NMO's participation in the joint ISO/OIML Working Group on 12-15 May 2009, in Canada, Ottawa
NMO participate in meetings of ISO/TC 30/SC 7, OIML/TC 8/SC 5, CEN/TC 92 and the Joint ISO/OIML Working Group on 12-15 May 2009, in Canada, Ottawa
The third meeting of the international Joint Working Group (JWG) for the harmonisation of the ISO/TC 30/SC 7 (Volume methods including water meters), OIML/TC 8/SC 5 (Water Meters), and CEN/TC 92 (Water Meters) water meter standards was held at Measurement Canada, Ottawa on 11-15 May 2009 courtesy of James Welsh from Measurement Canada and Mr. Alan E. Johnston, President of Measurement Canada and CIML President (International Conference of Legal Metrology). The meeting was chaired by Dr. Micheal Reader-Harris, chairman of OIML TC 8/SC 5 from the National Engineering Laboratory and consisted of legal metrology experts and manufacturers' representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, Romania, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and Canada. The United Kingdom was represented by Mr Marek Bokota, senior type engineer, and Mr Morayo Awosola, UK Secretariat of OIML TC 8/SC 5 from the National Measurement Office (NMO), and Mr Ian Holmes-Higgin from Elster Metering Ltd . Representatives from the British Standards Institution (BSI) were also present at the meeting.
The meeting discussed the working draft documents developed by the JWG and the wider consultation comments received to the documents for:
- Water meters intended for the metering of cold potable water and hot water - Part 1: Metrological and technical requirements, and
- Water meters intended for the metering of cold potable water and hot water - Part 2: Test methods.
During the discussions three crucial topics were raised for future considerations in the harmonisation work:
- Requirements for irrigation meters
- Requirements for software controlled water meters
- Flexibility to enable manufactures to specify flowrates limits for the required accuracy
Proposals for improvements to the standards were agreed with the aim of submitting the first committee drafts of all Parts of the standard to the JWG by December 2009. The OIML TC 8/ SC 5 Secretariat will then circulate the first committee drafts to OIML TC 8/SC 5 for a wider consultation.
In addition to the JWG meeting, NMO participated in the separate meetings of OIML TC 8/SC 5, ISO TC 23/SC 8 and CEN /TC 92 committees which were held in conjunction with the JWG meeting.
The OIML TC 8/SC 5 meeting chaired by the SC 5 Secretariat Mr Morayo Awosola agreed to work with ISO TC 30/S C7 on the development and maintenance of jointly developed documents. Jointly developed publications will be maintained in parallel in the future by OIML TC 8/SC 5 and the ISO TC 30/SC 7 subcommittees.
The revision of OIML D 7 (The evaluation of flow standards and facilities used for testing water meters) was discussed in OIML TC 8/SC 5 meeting. It was agreed that the OIML TC 8/SC 5 Secretariat will request a formal vote from TC 8/SC 5 ‘P' Members on whether to revise, confirm, or withdraw OIML D7. The request for a formal vote will be accompanied with an investigative report on OIML D7 from James Welsh OIML D7 revision chairman.
The ISO TC 23 / SC 8 meeting discussed irrigation water meters standards and explored possibilities of working with ISO TC 23/ SC 8 (Irrigation and drainage equipment and systems). It was agreed to invite a representative from ISO /TC 23/SC 8 to give a presentation on irrigation water meters standards to the JWG. There was also a presentation from Mr Adriano Fernandes de Oliveira of Acatris/Itron, Brazil on "Proposal for local solutions: Profile consumption and endurance test".
In the CEN/TC 92 meeting a presentation was given by Gudrun Wendt from PTB, Germany on "Practical experience based on LDA flow profile measurements to verify ideal liquid flow conditions". There was also a presentation from Mr Grabel van der Burg on "Smart meter co-ordination group" focusing on the Mandate No. M441 from the EU Commission to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI for the development of an open architecture for utility meters involving communication protocols enabling interoperability.
The main requirements of Mandate No. M441:
Has to be performance based
Enable remote meter reading
Advanced information and management of information services
No conflict with Measuring Instruments Directive (MID)
Take into account International standards
OIML TC 8 / SC 5 decides to hold the next meeting in conjunction with the next joint ISO/CEN/OIML water meter meeting in week 16, 19-23 April, 2010 in Paris.
History of the ISO/TC 30/SC 7, OIML/TC 8/SC 5, CEN/TC 92 Joint Working Group
Four years ago three sets of water meter standards with very similar technical requirements were published:
- ISO 4064 : 2005 - Measurement of water flow in fully charged closed conduits -Meters for cold potable water and hot water;
- OIML R 49 : 2006 - Water meters intended for the metering of cold potable water and hot water;
- EN 14154 : 2007 - Water meters
Because of the close technical requirements in the three standards the various technical committees got together and agreed to harmonise the 3 documents with the following objectives:
- To harmonise the requirements in the water meter standards/regulations to ensure consistency and simplicity when updating the standards.
- From an EU point of view to ensure uniformity EN 14154 and OIML R 49 when meeting the requirements of the Measuring Instruments Directive (MID).
Harmonisation between CEN and ISO is essential: British Standards Institution (BSI) votes on the ISO standard, but cannot implement it. If CEN and ISO are to harmonise it was appropriate to bring OIML on board at the same time.
For further information please contact Mr Morayo Awosola