Communal Standpipe Meter

Communal Standpipe Meter

A Communal Standpipe Meter usually is installed in areas where a household or residential connection of a water meter is not possible. Several households make use of the same water dispenser and distributes water in a container. Each user or houshold of the Communal Standpipe Meter has a Tag (RF-ID) or Token operating as a water wallet.

The Tag/Token not only is used as water wallet, it also is used to get data from the meter into the management system: each time water is fetched the meter writes back metering data onto the Tag which is read into the management system each time new water credits are purchased.

Basic Operation of TagMeter Communal Standpipe Meter

These meters are placed outdoor and are used by several people. Water is dispensed via an outlet into a 20 litre or 25 litre container. Every time the Tag is inserted and the Tag is allowed to operate that specific meter, the valve opens, dispenses 20 or 25 litres and closes again.

An Ultrasonic water meter, valve, piping, quick fit inlet and an outlet are all constructed in a steel IP66 cabinet. The cabinet has to be placed onto a riser pole and inside that pole the HDPE water tube goes inside the cabinet. Prepaid electronics and battery are placed in a separate IP67 polycarbonate box inside the steel cabinet.

Mounted at the outside of the steel cabinet there is a LCD Display of 16 characters, 2 lines and backlight. Also the slot for the Transponder can be found at the same RCU (Remote Control Unit) box.

Available Display's / Remote Controller Unit

Solar Power Module for Communal Standpipe Meters

Standard our Communal Standpipe Meters are powered by a non-rechargeable battery of 20 Ah. The non-rechargeable aspect means that at some point you need to replace that battery. It is possible to make use of our alternative using Solar Power, a rechargeable battery pack and a non-rechargeable battery.

The ENSP (Energy Neutral Solar Power) module by TagMeter Systems consists of a low power Solar Power Panel in an IP66 construction, a polycarbonate box containing electronics, a rechargeable battery pack and a fixed non-rechargeable 20AH battery. Also the RCU mounted at the door of the steel cabinet is replaced with a different one containing an LCD-Display with backlight and LED indicators showing status, warning new credits need to be purchased, amount of times minimum you can get 20 or 25 litres of water and indicator when to insert or remove the Tag.

Principle is as follows:
In normal conditions the Solar Power Energy is used to power the prepaid electronics and valve. The surplus of energy is used to charge a rechargeable battery pack. When there is no or insufficient solar energy available then the rechargeable battery helps out with supplying the shortage of energy needed. If also the rechargeable battery energy is insufficient then the fixed non-rechargeable battery of 20 Ah helps out. This cooperation between 3 different power sources result in many years of operation without the need of replacing any battery.

TagMeter RFID Transponder Tag

The Tag operated meters make use of a near field transponder called Tag or Token. There is no battery inside them, they are passive transponders. Communication between Tag/Token and the TagMeter TagReader Module takes place via an electromagnetic field, a Radio Frequency Field in a near distance. The TagMeter TagReader induces an electromagnetic field. If the coil of the Tag iis placed in the electromagnetic field then an induced energy is generated, big enough to power up the the Tag/Token. The same electromagnetic field is also used as the near field communication channel between the Tag and TagReader.

Tags come in 2 colors: Blue for UserTags or Customer Tags and Green ones for ServiceTags. Other colors are possible if the demand is big enough. The UserTags are the Tags for the customers, they contains metering data and water credits. You can say the UserTags are the customer's water wallet. The ServiceTags are tools for Engineers to change settings and to check operation of the prepaid communal standpipe meter: for instance new ZoneID, telling meter new battery is installed, resetting counters of meters, open valve, close valve, etc. etc.

Material of the injection moulded Tag enclosure is made of Polyamide 66, also known as PA66, also known as Nylon, a very strong, rigid, heat and chemical resistant and durable material

Ultrasonic Water Meter used in our Communal Standpipe Meter

TagMeter Systems makes use of only high precision and high technical measurement devices. Our meters are ultrasonic water meters, very special for domestic and residential usage.
These highly accurate meters measure accurate water flow with temperature compensation up to 85 °C.

Connection sizes of the Ultrasonic Flowmeters in the communal standpipe can be one of the follwing: DN15, DN20, DN25, DN40 or DN50. Standard we make use of our DN15 ultrasonic water meter because this meter supplies more than enough for the purpose and we can use 10 pulses per litre where other manufacturers/suppliers use only 1 pulse per litre or 1 pulse per 10 litre.

There are no moving parts in the meter so there is nothing that can wear out the meter i.e. bearings or scoops. Also no particles or grit can block the meter from operating: measuring pipe is a full bore tube and no mechanical parts that can clog up.

Just a prepaid meter does not give you a prepaid metering system. You need software running on a PC for that. We developed our own CFM32 CashFlow Management system for that.CFM32 CashFlow Management System

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