Using B4T’s Jellyfish Bridge technology, in just four months a team of two engineers deployed 5,000 Jellyfish devices across Sutton, converting legacy infrastructure into a scalable smart network.
SES Water has reduced the cost of rolling out smart metering by 70% by transforming existing meters into a fully connected digital network, in partnership with British technology firm B4T.
The water company has avoided the need for a full smart meter replacement programme for more than 30,000 properties by upgrading its existing semi-smart meters.
The system delivers over 93% connectivity and 92% message delivery rates – even from underground meter pits – enabling hourly data collection for faster leak detection and eliminating the need for manual meter readings.
The approach offers a significant financial advantage, allowing SES Water to accelerate digital transformation without the high capital costs typically associated with smart meter rollouts.
Katie Lowes, Customer Delivery Manager at SES Water, said: “We knew we needed to innovate to achieve our business goals and efficiency targets. By rethinking how we use our existing assets installed during the previous AMP’s Universal Metering Programme, we engaged with B4T to deploy their Jellyfish solution in an area of our network with high meter penetration.
This has created a smart network whilst meeting our efficiency target. Enabling us to have a flexible platform with the opportunity to expand. B4T has been a proactive and collaborative partner throughout.”
Jellyfish is a compact, battery-powered device that connects to up to eight semi-smart meters via short-range radio. It compresses, encrypts, and transmits data over Vodafone’s NB-IoT cellular network.
Alex Barter, CEO of B4T, said: “This project shows that large-scale smart networks don’t require full infrastructure replacement. Jellyfish can be configured over the air, allowing utilities to add or remove devices without revisits. SES Water has helped push our technology further, proving its performance at scale.”
The technology is compatible with all compliant UK water meters and supports multiple communication protocols, including NB-IoT, CAT-M, LoRaWAN and Sigfox. Devices are installed on street furniture with local authority approval.
B4T is also expanding the technology’s capabilities internationally. In collaboration with Korean state utility K-Water, the company has developed a pressure sensor retrofit that integrates with Jellyfish to extend leakage detection into the mains network.