Water win in Scotland

29 June 2011

Stark, a smart metering services provider, has won the contract to provide Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) for water meters throughout the entire public sector in Scotland, as part of the public sector Framework Agreement.

The contract has been awarded to Stark by Scottish Procurement, the central buying agency for the public sector in Scotland. It means that government departments, local authorities, health authorities, education establishments and emergency services throughout Scotland can now buy water smart metering services directly from Stark, without having to go through a tendering process. These services include provision and installation of water AMR devices; ongoing maintenance; half hourly meter reading and data collection services; and comprehensive online data reporting services.

MD of Stark, Howard Stark, said: "We are delighted to have won our second public sector Framework Agreement contract - in October 2009, we were appointed by Buying Solutions as a supplier in all five categories of the UK's AMR Framework Agreement."

Howard Stark went on to explain the significant benefits organisations can expect to experience once they introduce AMR for their water meters: "Firstly, the detailed usage information the smart water meters provide will enable organisations to easily identify any leaks or other forms of water wastage. With this daily feedback, organisations can then start to bring about behaviour change, so that individuals can take action to use water less wastefully."

"And, importantly, once organisations can accurately measure water usage against site occupancy, they can start to put water management procedures in place, such as tap restrictors and urinal controls, in order to save water and reduce bills. The fourth benefit of AMR is that we will provide water suppliers with monthly meter reads, so they can send bills based on actual usage rather than on estimates."