Close-up of water flowing down a drain, representing remote water usage monitoring

Smart Water Metering

Water monitoring and control

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households monitored

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municipalities served

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Addressable market coverage through existing customers in South Korean remote water monitoring

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leak detection improvement

The Challenge

Many cities and counties in South Korea face a common problem across their water networks: underground meters that are difficult to access, particularly in winter when pit covers freeze shut. Meter readers can not reach the meters, forcing the council to estimate bills. Customers are dissatisfied with billing inaccuracy, and the authority has limited ability to detect leaks or monitor usage patterns across its network.

The Solution

X2M retrofitted the existing water meters to communicate with the Vision by X2M IoT platform, providing accurate, real-time usage data that eliminated bill estimation. Big data analytics monitored for irregular usage patterns, detecting both water leaks and potential social welfare concerns, such as households where water use stopped unexpectedly.

The Results

Following various deployments, some municipalities achieved a 19% improvement in leak detection and identified more than 200 social welfare cases through water non-use pattern analysis. The deployments became a demonstration project for other South Korean municipalities considering the technology.

Scaling Across South Korea

What began as a single municipal deployment has grown to 240,000+ households monitored across 47 municipalities. X2M existing customers account for 64% of the addressable remote water monitoring market in South Korea. X2M’s addressable market opportunity with existing water customers in South Korea has nearly doubled over the past four years.

The meters operate in underground pits, a technically demanding environment that demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of the platform.

X2M continues to secure new remote water metering contracts in South Korea, confirming continued growth in the market and reinforcing X2M’s position as the dominant provider.

Expanding into Japan

X2M’s long-standing gas partnership with Azbil Kimmon is now extending into the water sector. An initial $200K software development agreement covers up to 5,000 connected water meters over two years, with the potential to scale to 50,000 meters and an additional $225K in service fees. Japan’s total addressable market for water meters stands at 60 million, representing a significant growth opportunity.

Technology Used

Vision by X2M IoT platform, FME edge intelligence, SaaS (Software as a Service) delivery model.

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Vision by X2M dashboard showing a map of connected meter locations and device status