Muscat: The Public Authority for Water (Diam) has inaugurated its new ambitious Smart Water project that will save up to 20 per cent in water losses in Muscat, and up to RO42mn annually.

The Public Authority for Water (Diam) today celebrated the operation of smart water meters that were installed in the Governorates of Muscat and Musandam, in addition to linking these meters to its systems through the Internet of Things (IoT) technology in cooperation with the National Energy Center (NEC) and the Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company ‘Ooredoo’.

The opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Sultan bin Salem Al Habsi, Minister of Finance, in the presence of a number of ministers and undersecretaries.

The smart meters that have been installed are divided into two types: postpaid and prepaid. They were implemented in several stages, including the pilot, first and second stages.

In the pilot stage, 10,000 postpaid meters were installed in the Governorate of Musandam that included all categories of subscribers as 98 percent of this stage has been completed.

The first and second stages cost RO 25 million, with an 8-year implementation contract. They included the Governorate of Muscat, where 4,100 postpaid meters were installed in the first stage for the large consumers as the implementation of these meters is completed.

In the same stage, 1,000 prepaid meters have been installed for buildings that host more than 6 apartments, 86 percent of which have been implemented. The works continue on the rest of them.

In the second stage, 179,300 postpaid meters are being installed in the Governorate of Muscat for all categories of subscribers, and 98 per cent of these meters has been installed.

The smart meters project is expected to contribute to reducing water losses in the Governorate of Muscat by at least 20 percent.

Achieving this percentage will annually save about RO42 million. With the reduction of water losses, there will be no need to add a new station with a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters.

In addition, RO10 million will be annually saved, the cost of purchasing water.