Smart Water Metering in Malta: 20+ Years of Demand Management

The mission

The Mediterranean Island of Malta is an archipelago confronted with unique resource challenges. Welcoming 1.8 million tourists per year more than quadruples its population, making this small country one of the world’s most densely populated. The absence of rivers or lakes on the island also makes it among the 10 poorest in terms of natural water resources per head.

The island’s public water utility, Water Services Corporation (WSC), sought to control water consumption, while improving network efficiency, increasing billing accuracy and charging its customers fair prices.

Over 20 years of smart water metering performance in Malta | SUEZ

Credit: SUEZ group

The solution

Water Services Corporation has 320,000 smart water meters for its 520,000 inhabitants.

Using 169 MHz, the long-range radio transmission bandwidth from Wize, which is designated for such use by the E.U. 220 receivers from across the entire 316 km2 network with SUEZ ON’connect™ smart metering technology, the Maltese Island collects data and delivers it via a dedicated IT system for processing. Access to hourly readings enables the monitoring of water consumption, allowing for the rapid detection of abnormal consumption and leaks at any time.

The network’s reliability is robust, with the Wize infrastructure achieving reception levels exceeding 97% and a gateway uptime of 98%.

The results

The infrastructure has achieved several strategic goals, including increased customer satisfaction and engagement, improved commercial cycle efficiencies, improved network management, proactive demand management and better environmental performance.

By leveraging real-time data to instantly detect leaks and abnormal consumption, the utility has successfully slashed Non-Revenue Water (NRW) from 45% down to 22%.

Smart water meter efficiencies now provide Malta’s residents with accurate readings and bills, enabling the Water Services Corporation to improve its total annual cash-flow.