No Customer Is Too Small or Too Far
At Smart Metering, we pride ourselves on delivering personalised and tailored solutions to all customers, whether they’re industrial giants, commercial properties, apartment complexes, or, as in this case, a family-operated farm. When Parakai Birds, a chicken farm in Parakai, New Zealand, approached us, we were excited to bring our expertise to a business deeply rooted in the traditions of farming, while embracing practical solutions to everyday challenges. Brian Petersen, the owner of Parakai Birds, has been passionately running his chicken farm for over two decades. His commitment to quality and innovation mirrors the resilience and ingenuity of New Zealand businesses, contributing to the fabric of our nation with a spirit of hard work and sustainability that reflects the hard-working spirit of Kiwis everywhere.
The Challenge: Modernising an Outdated System
Parakai Birds boasts a state-of-the-art water system with advanced filters and pumps, controllable via mobile devices. However, its water metering system lagged behind. Relying on manual reads, Brian’s team faced an inefficient and error-prone process. Weekly readings, required every three months for council compliance, involved laborious manual input, risking inaccuracies and consuming valuable time. The outdated system stood in stark contrast to the modern infrastructure elsewhere on the farm.
The Smart Solution
Our mission was clear: transform the outdated metering system into an automated, accurate, and hassle-free process. Leveraging our device-agnostic technology, we integrated Smart Metering’s NB-IoT pulse device with Parakai Birds’ existing Arad water meter. This approach saved costs while minimising disruption. The pulse device now transmits water consumption data twice daily to Smart Metering’s servers over the ONE NZ – NB-IoT network. This dedicated network, designed specifically for data transmission, offers long battery life and extended coverage, reaching over 99% of the population and approximately 60% of New Zealand’s geography. The data is instantly accessible to Brian via our cloud-based platform.
Key Benefits Delivered
- Efficiency and Accuracy: Automated daily readings eliminate manual errors and delays, ensuring precise water usage data.
- Seamless Integration: Our device-agnostic solution worked perfectly with the existing Arad meter, proving our ability to adapt to any setup.
- Remote Monitoring: Brian can now monitor water consumption from anywhere, aligning his metering system with the cutting-edge technology already present in the farm’s water infrastructure.
- Compliance Made Easy: Parakai Birds can now provide Auckland Council with accurate and timely reports, reducing administrative burdens, and Smart Metering is actively working with the council to enable direct data feeds into the Water Use Management Data System (WUMDS) using Parakai Birds’ water consent number, which will further streamline compliance reporting and make the system almost entirely hands-off for farmers, saving them valuable time for other essential duties.
A Smarter Future
Smart Metering’s partnership with Parakai Birds underscores our commitment to making life better for all New Zealanders. No customer is too remote, and no system too complex for our tailored, innovative solutions. Brian Petersen’s smile, holding the Smart Metering pulse device, says it all: modern technology and local expertise can transform even the most traditional operations.
Together, we’re not just modernising water management – we’re empowering New Zealand’s businesses to thrive sustainably in a smarter future. If you’re ready to join the movement, Smart Metering is here for you.
