Exploring Europe’s smart water meter market

As utilities move beyond basic automation toward truly connected, data-driven infrastructure, water metering in Europe offers a compelling starting point for understanding how metering in general is evolving globally.

Smart meters, underpinned by automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), have already delivered clear benefits, notably improving billing accuracy and reducing the need for manual readings. But now the role of metering is expanding well beyond periodic consumption data.

Utilities are now increasingly deploying connected meters as distributed sensing platforms, allowing for additional applications such as leakage detection, pressure monitoring, backflow identification and network optimization. This is transforming meters into critical nodes within wider smart networks in which data is continuously captured, transmitted and analyzed – and changing what is possible.

Next month, we’ll explore how smart electricity metering in China is shaping the Asian market. But now let’s look closer at water meters, and why Europe’s market is entering a decisive phase.

A region in transition

The global water metering market is diverging along regional lines.

China is scaling at unmatched speed and accounts for 96% of communicating meter shipments in Asia/Oceania, driven by strong government backing and widespread adoption of NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things, a low-power, wide-area (LPWA) cellular technology designed for IoT devices).

Meanwhile, North America has already reached a high level of maturity. According to Saft research, in 2024, 85.6% of water meters shipped in North America were communicating.

Europe, by contrast, sits in a transitional phase, characterized significant variation between countries. Some countries, such as Luxembourg, are already close to full deployment of communicating meters - while others including Turkey, Portugal and Greece - are in earlier stages of adoption.

The transition to communicating water meters is underway, though, with around one-third of shipments across the wider EMEA region now connected. This growth is being driven by a combination of regulatory pressure, infrastructure modernization and the need for more efficient, data-led operations.

In Western Europe, regulation is a primary catalyst. Policies linked to climate targets, water conservation and energy efficiency are encouraging utilities to adopt advanced metering solutions. The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive and national-level mandates are pushing for more granular consumption data, greater transparency, and improved resource management. In parallel, several countries including the UK, Italy, France and the Nordics are entering large-scale AMI rollout phases.

In other parts of Europe, the drivers are slightly different with modernization of aging infrastructure and the need to reduce water losses being key priorities. Non-revenue water remains a significant challenge in many regions, and smart metering offers a practical route to identifying leaks, improving network visibility, and optimizing maintenance strategies.

One of the most notable trends underpinning this transition is the rapid growth of low-power wide-area (LPWA) communication technologies. Adoption of NB-IoT, LTE-M and LoRaWAN is increasing quickly, with these technologies being particularly well suited to water metering applications thanks to long-range connectivity, low energy consumption and the ability to operate reliably in challenging environments such as underground pits or dense urban areas. This allows for more scalable rollouts, particularly in rural or hard-to-reach locations where traditional communication infrastructure is less viable.

As a result, LPWA is becoming a cornerstone of Europe’s smart water infrastructure.

But what’s next for Europe’s water metering market?

What’s next for Europe’s water meter market?

Regulation and sustainability targets will continue to act as the primary catalyst for adoption. European policy frameworks such as the Water Framework Directive and the European Green Deal are placing increasing pressure on utilities to reduce water losses and improve resource efficiency.

This is not a marginal issue: across Europe an estimated 20-26% of water is lost through leakage and inefficiencies, making nonrevenue water reduction a central priority. As a result, more than 60% of European countries have already introduced policies encouraging or mandating smart meter deployment, with measurable impacts including reductions in water losses of up to 20–30% in monitored networks. This regulatory push will continue to underpin long-term demand, particularly in Western Europe.

Europe already hosts tens of millions of AMR/AMI endpoints, and this installed base is expected to double by 2030 as utilities transition toward real-time, two-way communication systems. Utilities are increasingly using this data not only for billing, but also to enable predictive maintenance, dynamic pressure management, and more responsive customer engagement. Advanced analytics and AIenabled platforms have demonstrated the potential to reduce non-revenue water by up to 40%, highlighting the scale of opportunity – and driving accelerated deployment.

These drivers, and other more local factors including smart city initiatives or the substantial need to replace legacy meters, mean that the European smart water meter market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 25% by the early 2030s. Significant investment is already flowing into the sector, with over €1 billion committed to smart water infrastructure projects in the near term.

As Europe continues its transition toward fully connected water infrastructure, the interplay between regulation, technology and energy storage will shape the pace and success of deployment.

In the next article in this series, we will turn to China, where rapid scaling and government-led initiatives are redefining what is possible in smart gas metering.

What does this mean for batteries?

For NB-IoT and LTE-M applications in particular, the battery must deliver both energy and power, as communication modules can generate significant pulse loads when transmitting data, especially in areas with weaker signal coverage. Utilities also expect meter lifetimes of 10 to 15 years to minimize the need for costly battery replacements, especially in hard-to-reach environments.

Primary lithium batteries are ideal for these demands. High energy density enables long service life, while advanced chemistries can deliver the pulse performance required for modern communication protocols.

• Saft’s Li-SOCl2 (Lithium Thionyl Chloride) range offers ideal options for different deployments. LS cells are well suited for high-temperature environments (LS 14500/ LS 17500/ LS 33600), LSP cells combine extended lifetime with strong pulse capability (LSP 14500/ LSP 17500/ LSP 33600), and LSH cells are designed for reliable operation in extreme climates.
• The Li-MNO2 (lithium manganese dioxide) ‘M’ range of cells provide high power and maximum current pulse capability and an electrolyte formula for excellent performance in low temperatures.

Reliable, long-lasting power sources are fundamental to the success of smart metering deployments, directly impacting operational costs, data quality and customer satisfaction. So, if you’d like to explore which batteries are right for your metering project, our IoT Smart Selector can help you refine your battery choices in seven simple steps.