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Use your smartphone to read your own water metre, receive prompt notifications about temporary water service interruptions for scheduled work, report leaks in the road and discover average tap water quality values, all with a simple click. Starting today, all of this is possible with the Acquologo (Water Expert), the new free app created by Hera.

After the success of the Rifiutologo (Waste Expert), which helps to best separate waste and makes it possible to send geolocalised photo-reports about litter, the multiutility company is offering yet another app dedicated to residents in the communities it serves, to put a new, innovative and immediate tool in the palm of their hands, with all of the information about the local water service.

The Acquologo is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone operating systems.

Water metre self-reading with one click
With the Acquologo, customers that have a contract with Hera can simply and quickly read their own water metres and report their actual water consumption using a smartphone. All they need to do is select "Water metre reading", enter the contract code and then send the numbers from their metre.

The self-reading function is valid for all users that receive a Hera bill for their water service. It is not available for customers that rely on other metre reading companies.

The app provides advance notification of water service interruptions
The Acquologo can also notify residents beforehand about water service interruptions for scheduled work (for example, pipeline upgrades or replacements). The notifications system can be activated on any smartphone by simply choosing the post code, allowing customers to always stay informed.

Hera customers can also receive a notification by SMS by entering their mobile phone number in addition to the post code.

The Acquologo provides information about tap water quality
Hera manages the water service while guaranteeing its customers good drinking water, in line with regulatory requirements and with careful oversight along the entire purification and distribution chain. The Acquologo provides additional confirmation of this, as it allows users to use theirsmartphones to check the average values (calcium, pH, hardness, dry residue and much more) of the quality of the water provided in each municipality served by the multiutility company, and also compare them with legal limits.

There is also a function that calculates the financial savings generated by consuming tap water rather than bottled water: in the "How much do you save" section, users can enter how many litres of water they drink per week and select the brand they typically buy. The Acquologo will estimate how much they can save.

Water leaks can be reported to Emergency Services by sending a photo
In the future, it will also be possible to use the Acquologo to send reports, for example about water leaks on public land due to pipe breakages below the road. To do this, users can simply take a photo with their own smartphone and, if necessary, attach a brief description. The report will be sent directly to Hera Emergency Services and, using geolocalisation, the system will identify the exact location where the report was sent, to notify Emergency Services technicians. This service is already active on a trial basis in Bologna.

Ask the expert
Lastly, the application can be used to contact the Hera experts with questions and requests about the local water service and to read the answers to the most frequently asked questions in this area. This system is synchronised with information available on the Group's website. To ensure that the Acquologo loads all content from the central database, the app should be updated periodically.

"Hera's focus on assisting residents is seen not only in the quality of its services", says Stefano Venier, CEO of the Hera Group, but also in its development of simple, "at your fingertips" tools that can directly provide customers with information and facilitate communications with the company. The success of theRifiutologo inspired the launch of the Acquologo , thereby enhancing the options for getting into contact with the company in an innovative manner, to best meet a range of needs".