AMP8 doesn’t just require utilities to install more meters. It requires them to prove they can turn meter data into measurable outcomes, including faster leak detection, better network visibility and more informed operational decisions. Here’s how one European utility built a scalable fixed network to do exactly that – and what UK water companies can learn from its experience.
UK water companies are under immense pressure. Almost three billion litres of water are lost through leakage every day in England and Wales. At the same time, operational costs are increasing, while customer trust has hit record lows.
That’s the backdrop to Asset Management Period 8 (AMP8), the latest regulatory period for the water sector in England and Wales. AMP8 requires utilities to demonstrate measurable progress in terms of leak detection, reducing non-revenue water (NRW) and improving customer engagement – and they need to do so in timeframes that are tighter than ever.
Most major UK utilities have already invested heavily in smart metering programmes. But a smart meter on its own doesn’t solve much. If data can’t be collected reliably, shared frequently or translated into informed operational decisions, it won’t help utilities find leaks sooner, prioritise field work or improve network performance.
This is the real challenge. A programme that can genuinely move the needle on NRW isn’t built by simply deploying more meters. It’s built through a fixed network that can scale fast and deliver trustworthy, frequent data across an entire service area from day one – as Italian public water operator GAIA found out.
GAIA’s success story
GAIA serves over 400,000 people across Tuscany, but was trying to manage more than 7,000 km of distribution network and 500 facilities with only four meter readings a year. This meant that leak detection was slow and network visibility was patchy.
With rising pressure to reduce NRW and strengthen service reliability, GAIA turned to Diehl Metering to help it build a fixed advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that could scale across its large, varied territory without compromising on reliability.
The deployment combined 73,000 HYDRUS 2.0 smart water meters with mioty® IoT connectivity and the IZAR IoT Gateway Premium, achieving up to 98% service availability even across challenging terrain. Data now flows hourly, not quarterly, into IZAR Plus Portal and water loss management software, giving GAIA’s operational teams near real-time visibility across the whole network.
“To continue delivering high-quality public service, we could no longer rely on occasional data,” said Severino Borrini, water network, innovation and control room manager at GAIA. “A detailed and continuous understanding of the network has become essential to sustainably reduce water losses and anticipate future challenges.”
The shift from quarterly to hourly readings has changed how GAIA’s teams work day to day. Anomalies surface earlier. Leaks, both network- and customer-side, are spotted faster. Field teams can prioritise based on what the data’s actually telling them, not on a schedule.
“Teams can detect leaks and consumption anomalies faster, prioritise field interventions, and strengthen operational responsiveness,” said Ester Della Santa, GAIA’s director of network operations and technical services.
The new network will serve GAIA long into the future. It has been designed to be capable of operating with additional connectivity technologies such as LoRaWAN®, for example, ensuring durability.
What this means for UK utilities
GAIA’s experience maps closely onto what UK utilities need to prove under AMP8. One of the biggest lessons is that scale doesn’t have to mean compromise. A multi-connectivity, mioty®-based architecture held up across a large, heterogeneous territory – proof that reliability and coverage aren’t a trade-off.
Another lesson is that frequency changes behaviour. Moving from quarterly to hourly data isn’t just a technical upgrade – it’s what makes proactive leak detection and faster interventions possible in the first place.
The biggest learning, however, is that smart meters are only one part of the solution. GAIA’s success came from connecting meters, communications infrastructure and software into a single system that transforms raw data into operational intelligence. That gives teams the confidence to make faster, more informed decisions every day.
For UK water companies weighing up how to accelerate their AMI rollout under AMP8, GAIA is a working example that a fixed network built for scale can deliver the reliable, frequent and actionable data the regulatory cycle now demands. Moreover, it can be achieved without years of trial and error.
