Southend-on-Sea City Council has made some of its long range wide area network (LoRaWAN) capacity available for the use of smart technology in managing the area’s water supplies.
It has enabled Connexin – smart tech provider for Essex and Suffolk Water – to use the capacity to support the use of water meters.
The company will share the council’s network to bolster its own in sharing data packets from sensors mounted on streetlight poles, buildings and post boxes. The packets will be routed to a central server and passed to dashboards for it to take action when needed.
Southend said this will help Essex and Suffolk Water to detect leaks more quickly, reduce water waste and improve the accuracy of its billing. It has a programme to install up to one million smart meters by 2035.
It also provides scope to work with Connexin on issues such as monitoring air quality and flood risks, and identifying vulnerable residents who may need support.
Smart solution
Cllr Daniel Cowan, leader of the council, said: "This is a smart, resident-first solution. By using the infrastructure we already have, like streetlights, we've avoided our streets being cluttered with lots of new masts. We said we'd find a way to stop the masts, and we did.
"This digital network, developed in partnership with other South Essex councils, allows us to deliver services in a faster, smarter, and more cost-effective way with potential to do more to improve our services.
"I do want to reassure residents that these sensors are discreet and do not collect personal data like images or video."
