When you manage a property or run a large business, there is a tendency to get desensitized to utility bills, especially water bills. Part of the reason for this is that the bill arrives as one lump sum for all of your water use for the facility, so it’s hard to isolate where the water is used or how you might control it. Without any obvious way to determine how much water is being used on your property and by whom, paying the bill is about all you can do. Water submetering systems can change all that.
What is a Submetering System
Most businesses, apartment buildings and college campuses, known as single entities, use a single utility meter for each utility (water, gas, electricity, etc.). At best, they may have a larger complex or campus broken into a couple of zones. A submetering system breaks the usage down further, providing meters for each unit of a multi-family dwelling or each area of a business. The best submetering systems are linked through radio controllers, allowing remote monitoring and allowing a whole host of different reporting capabilities.
Submetering Systems for Landlords
For people who rent dwellings to tenants, the question of water bills and other utilities is kind of a sticky issue. Since there is usually just a single meter for the property, the landlord must usually divide the total utility cost by the number of units on the property and charge each tenant one share of the total cost, either explicitly or as a built in cost of rent. Water submetering systems give much more accountability.
With a water submetering system, each tenant’s water usage can be tracked, allowing them to be billed for actual water use. This makes it fairer, as some people use much more water than others. It also provides a way to detect when there is a water leak or other mechanical problem that drastically affects water use in a particular unit.
Submetering Systems for Businesses
For a business with a large building or several buildings spread across a campus, a submetering system provides an excellent tool for cost-control. If you have different utility processes taking place in different parts of the facility, having them independently monitored lets you see exactly how much each process costs in terms of water usage.
ABT Water Management can provide water meter installation, automated meter reading and other utility management services to make your bottom line better.
