for generations to come.”