Aquas — Water Utility
Everything a water utility needs in one place: the network, customers and premises, meter reading in the office or the field, PAM-aware billing, and the work orders that keep it all running.
If you don't see Aquas in your sidebar, ask your Soundial administrator to enable the Aquas module for your company.
Set up the network
1
Zones, sources and storage
Start with the physical network — supply zones, bulk water sources, storage areas and tanks, and the reading routes your meter readers walk.
Aquas›Network
A zone's loss policy (flag only, absorb, or socialize) decides how non-revenue water is handled at billing.
Customer types (classes)
1
Use the built-in classes or add your own
Residential, Commercial, Agricultural and Government are built in. Create your own classes — Hotel / Tourism, Industrial, School — from
Aquas›Customers›Customer Types
2
Each type carries its own rules
A type sets the default currency and GCT status for new accounts, and whether accounts of that type may carry a second rate. Residential, agricultural and government are GCT-exempt; commercial is charged 15% and allows a second rate.
Built-in types can't be deleted (deactivate them instead), and a type that customers already use can only be deactivated. Currency and GCT are copied onto each account when it's created, so editing a type later never changes existing bills.
Customers, premises and meters
1
Register the customer
Add the account and pick its type — currency and GCT fill in automatically.
Aquas›Customers
2
Register the premise and fit a meter
Create the service point (premise), then assign or swap a meter from stock with its opening read. Tick Raise a work order during the install or swap to create a linked CMMS job for the field crew.
Aquas›Premises
3
Two rates for a commercial account
When the customer's type allows it, pick a water rate and a second sewerage rate. Both are billed on the same metered volume as separate lines on one invoice.
Meter reads — office and field
1
In the field (ESS)
A meter reader opens Water Meter Reads in the ESS app, selects the meter, and enters the reading. Their GPS location is captured automatically and stamped on the read.
2
Record an exception when you can't read it
Instead of guessing a number, the reader picks a structured exception — No access, Meter inaccessible, Reading illegible, Flooded meter, Meter missing, Tampered, Illegal connection, and more. No-value exceptions carry the previous reading so consumption never jumps and the period is estimated at billing; a with-reading exception (tamper, illegal connection) still bills but is flagged for review.
3
Work the exceptions list
Supervisors see every field exception, with its GPS location, under
Aquas›Reports›Field read exceptions
Reads validate as they're entered: a reading lower than the last is rejected unless you mark a meter reset, and a reading more than 10x the usual is flagged and raises a meter-check work order.
Billing the customer
1
Open a period and set the PAM rate
Open the billing period and record the OUR price-adjustment (PAM) rate for the month.
Aquas›Customers›Billing Runs
2
Preview, then generate
Preview every customer's invoice — consumption, PAM adjustment, GCT and any second (sewerage) rate — then Confirm & generate. Nothing is written until you confirm.
3
Collect payments
Take walk-in payments at the cashier desk and track receivables.
Aquas›Billing & Cashier
Live map & water work orders
1
See your network on the map
Water meters, sources, tanks and storage appear on the Water assets layer of the Live Map. A meter shows up once it has coordinates — set on the meter, inherited from its premise when it's installed, or captured from the first GPS field read.
2
Raise a work order from the map
Managers can click a water asset's pin and raise a work order for it on the spot.
3
View and operate water work orders
Meter installs and swaps, anomalies, tank-low and zone-loss alerts all raise CMMS work orders. Open the Water Work Orders card on the Aquas dashboard for the work-order list filtered to water, then open any one to assign, progress and complete it.