The Global Water Metering Landscape: Technology Shifts, Competitive Strategies, and Market Outlook

The century-old water metering market is at an inflection point, as a host of new digitally enabled technologies and business models (e.g., static meters, LPWAN communications protocols, network-as-a-service) transform global water utilities’ relationships with their meters and meter providers. Long considered the cash registers of the water industry, metering systems have become a central focus of utilities’ digital transformation efforts, providing utility operators with crucial data and insights to help them address water scarcity and climate change, monitor the condition and performance of underground infrastructure, and proactively manage customer relationships. Against this backdrop, metering vendors face a host of macroeconomic, regulatory, and competitive shifts. COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions and component shortages have roiled the sector, delaying projects and new product development even as post-pandemic stimulus funding drives record levels of meter market demand