What is water submetering? A guide for property teams

Water submetering is the practice of measuring water use at the unit, riser, or zone level, rather than with a single building-level meter. It gives property teams accurate, per-unit data for billing, conservation, and regulatory reporting.

How water submetering works

A building usually has one master meter at the point where the municipal supply enters. Submetering adds meters downstream, one per unit or zone, so each tenant's use is measured on its own. That interval data flows to a submetering or billing platform, usually through M-Bus hardware or an API, where it becomes per-unit invoices, cost allocation, and conservation reporting.

Submetering and leak detection belong together

A billing submeter counts water. It does not act on what it sees. If a unit springs a leak at 2 a.m., a billing-only meter records the loss and waits for the next billing cycle to surface it. By then the damage is done. Most water losses are a response problem, not a detection problem. The meter that already sees every unit's flow is the natural place to catch a leak and stop it.

How Eddy approaches submetering

Eddy IQ is a flow meter and a shut-off valve at each unit's point of entry. It records interval usage for your submetering company, and at the same time it watches flow for the signatures of a leak. When it finds one, Eddy detects the leak, verifies it with a live operator, isolates the water, and resolves the problem, often in about 2 minutes. You get the billing data and the protection from one device. See the full picture on the water submetering page and for apartments and condos on multifamily.

Common questions

Does submetering change how residents use water? When residents see and pay for their own use, the meter turns water into something visible rather than a flat building charge. That visibility is part of why property teams pair submetering with conservation and reporting programs.

Can a submeter detect leaks? A standard billing submeter only counts water. An Eddy meter measures use and detects leaks, then shuts the water off, so the same hardware that bills also protects.

Want submetering that protects, not just bills? Talk to a leak-detection advisor.