District Metering Areas (DMAs) let utilities monitor consumption across a water distribution network. In BEACON, such networks are defined by zones (see the sample diagram below). A zone is a collection of Supply meters and Demand meters. Supply meters measure water flowing into a zone. Demand meters measure water being consumed within a zone. In addition, Sewer meters measure non-revenue water (NRW), do not belong to zones, and are not included in flow consumption totals.
Measure and compare Supply meter and Demand meter consumption to calculate and identify:
- Total water use across the utility – the sum of consumption from all supply meters plus the consumption from all meters that do not belong to a zone. (Supply meter consumption totals do not include Demand meter totals, eliminating “double counting.”)
- Non-revenue water (NRW) – indicated when the sum of the supply meter consumption is greater than the sum of the demand meter consumption.
- Mis-sized meters – indicated when the sum of the supply meter consumption is less than the sum of the demand meter consumption.
When modeling DMA zones in BEACON, any given meter can:
- Belong to zero (0), one (1) or two (2) zones.
- Be either a Supply meter or a Demand meter in a given zone.
- Be a Supply meter in one zone and a Demand meter in another zone.
- Not belong to more than two zones.
In addition:
- Supply meters cannot supply other Supply meters within a given zone.
- Demand meters cannot supply other Demand meters within a given zone.
If your DMA water distribution network uses daisy-chained zones, configure them as multiple zones in BEACON.
Follow these links to jump to step-by-step instructions for:
Configuring DMA Zones.
Viewing DMA Zone Consumption on the Monitor page.
