Customer testimonial

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The context

At Terideal, where real teamwork takes place, each member is constantly contributing to the improvement of work methods. Raphaël Karm, Technical Manager of the Watering/Fountain Department, describes the installation of remote water meter reading and soil moisture measurement equipment. These connected objects allow communities, sports field managers or any other owner of vegetated surfaces to measure and optimize the consumption of water resources for watering.

The watering sector has seen relatively little change in recent years and results are often based on empirical methods. And even if these methods have always demonstrated a good reliability, the implementation of connected devices represents an efficient way to monitor consumption in real time enriched with additional information. This is an opportunity to measure variables that were not previously taken into account.

The objective for Terideal is to make this sector evolve by validating quantitatively the results, previously based on the feeling. But also by providing new services with the measurement of new variables.

The implementation

It is following several customer requests that the project was born. Indeed, previously, Terideal’s innovation strategy was rather focused on large projects such as automation on pumping stations. However, their very specific side did not convince in the end.

After studying several specialized solutions in the field of watering, Raphaël Karm chose to turn to more open and scalable tools allowing to simply set up a network of connected devices that are secure and personalized: SoM2M#IoT, Device Management and SoDATA#Viz, Data Management. Terideal has already chosen Synox as a supplier of M2M SIM cards for its irrigation controllers and wants to continue to provide customers with their expertise while relying on reliable and adaptable technical solutions.

When the platforms are set up, the test run quickly proves positive. A simple configuration of the devices in SoM2M#IoT is enough to see the data returned in SoDATA#Viz. The next step is then to = prepare the dashboards to be proposed to the end customers. Thus, thanks to the tools provided by Synox, Terideal focuses on its service offer around watering and in 6 months, the product is validated and already works for about twenty customers.

What is interesting about the Synox solution is that it can be adapted independently to the needs of our customers, and perhaps even later to other sectors of activity.
Raphaël KARM, Technical manager

The results

Remote reading of water meters alone is a great source of data for resource management and optimization. Terideal has coupled it with other communicating sensors: soil moisture sensors or rain gauges. Thanks to these measured data, crossed with the weather data, the level of precision of the irrigation of a soil is extremely high. The development also lies in the fact that the measurement is continuous, so a soil drying profile can be drawn up. And with this data, Terideal experts can make watering recommendations based on specific customer needs.

Interoperability and customization of interfaces have allowed experts to focus on serving customers according to their specific needs. Indeed, a sports field on which a concert is played will not have the same requirements as a golf course or a community lawn. However, it is still necessary to cross-reference the sanitary state of the grass or the feelings of the soccer team with the data collected by the connected devices.

The benefits are not only in the analysis of the data but also in the operation of these irrigation systems. In fact, a significant time saving is measured since it is possible to know in real time the operating status of the watering infrastructure, which was not the case with conventional watering systems. Moreover, with the particularities of connected devices, such as the low cost compared to the economic benefits, the simplicity of installation, and the wireless connectivity, the implementation is really facilitated.

Water savings are estimated at 10 to 30%. This result is obtained thanks to the implementation of connected equipments, the piloting and the analysis of data from SoM2M#IoT and SoDATA#Viz but also thanks to the human factor which becomes vigilant to consumption as soon as it is measured precisely.

The Synox team listens to evolution requests and takes them into account in product development. Today’s interfaces are complete and have evolved considerably since we started using the platforms over a year ago.
Raphaël KARM, Technical manager