By The Tech Guy
All hail the almighty prepaid meter! At last, we’ve found the one solution that will single-handedly fix all our water woes. Remember our last conversation about non-revenue water?
The tragic saga of inefficiencies and uncollected revenue that serves as the final, most significant roadblock in the quest for water sustainability? Well, surely a device that guarantees all the revenue is collected for every drop of water used is the magic solution. Case closed, right? Or… is it?
Before we throw a parade down Independence avenue and roll out the confetti, let’s take a moment to actually understand how this prepaid metering thing works. To fully appreciate the magic, we need to wade through the process, examine the pros and cons, and also get some help from our accounting friends to keep track of both the obvious and not-so-obvious costs.
The first step is installing a prepaid meter. In its most basic form, a prepaid water meter is a water meter with an electronic valve that controls the flow of water based on your available credit. When your credits run out, the valve shuts off, and no more water flows until you reload your account. It’s similar to how a prepaid phone works—once your airtime or data runs out, your phone stops working. Only in this case, when your water credits run out, you might find yourself unable to take a shower or even flush the toilet!
The older systems, which we’ll refer to as “vintage” prepaid meters, integrate a standard water meter with a device known as a water management device (WMD). And no, we’re not talking about weapons of mass destruction—though in some ways, this device does wield a certain kind of power. The WMD is essentially a small computer that controls the electronic valve. It receives water credits (or “airtime”) via a 12- to 20-digit code, which you enter into a keypad that you keep in your home.
But where does this code come from you might ask? This brings us to step two: The token-generating platform. (Or, as I like to call it, the “airtime-selling platform” of the water world.) This is a heavily encrypted, ultra-secure system that generates codes—aka tokens—that give your meter the thumbs up to keep the water flowing.
These tokens are secure passcodes assigned specifically to your WMD and will accurately grant you with the correct volume of water / water credits as per the municipal rates and the amount you have paid.
And that’s it! All that remains now is for you to get back home, recharge your meter, and enjoy a long, well-deserved shower. You’ve got your water, the municipality has its money, and everyone is happy. What could possibly be bad about that?
But before we start printing “Prepaid Water Meter for President” T-shirts and planning a victory parade, let’s pump the brakes for a moment. Let’s take a deeper dive into the prepaid world before we make any final judgments—because, as we all know by now, not all that glitters is gold… and sometimes, the only thing flowing is the fine print.
Until next week.. The Tech Guy
