Build the System You Need. Keep the Flexibility to Change It.
Water utilities rarely operate with one generation of equipment from one manufacturer.
Meters are replaced. Endpoints are upgraded. New radios are introduced. Existing equipment may remain in service for years. And as AMI systems evolve, utilities may find themselves working with several different technologies across the same service territory.
That is normal.
The connection between those technologies shouldn’t make it more complicated.
Hydroconn® water meter connectors give utilities the flexibility to connect different components across their AMI system, helping them build the configuration that works for them today while keeping their options open for the future.
Your Equipment Will Change
An AMI deployment is a long-term investment, but that doesn’t mean every component will follow the same lifecycle.
A utility may replace meters without replacing endpoints. A new radio may need to connect to equipment already in the ground. An expansion may introduce a different manufacturer than the one used during the original deployment.
Sometimes the best option is to keep what is already working and change only what needs to change.
That’s where the connection matters.
A flexible connector and adapter system can help bridge different equipment configurations without requiring the utility to rebuild everything around a single connection type.
The Connector Should Work Around Your System
When utilities evaluate AMI technology, there are plenty of factors to consider: performance, cost, availability, installation requirements, support, and long-term maintenance.
The connector shouldn’t unnecessarily narrow those choices.
Hydroconn is designed to work across a wide range of meters, endpoints, radios, and other smart water components. The product line includes multiple connector configurations, adapters, extension cables, and splice solutions that help utilities connect equipment across different AMI ecosystems.
Hydroconn Series III is the connection commonly referenced as “Nicor” in AMI and AMR specifications. Series IV provides compatibility with Itron® applications, while additional Hydroconn configurations and adapters expand the ways utilities can connect equipment from different manufacturers.
Instead of designing the system around the limitations of a connection, utilities can choose the equipment that makes sense for the application and use Hydroconn to help bring those components together.
Flexibility Matters in the Field
That flexibility becomes especially valuable when crews encounter an existing system.
The equipment in a meter pit may have been installed years earlier. The replacement component on the truck may be newer. The utility may be partway through a system migration, or different areas of the service territory may use different equipment.
Those situations don’t always call for replacing everything.
Hydroconn adapters and connectivity options can help utilities work with existing infrastructure while introducing new components where needed.
That can make repairs, replacements, phased upgrades, and future migrations easier to manage without unnecessarily limiting the utility to one configuration.
Keep Your Options Open
No utility knows exactly what its AMI system will look like ten or fifteen years from now.
Technology will change. Equipment will reach the end of its service life. New manufacturers and capabilities will enter the market. Utility priorities will change as well.
The connection should be ready to change with them.
With more than 40 million units deployed, Hydroconn provides a proven connectivity platform designed to work across AMI environments while maintaining the rugged performance required for underground water infrastructure.
For utilities, that means something simple:
Build the system you need today without unnecessarily limiting the system you can build tomorrow.
