Published:  4.12.2019

Naantali water supply plant found a solution to its challenges from Digita’s IoT network – cooperation continues with multi-year contract

The Naantali water supply plant and Digita have signed a five-year contract on the digitalisation of the water supply plant’s services through the LoRaWAN network provided by Digita. The cooperation is continuing following a very successful pilot phase, with the aim of unifying the meter base with new LoRa meters.

The distribution areas of the Naantali water supply plant have expanded significantly due to the municipal mergers in the Naantali area. In 2018, water was distributed to 3,971 sites, some of which are located in sparsely populated areas or in the archipelago a longer distance away.
Naantali has faced challenges with regard to desired reforms associated with the digitalisation of water, as it has been difficult to find a viable alternative to, for example, remote reading and remote monitoring of water. Various experiments have been abandoned due to there being no working network in sparsely populated areas or it being necessary for the plant to build one itself.

“In terms of metering and network monitoring in sparsely populated areas, Digita’s IoT network has been like winning the lottery for us”, says Matti Hiltunen, Specialised Worker at the Naantali water supply plant. According to Hiltunen, Digita was the only operator to build a working IoT network on a fast schedule in areas that had previously lacked one completely. “With Digita’s IoT network, we have been able to improve the efficiency of our water invoicing and network monitoring, and have even detected a few leaks by looking at the monitoring data”, says Hiltunen.

“We were given the chance to present Digita’s IoT services in Naantali and, soon after the meeting, the pilot phase was launched. We were able to provide the building of the network on a fast schedule and with the successful pilot phase, our cooperation is continuing as regards the digitalisation of the Naantali water supply plant”, says Digita’s IoT Sales Manager Mona Miettinen.

“The open-minded and bold approach of the Naantali water supply plant has contributed to the development of our own service and we have been successful in developing our interfaces for invoicing systems. They have also had good ideas for new uses, including at sites with remotely read meters”, adds Digita’s IoT Project Manager Tuomo Hörkkö.

“With Digita’s IoT network and LoRa meters, we have been able to invoice customers according to monthly consumption. This is clearer for the customers receiving the invoices and both the invoicer and the invoicees have been happy with the solution. It is very important to have the right kind of partner to guarantee the reliability of the water supply”, Hiltunen continues.

Contact information for media

Naantali water supply plant, Matti Hiltunen, Specialised Worker, tel. +358 (0)50 339 0528, matti.hiltunen(a)naantali.fi

Digita Oy, Mona Miettinen, Sales Manager, tel. +358 (0)400 721 700, mona.miettinen(a)digita.fi

The Naantali water supply plant is responsible for the supply of domestic water to properties, the maintenance of the water supply and sewerage systems and the removal of wastewater and rain water. The water supply plant concludes contracts to connect properties to the public water and sewerage system and supervises the water and sewer pipe installation work of properties to be connected. Naantali acquires its water from Turku Region Water Ltd. Wastewater is treated at the Kakolanmäki treatment plant of Turun seudun puhdistamo Oy.