Starting a Business

Hello.

I'm thinking about making a proposal to the mayor of the city. What i have in mind is creating a system of water control more complete and effective, that the County get more profits at the end of each month. I want to create this system, so that i can start a business.
The system they have is not effective because they make an average of what the people spent for month, and sometimes they *send someone to our house to verify the correct amount to pay, but they rarely come to people's homes to see that. So, that's why i want create this:

First of all, I have to put in every single house a little "machine" linked to the water system, that after being installed, the "machine" connects (like a phone) to a database (computer...) to get the correct data daily what people consume. Well, for this to work, i need to create also an antenna to receive the data of each house.

What they win from this? More money in the end of the month and they *save in human resources.

Now, i need to know what do you think about this, what i need to change or do to go forward with this.

Thanks in advance for your attention.

Best regards.

In my area water/gas/electric meters have radio transmitters.
They simply drive down the street and harvest the info automatically as they go.

This would seem simpler than your plan since it doesn't rely on a direct connection between the meter and a server.

I see issues with the antenna as their may be issues with connectivity.

What will be receiving the data? A satellite?
I know little about sending data over a long range wirelessly, but it sounds difficult and costly.

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Originally Posted by clocker

In my area water/gas/electric meters have radio transmitters.
They simply drive down the street and harvest the info automatically as they go.

This would seem simpler than your plan since it doesn't rely on a direct connection between the meter and a server.

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We don't have them here yet, but they are already being used in enough places that I have heard of them.

@OP- The biggest problem I see, would be coming up with enough capital to have and place enough of these devices. What is your starting capital, and how many residences are there in your city? If this were inexpensive, the city would have implemented it earlier.

clocker the ideia of radio transmitters is great, but my idea, at least for me is more advanced, the problem is that being able to cost more money. Can you please take a picture of your radio trasmitter of your house please? Thanks in advance.

Tv Controls you what kind of issues may exist? With time, surely there will be some problems with the transmission...

megabyteme I want to make the proposal the camera first, and then if they accept, they will have to come up with money to start development. In my county we have 11 856 persons, but how many homes have, I do not know, but there are many...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DATTER

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]clocker the ideia of radio transmitters is great, but my idea, at least for me is more advanced, the problem is that being able to cost more money. Can you please take a picture of your radio trasmitter of your house please? Thanks in advance.

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There is nothing to see...the meter looks just like any other.
The transmitter only needs to broadcast as far as the street (maybe 75'), so it's not a big unit (and is completely internal, no visible antennae).
As the power company truck drives by, it queries the meter and records the data.
I've seen them do this a few times, they just drive through the neighborhood at the speed limit (30 MPH) like a lost tourist and are gone in a flash.

Seems like a much simpler system than your proposal.
The meter units are passive and need no connection to a server, so the infrastructure is minimal.

To be honest, it would seem you are doomed before you even begin.

Advances like the new "smart" meters that allow your information to be pulled up on the internet and the rising popularity of prepaid electrical service make something involving an antennea moot.