A Seoul city official displays frozen water meters that broke due to the cold weather at a water management office in Seoul’s Jongno Ward on Jan. 7, 2021, as the country is gripped by a cold spell. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government is introducing remote checks for water meters in across the city using Internet of Things (IoT)technology.
The city government said Tuesday it will replace some 660,000 water meters, which is equivalent to 30 percent of all 2.22 million water meters in the Seoul region, with devices that can be checked remotely by the year 2030.
The bimonthly staff visits to each household for water meter checks will now be replaced with constant, smart remote checks.
A smart remote check system uses a digital water meter and a remote check device to transmit water meter data through IoT system.
It allows for contactless checks, as well as hourly monitoring of water usage, enabling systematic, scientific management of water, the city said.
Prior to the wider introduction of the new remote check system, the city had already replaced some 70,000 water meters with remote devices as of April.
Some 2.09 million water meters, which are equivalent to 94 percent of all 2.22 million water meters in the Seoul region, currently depend on bimonthly checks by city employees.
With the smart remote check system, checks on each water meter will jump from six times to 8,760 times per year, regardless of the weather conditions or other environmental factors.
Real-time monitoring of water usage can also be used to determine possible emergency situations in vulnerable households, the city said.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
