The trend toward new-technol-ogy flowmeters is having amajor impact on the waterand wastewater industry.Now that these newer types

of meters are becoming more widelyused in the drinking water industry, theAmerican Water Works Association(AWWA) is developing standards,

according to Paul Olson, standardsengineer for the organization.

Standards for ultrasonic transit timeflowmeters are expected by the end ofthis summer, with standards for mag-netic and Venturi differential pressureflowmeters expected in the second halfof 2004. Standards will involve suchconcerns as accuracy, construction,

testing, verification and how the metersshould be shipped and stored. Thestandards are primarily intended forcustody transfer applications.

Minimum requirements — whichalready exist for positive displacement,turbine and propeller-type flowmeters— are expected to be more demandingfor the newer styles.

Flowmeter Measurement Trends in the

By Jesse Yoder. Belinda Burum provided research for this article.

WATER INDUSTRY

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“Technology has matured to a levelwhere electronic meters are used agreat deal more than they were in thepast by our industry,” according toOlson. “The technology has improvedand manufacturers have been able tomake them more cost competitive withthe turbine type meters that utilitiesused before.”

The electronic meters are used pri-marily for raw water — bulk water,including measurements in water treat-ment plants, rather than residences.Other types of meters for which stan-dards already exist include compound,fire service, multi-jet and single jetmeters. A new standard is also underdevelopment for fluid oscillatormeters, a type of jet meter. This stan-dard is not expected until early 2005.

The standards help utilities in select-ing meters and help manufacturersknow what the user wants, accordingto Olson. So far, there have been nostandards developed for Coriolisflowmeters, although there has beendiscussion about forming a Corioliscommittee. AWWA standards are main-

ly used in the United States, Canadaand Mexico, although they are alsoused in other countries as well. InEurope, ISO standards prevail.

Trend Toward AutomationConcern about security following

Sept. 11 “hasn’t directly affected themeters a whole lot,” according toOlson. Coincidentally, the water indus-try had started to address security inearly 2001, so it was somewhat pre-pared for the increase in securityrequirements following the attack.

There has been a general move overthe last 10 years toward more automa-tion of the water industry — i.e., moreremote monitoring and computer con-trolled devices such as SCADA andUtilities Communications Architecture(UCA), said Olson.

Automation is driven by technologi-cal improvements as well as the needfor higher efficiency. “These devicescan save time and money for treatmentplants,” said Olson, who believes thetrend is “pretty steady” today.

Capital spending was the same or a lit-

tle bit down in 2002. Public utilities trailthe economy by three to six months,according to Olson. Some 85-90 percentof the water utilities are private.

Flowmeters Sales in 2002Water & Wastewater

Flowmeters Sales in 2007Water & Wastewater

Coriolis 1.3%

Ultrasonic10.7%Vortex

2.6%PositiveDisplacement17.9%

Magnetic32.2%

Turbine35.4%

Coriolis 1.6%

Ultrasonic13.7%Vortex

2.7%PositiveDisplacement16%

Magnetic33.6%

Turbine32.4%

Chart 1 does not include differential pressure, openchannel, thermal or variable area flowmeters.

Chart 2 does not include differential pressure, openchannel, thermal or variable area flowmeters.

Chart 1

Chart 2

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Flowmeters Used in the Waterand Wastewater Industry

The following charts show the differingpercentage of sales of most of the afore-mentioned types of flowmeters sold intothe water and wastewater industry.Differential pressure, open channel, ther-mal and variable area flowmeters are notincluded. Chart 1 shows the percentage ofsales of flowmeters in water and waste-water by type in 2002. Chart 2 shows theprojected sales of flowmeters by type intowater and wastewater in 2007. Both chartsrefer to revenues from these meters, andboth represent sales worldwide.

It is clear from these charts that new-technology flowmeters (Coriolis, magnet-ic, ultrasonic and vortex) are showingfaster growth than the more traditionalturbine and positive displacementmeters. On the other hand, sales of thetraditional meters are so large that theywill continue to account for a substantialpercent of total flowmeter sales into thewater and wastewater industry, even by2007. For example, sales of turbineflowmeters are projected to account forone-third of revenues from these types offlowmeters in 2007, on a worldwide basis.

With all the attention being paid toCoriolis flowmeters, why do Coriolisflowmeters account for such a small per-centage of the total? This is mainlybecause water is a less valuable com-modity, when compared to many chemi-cals and to hydrocarbons. End users areless willing to pay the higher prices forCoriolis flowmeters to measure water.The strongest industry for Coriolisflowmeters is the chemical industry.Magnetic flowmeters are the meter ofchoice among new-technology metersfor the water and wastewater industry.

About the AuthorDr. Jesse Yoder is president of Flow

Research, which he founded in 1998. Hehas been a writer and analyst in processcontrol since 1986. Dr. Yoder has writtenover 40 market studies and is currentlycompleting a 12-volume series of studieson the worldwide flowmeter market.Included in this series is The WorldMarket for Flowmeters, which includesall flow technologies. Flow Research(www.flowresearch.com) offers a quar-terly update service called the WorldflowMonitoring Service. Dr. Yoder can bereached by phone at 781 245-3200 or bye-mail at jesse@flowresearch.com.Circle 50 or Request Info Instantly at www.flowcontrolnetwork.com

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