Water Metering

Case Study

ELSTER HELPS ANGLIAN WATER TO REDUCE ITS CARBON FOOTPRINTThe east of England is predominantly low-lying, rural and one of the driest areas in the UK, receiving only around 600 millimetres or rainfall per annum

“ With world-class design and manufacturing facilities based in the UK, we can see major benefits in being able to work with Elster. We can influence them in terms of designing products to meet our future needs and Elster can support us with a high volume supply of water meters, ”Paul Glass, Project Manager for Anglian Water

Sustainable water supply Mitigating and adapting to climate change, Anglian Water’s goal is

to deliver a reliable supply of clean, safe drinking water and effective

wastewater services at an affordable price. Anglian Water’s strategic

plan up to 2035 pledges approximately £1 billion of investment for

adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. Alongside

the significant commitment it has made in the climate change charter,

extending domestic metering has been a major means by which Anglian

Water has managed customer demand for water. More than 65 per

cent of supplies to residential households are currently metered.

By 2035, it aims to have all water supplies to customer

properties metered, except where not practical.

Working in partnershipElster has been supplying domestic meters to Anglian Water since it

was privatised in 1989. To date, most have been manually-read meters

that are typically installed within the customer’s premises or externally

in a boundary box. More recently, Anglian Water elected Elster to supply

up to 300,000 V210 volumetric polymer water meters for all new-

build, replacement and refurbishment projects. These polymer meters

have a plastic body and have been developed by Elster to significantly

reduce their environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.

According to an independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Elster’s

polymer water meters have a carbon footprint of approximately one-third

of their older brass-body counterparts. They also comply with the latest

EU and other regional standards and are the first polymer water meters

to achieve compliance with the UK Water Industry Specification (WIS)

4-32-19. This makes them suitable for all installations – including

land which may be contaminated or at risk of future contamination.

In addition, over 98 per cent of the polymer meter can be recycled into

Grade 3 plastic products for building, gardening and agricultural uses.

The Challenge

The region has been assessed by the UK’s Environment Agency as one of ‘serious water stress’.

In response, it has set ten goals backed by more than 100 commitments and measures – the climate change charter – under which it aims to:

• Become the most water-efficient region in the UK

• Be innovative and develop more sustainable ways of working

• Encourage employees and customers to take action on climate change

• Embed climate change mitigation and adaptation into decision-making processes

“We work closely with suppliers to not only get the best value, but also

to help achieve joint goals such as reducing carbon footprints,” says

Simon Davies Supply Chain Professional for Anglian Water. “With

world-class design and manufacturing facilities based in the UK,

we can see major benefits in being able to work with Elster. We can

influence them in terms of designing products to meet our future

needs and Elster can support us with a high volume supply of water

meters,” says Paul Glass, project manager for Anglian Water.

The long-term relationship between Elster and Anglian Water has

delivered a variety of tailored metering solutions. These include

unique low-weight packaging, a checking digit system that links

the meter being installed to the customer account, the change

of the colour of the seal on the polymer meters to blue making

it easy to check the seal’s integrity in dark environments.

Delivering benefits across the supply chainWorking closely with Elster has enabled Anglian Water to lower

its carbon footprint throughout the supply chain. With Anglian

Water’s focus on reducing embodied carbon for example,

Elster calculates that there was a saving of over 500 tonnes

of embedded carbon throughout the supply chain in 2011.

“ A large contributor to this improvement is the halving of product weight, dramatically reducing carbon emissions during transport and the reduction in manufacturing energy use by investment in state-of-the-art energy efficient equipment...”“ Working closely in long term

partnerships, with companies such as Anglian Water means that we are able to help them to reduce their carbon emissions when distributing water meters to their depots.”Perry Shead, Channel Marketing Manager

For more informationwww.elstermetering.com

Elster Water Metering Ltd 130 Camford Way

Sundon Park, Luton

Bedfordshire LU3 3AN

United Kingdom

T +44 1582 846400

F +44 1582 564728

water.metering@elster.com

All rights reserved. This is a promotional document only. The company’s policy is one of continuous product improvement and the right is reserved to modify the specifications contained herein without notice. These products have been manufactured with current technology and in accordance with the applicable referenced standards.

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