Water meter reading software that turns a route of reads into a bill you can defend
Water meter reading is the work of getting a consumption figure off every service connection and into a bill, whether by walk route, drive by radio read or fixed network. The accuracy of that figure is regulated: California requires measuring devices installed on or before 1 January 2016 to be accurate to within 15 percent, and expects 10 to 15 percent depending on the size of the right. Neurobird holds the route, the read, the exception and the re read on one record.
Neurobird Water Meter Reading in short
- Build routes and hand them to readers with the previous read and the expected range attached
- Flag high, low, zero and rollover reads as exceptions before the billing file is cut
- Order, track and close re reads against the original read rather than replacing it
- 1 trillion Gallons of water wasted by household leaks nationwide each year, the reason a meter reading exception is worth acting on the same week. US EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week
- 9,300 gallons What an average household's leaks account for annually. Nine percent of homes have leaks wasting 50 gallons or more every day. US EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week
- Pricing runs 199 to 1250 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What water utilities actually deal with
Why it stays broken
Meter reading sits between a field crew and a billing cycle, and each end has software that does not understand the other. Billing wants one number per account per period. The field works in routes, exceptions and re reads. The handling in the middle is where every dispute comes from, and it usually runs on a printout that nobody keeps.
Household leaks alone waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water nationwide every year, and the meter is where most of it first shows up.
In general, measurements must be accurate to within ±10 to 15 percent, depending on the size of the water right.
Neurobird Water Meter Reading Inspection Tracking Platform
One record per read: the route, the meter, the reading, the reader, the time, the exception it triggered and the re read that settled it. The bill has something underneath it.
- 1Build routes and hand them to readers with the previous read and the expected range attached
- 2Flag high, low, zero and rollover reads as exceptions before the billing file is cut
- 3Order, track and close re reads against the original read rather than replacing it
- 4Keep meter changes, register rollovers and leak notices attached to the service connection
What changes with Neurobird Water Meter Reading?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Water Meter Reading |
|---|---|
| A read comes back at three times the last one and the bill goes out anyway because the route closed on Friday | Build routes and hand them to readers with the previous read and the expected range attached |
| A re read is ordered by phone and the only evidence it happened is a second number in the billing system | Flag high, low, zero and rollover reads as exceptions before the billing file is cut |
| A customer disputes a bill and the history shows the figure but not who took it or how | Order, track and close re reads against the original read rather than replacing it |
Who is this for?
The same read, three different utilities.
Two readers, one billing cycle
Routes are walked and exceptions are handled by memory. You need the odd reads caught before the bills print, not after the phone rings.
Mixed manual and radio read
Some accounts are drive by, some are still walked, and some meters are being changed out. You need one history per connection across all of it.
You have a fixed network
Interval data does not remove disputes, it multiplies them. You need the exception, the notice sent and the resolution held together per account.
What the numbers say about metered water
How much is used, how much is lost, and how accurate the measuring device is required to be.
Gallons of water wasted by household leaks nationwide each year, the reason a meter reading exception is worth acting on the same week.
US EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak WeekWhat an average household's leaks account for annually. Nine percent of homes have leaks wasting 50 gallons or more every day.
US EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak WeekWhat the average American family uses at home each day, roughly 70 percent of it indoors, which sets the expected range for a residential read.
US EPA WaterSense, how we use waterThe accuracy required of measuring devices installed on or before 1 January 2016 in California, with 10 to 15 percent expected depending on the size of the water right.
California State Water Resources Control Board, water measurementGallons per day withdrawn for all uses in the United States in 2015, 9 percent below 2010 and the lowest level reported since before 1970.
US Geological Survey, water use in the United StatesThe minimum building size at which federal metering guidance expects a water meter, dropping to 1,000 square feet for energy and water intensive buildings.
US Department of Energy, federal metering guidanceThe route, as your utility would run it
Tick a read to post it and watch exceptions hold themselves back from the billing file.
Tap an asset to log a scan and timestamp the inspection.
How does Neurobird Water Meter Reading work?
Take the route out
Each reader gets the route with the last read, the expected range and any access note, so an odd number is questioned in the field rather than at the counter.
Catch the exception
High, low, zero and rollover reads are held back automatically, with the reason visible, before anything reaches the billing file.
Settle the re read
A re read is a new record joined to the original, so the account history shows the question and the answer rather than a quietly overwritten figure.
Water meter reading software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is a meter reading exception?
- It is a read the system will not pass to billing without a human decision: a consumption spike, a drop to zero, a register rollover, a read lower than the last one or an access failure. Catching them before the billing file is cut is the difference between a leak notice and a dispute.
Does this replace our billing system?
No. It sits in front of it. Billing owns the account, the rate and the invoice. This owns the route, the read, the exception and the re read, then hands billing a file it can stand behind.
Does it work with advanced metering infrastructure?
Yes, and the need does not go away. A fixed network gives you more readings, which means more exceptions, not fewer. The work moves from taking the read to deciding what an odd one means.
How does it help with leaks?
A continuous non zero minimum flow or a sudden step change is the meter telling you something. Household leaks waste nearly 1 trillion gallons a year nationwide, and the read is usually the first place a customer's share of that appears.
Why we are building this
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Where the requirement comes from
Primary sources, straight from the regulators.
- US EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week National leak figures and the household level numbers a high read usually turns out to be.
- US EPA WaterSense, how we use water Average household consumption, indoors and out, which is where an expected range comes from.
- California State Water Resources Control Board, water measurement and reporting Device accuracy requirements, who may certify them and how often measurement has to be taken.
- US Geological Survey, water use in the United States The national withdrawal series, useful when a district benchmarks its own demand trend.
- US Department of Energy, federal building metering guidance Thresholds for metering buildings and the case for advanced meters, written for facility owners.
- US EPA WaterSense, statistics and facts Outdoor use shares and irrigation losses, the seasonal pattern behind summer read exceptions.
How much does Neurobird Water Meter Reading cost?
Priced by connection count because that is what actually drives route volume and exception load. Routes, reads, re reads and users are unlimited on every tier.
- Up to 3,000 connections
- Route building
- Exception rules
- Re read tracking
- Up to 25,000 connections
- Mixed manual and radio read
- Meter change out history
- Billing file export
- Unlimited connections
- Interval data exceptions
- Leak notice workflow
- Priority support
Get free early access
Early access means we build your routes and exception rules around your own consumption history, and you keep the account free while we do it.
Straight answer on where this is: The software is in development. Nothing is purchasable today. Early access means you shape it and pay nothing while we build.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.