Method of computing quantity of unaccounted for water in water distribution
First Claim
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1. A method of determining the reliability of consumption data in a water distribution system comprising a multiplicity of consumption meters, each said consumption meter making an actual reading of said meter upon intervals and comprising a communications module for reporting said actual readings, said method comprising:
- receiving actual meter readings for said reading intervals from said consumption meters;
identifying missing readings from any meter over a defined time period;
estimating, for each said missing reading, an estimated reading;
computing the water consumed by said multiplicity of meters over said time period, that is the sum of the estimated readings and the actual meter readings, to obtain a computed amount of total consumption;
andcomputing a measure of reliability of the computed amount of total consumption that is a function of the ratio of the quantity of water consumption determined from actual meter readings to the quantity of water consumption determined from estimated readings.
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Abstract
A method of accounting for the quantity of water or other distributed resource in a distribution system utilizing automated meter reading and reporting. Missing readings are identified and estimated to allow the quantity of unaccounted for water always to be computed.
32 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of determining the reliability of consumption data in a water distribution system comprising a multiplicity of consumption meters, each said consumption meter making an actual reading of said meter upon intervals and comprising a communications module for reporting said actual readings, said method comprising:
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receiving actual meter readings for said reading intervals from said consumption meters; identifying missing readings from any meter over a defined time period; estimating, for each said missing reading, an estimated reading; computing the water consumed by said multiplicity of meters over said time period, that is the sum of the estimated readings and the actual meter readings, to obtain a computed amount of total consumption; and computing a measure of reliability of the computed amount of total consumption that is a function of the ratio of the quantity of water consumption determined from actual meter readings to the quantity of water consumption determined from estimated readings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of determining the reliability of consumption data of a resource in a distribution system comprising a multiplicity of consumption meters, each said consumption meter making an actual reading of said meter upon intervals and comprising a communications module for reporting said actual readings, said method comprising:
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receiving actual meter readings for said reading intervals from said consumption meters; identifying missing readings from any meter over a defined time period; estimating, for each said missing reading, an estimated reading of said corresponding meter; computing the quantity of resource consumed by said multiplicity of meters over said time period, that is the sum of consumption determined from estimated readings and the actual meter readings, to obtain a computed amount of total consumption; and computing a measure of reliability of the computed amount of total consumption that is a function of the ratio of the quantity of consumption determined from actual meter readings and the quantity of consumption determined from estimated readings. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of generating an estimate of the amount of an unaccounted-for resource in a distribution system comprising a multiplicity of consumption meters and providing a measure of the reliability of the estimate, each said consumption meter making an actual reading of said meter upon intervals and comprising a communications module for reporting said actual readings, said method comprising:
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receiving actual meter readings for said reading intervals from said consumption meters; identifying missing readings from any meter over a defined time period; estimating, for each said missing reading, an estimated reading of said corresponding meter; computing the quantity of resource supplied to said multiplicity of meters over said time period; computing the quantity of resource consumed by said multiplicity of meters over said time period, which is the sum of consumption determined from estimated readings and the actual meter readings, to obtain a computed amount of total consumption; determining the quantity of unaccounted for resource over said time period by computing the difference between an aggregate of resource supplied and an aggregate of resource consumed over said time period; and computing a measure of reliability of the computed amount of total consumption that is a function of the ratio of the quantity of consumption determined from actual meter readings and the quantity of consumption determined from estimated readings.
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Specification