By now you probably would have seen a number of emails around Watermetrics offering free logger replacements at no hardware cost, no installation cost and a two year warranty.
We have spoken with Michael Dennis at Watermetrics and he has explained why Watermetrics are doing this.
In 2015, ATS decided to sell the assets of Watermetrics. However, when ATS sold the assets of Watermetrics to its new owners, the auditors said there were no known issues. Six weeks or so into the new ownership, ECan served the new owners of Watermetrics a list of sites that had data issues – 930 – almost every customer site had problems and a number of these would have been ESAI (at the time) members. Over a period of two years, the majority of problems were solved, but not without much shedding of blood, sweat and tears.
As Streats were the original suppliers of the Aquacom loggers, they were engaged to undertake repairs, but it soon became clear over time that repair costs were very high. Watermetrics calculated a 17% annual Aquacom failure rate with an average repair invoice of $659.71 (repairs costs ranged from $250 up to $1,200). As well, there were significant latency issues with data coming back between 1 and up to 12 hours. This created data gaps and explanations had to be provided to ECan.
As well, the deployed network infrastructure is old, becoming outdated and costly to maintain.
Thus, with all of these issues, it just seemed unreasonable for farmers to have to put up with slow data and expensive repair costs. Farmers should not expect this level of service, so Watermetrics have made the decision to solve the problem – remove the old Streats provided logging equipment, mitigate farmers expensive repair costs and improve data frequency. Watermetrics are replacing the Aquacom loggers with IoT loggers that have been designed by Watermetrics in its Wellington offices, assembled in its Christchurch warehouse and they are footing the bill for this. The ESAI think it is a strong vote of confidence they have in their solution and willingness to look after us as customers.
Also, there is another benefit that if additional sensors need monitoring, the low cost loggers Watermetrics are deploying can be used to monitor other things such as:
• Stock water
• House water
• Dairy wash
• Pump On / Off
• Well water depth
This solution can reduce future monitoring costs and should be better for us all. There is no catch – no hooks, The ESAI fully endorse the offer they are making and would strongly encourage each of you to accept the offer now. This will allow the Watermetrics team to plan their equipment deployment and keep any disruption to a minimum.
If there are any questions you can call Michael Dennis on 0800 493-762.
Terms and Conditions
Of course, there are a few terms and conditions.
1. This offer is limited to farmers with Aquacom loggers in the Canterbury region
2. Any additional non-Aquacom loggers can be replaced at the same time at per-unit cost of $450 (plus GST) and installation time (plus GST)
3. As we are providing the new logger and installation free, we ask that you commit to using the Watermetrics sensor monitoring service for a period of three calendar years from 14 July 2019
4. If you decide to exit the three-year term early, Watermetrics reserve the right to invoice apportioned equipment and installation costs
5. By accepting the free logger offer, you also give permission for Watermetrics staff to come onto your property to undertake the installation
Fast forwarding to now, Watermetrics is now run by a NZ company, Arthur D Riley & Col Ltd, which has been in existence since 1909. The business is owned by a trust, based in Wellington and has a solid financial stability.
Click here to upgrade your Aquacom loggers to the next generation technology.