Frequently Asked Questions

Mainlink provides high-quality, end-to-end smart water metering and submetering solutions. Our system combines Axioma Metering’s ultrasonic water meters, LoRaWAN gateways, a powerful data management platform for advanced monitoring, reporting, and billing data, and a dedicated mobile app for residents. Our solution helps property owners track water consumption, detect leaks, access transparent billing data, and optimize water use across their properties. It also empowers residents to view their own usage data, follow statistics and trends, and receive important notifications.

Mainlink offers advanced smart water metering solutions designed for submetering, consumption monitoring, and leak detection.

Traditional meter providers usually offer mechanical meters that wear out quickly because of moving parts such as gears, turbines, and pistons. Mechanical meters also require manual reads, which can be inaccurate and often lead to resident dissatisfaction with billing. Mainlink’s solution is built on Axioma Metering’s advanced ultrasonic meters, which contain no moving parts and therefore require no maintenance. Meter readings are sent automatically and remotely – eliminating physical reads altogether. The data is accurate and reliable, providing unit-level consumption visibility and instant leak or anomaly alerts. Our AMI system improves accuracy, increases operational efficiency, reduces maintenance needs, and supports data-driven decisions for long-term water management. Residents also benefit from a user-friendly mobile app that provides real-time consumption data, trends, historical usage, and alerts.

Our metering solutions are the perfect option for property managers, landlords, and building owners with submetering needs. In addition to utilities providers and municipalities, our solutions are an effective choice in multi-unit residential contexts like apartments, mobile home parks, and commercial buildings. Residents benefit as well, gaining transparent access to their water usage data through the mobile app.

Yes. Our smart metering solution is fully scalable thanks to LoRaWAN technology. As a property grows or its needs change, additional meters and IoT sensors can be added easily to support more advanced and sustainable operations management.

Mainlink serves a wide range of industries that require accurate water monitoring and submetering. These include:

• Residential housing sectors such as multifamily, single-family developments, manufactured homes, and RV parks.
• Submetering and RBC service providers who manage billing and metering for their clients.
• Utilities and municipalities seeking reliable AMI infrastructure and remote data collection.
• Commercial and mixed-use properties where detailed consumption data and leak detection add operational value.

Our solutions are suitable for any industry that needs precise measurement, automated and remote data delivery and improved resource management that supports long-term sustainability goals.

Smart water submetering monitors each unit’s consumption with precision. By knowing how much water is used, when it is used, and by whom, Mainlink’s solution empowers residents to make more informed choices, since they can track their usage in a user-friendly mobile app. When residents are billed for their actual consumption, they naturally tend to use less water.
In addition, real-time monitoring and advanced leak detection help reduce water losses by identifying issues early – conserving water that would otherwise be wasted.

Water submetering measures consumption at the unit level rather than relying on a single master meter for the entire property. This approach provides accurate usage data, enables fair allocation of costs, and encourages residents to take personal accountability for their water use.

A water meter measures the flow and tracks water consumption at the whole-building level. It’s usually installed by the utility provider and is located at the property boundary or a shared service entrance. A water submeter enables more granular measurements, such as per unit, apartment, or even per tenant. Submetering service provider usually installs submeters.

Submeters are installed in each apartment unit to measure individual water usage. Each submeter sends data to a LoRaWAN gateway, which then transfers the data to the data management platform. There, the information is aggregated, analyzed, and presented in clear, insightful dashboards showing consumption patterns, anomalies, and other analytics valuable to property owners and submetering companies. Residents can view their consumption, historical data, and alerts in the mobile app. They are billed only for the water they use, rather than receiving an allocated portion of a master bill under the RUBS method.

Water submetering provides detailed visibility into unit-level consumption patterns – showing who is using water, when, and how much. It highlights usage peaks and troughs, enables fast detection of leaks and abnormal consumption, and reveals long-term trends that help managers and owners understand and optimize a building’s water use over time. For service providers, our platform adds tools such as device monitoring, network health analysis for faster issue resolution, and additional features that support efficient property management. For residents, the mobile app provides real-time consumption data, statistics, trends, and alert notifications for leaks, bursts, and freezes.

Yes, effective use of submetering can help reduce overall water consumption and water costs for building owners and tenants alike. When residents are given personal accountability for their bills along with comprehensive usage data, they become empowered to make choices that reduce water use and save them money. For the landlord or property owner, accurate unit-level billing allows actual costs to be passed on to the residents who generate them. Early leak detection can also lead to reduced maintenance spending.

Submetering enables fair billing, where tenants pay only for their actual water usage. This empowers residents to make more effective choices about their consumption and can help reduce billing disputes while also conserving water. Property owners and managers benefit from detailed insights and easier data collection, enabling them to make better, more strategic choices about water management and maintenance.

Yes. Data collected through Mainlink’s data management platform can be integrated with existing billing systems via API, or it can be used within the platform itself for analysis and data export.

Our submetering solution is suitable for a wide range of building types, including multifamily properties, garden-style communities, high-rise buildings, manufactured housing, mobile home parks, condominiums, and commercial properties.

No, water submetering is not mandatory everywhere. While some countries, states within countries, or regions within states have different rules mandating submetering in various contexts, it isn’t a legal requirement in every single jurisdiction. 

A submeter’s life expectancy depends on the technology used by the manufacturer. Traditional mechanical submeters can last 3 to 10 years and require periodic maintenance due to wear on moving parts. Modern ultrasonic smart water meters – like those Mainlink provides in partnership with Axioma Metering – have no moving parts and generally operate up to 16 years or longer.

AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) provides continuous, real-time data that supports efficient water management. It enables instant leak detection, improves billing accuracy, and allows full remote monitoring making it highly valuable for utilities, building managers, and residents who need timely insights.

AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) collects meter data at set intervals, typically through walk-by or drive-by readings. While AMR still provides accurate data, it does not offer real-time visibility. Because updates are periodic rather than continuous, issues such as leaks or abnormal consumption may be detected later.

Depending on the project, communication can be either wired or wireless. Increasingly, properties are adopting long-range wireless technologies such as LoRaWAN and NB-IoT because they provide reliable long-distance data transmission, strong signal penetration, and cost-effective operation for smart metering systems.

Yes. Mainlink’s submetering system is highly effective at detecting even very small leaks and abnormal usage. The Axioma QALCOSONIC W1 meter measures extremely low flow rates with high accuracy, allowing early identification of irregular consumption. The data management platform analyzes incoming data and sends alerts to property managers and to the resident mobile app. When paired with an additional leak detection sensor, alerts can become instant.

Our data management platform provides detailed consumption reports, historical usage data, billing information, trend analysis, and predictive insights. It also aggregates alerts related to devices, leaks, bursts, and freezes. Interactive dashboards give property managers and service providers an immediate view of overall property performance. Additional features such as Network Health analysis make it easy to assess network effectiveness and quickly identify issues that require attention.

No. Mainlink’s smart ultrasonic meters, manufactured by Axioma Metering, do not require an internet connection.

Yes. Mainlink’s submetering solution supports near real-time monitoring and tracking. 

Our submetering solution includes a user-friendly mobile app for residents. It allows them to monitor their consumption, view historical data, and receive alerts—all in one place. This eliminates the need for remote meter displays or physical meter checks.

Ultrasonic water meters are modern, innovative devices that use sound waves to measure water flow. Unlike traditional mechanical meters, ultrasonic meters typically have no moving parts.

QALCOSONIC W1 water meter uses ultrasonic transit-time measurement: it sends pulses upstream and downstream, the meter calculates flow rate based on the time difference.

Ultrasonic water meters are typically highly accurate; they’re some of the most accurate water meters available. The QALCOSONIC W1 ultrasonic water meters provided by Mainlink, in conjunction with Axioma Metering, are accurate to ±1.5% over the normal flow range.

Ultrasonic water meters are a modern alternative to traditional mechanical meters. They deliver high accuracy and retain it over time because they have no moving parts that can wear out. This extends their lifespan and significantly reduces maintenance needs. Ultrasonic meters are also highly sensitive at low flows, enabling advanced features such as early leak detection. In addition, they support real-time alerts and can be installed at any angle, even in challenging locations.

Ultrasonic meters generally do not require regular maintenance. Periodic checks are advised to ensure optimal operating efficiency, but unlike mechanical meters, ultrasonic meters have no moving parts subject to wear and tear.

Exact battery life depends on specific implementations and use cases, but our ultrasonic water meters offer a battery life of up to 16 years when installed correctly.

Yes. Unlike traditional meters, whose placement can be challenging due to constraints on orientation, ultrasonic water meters are much more flexible. They can be installed in any orientation, making them a versatile choice even for more complex pipe systems.

Yes. Our ultrasonic meters are excellent at detecting leaks. This is because they’re sensitive at very low flows, starting as low as 0.01gpm. This allows them to detect leaks, triggering an alert from our platform.

Mainlink’s submetering solution can deliver significant savings compared with traditional mechanical submetering installations. In a 200-unit multifamily property in California, our estimates show savings of $49,500 (excluding long-term maintenance) when compared with a mechanical system. These savings come from reduced hardware requirements and lower installation costs. Ongoing reductions in maintenance needs provide additional financial returns over the meter’s lifetime. Because ROI varies by project size and state-specific conditions, we encourage property owners to contact us for a tailored calculation.

The Mainhive data management platform is a cloud-based platform that utilizes advanced technology to process and analyze data securely. Mainhive integrates meter data management and head-end system functionalities in a single platform. Our IoT solution is hardware and network-agnostic, allowing you to utilize any type of smart meter and network. It can handle billions of meter readings, making it perfect for large-scale deployments.

Mainhive is a flexible, scalable platform equipped with a wide range of features. It offers intuitive dashboards for quick overviews and key metrics, system and device alerts, and detailed consumption insights tailored to each property. The platform also provides customizable alerts, comparative analytics, data-outage detection, and network health analysis – giving you all the critical information needed to manage your submeters effectively.

Yes. Our platform allows integration with third-party billing systems via API, or if preferred, billing data can be downloaded as a standalone file. 

For specific integration requirements, please contact our sales representative.

Yes. Residents have access to our user-friendly, feature-rich mobile app. There’s no need for costly wall-mounted meter displays (commonly required in California). The app delivers detailed consumption data directly to residents’ smartphones and provides critical notifications, helping them stay informed and in control of their water use.

The Mainhive platform provides both system and device alerts, with thresholds typically set by the service provider. Device alerts are especially useful for service providers responsible for meter functionality, while alerts related to leaks, freezes, and bursts are sent to property managers and residents. This ensures that both operational teams and property managers receive the information most relevant to them. Additionally, alerts are sent to mobile application for residents, instantly informing them about leaks, bursts, and freezes in the property. 

Yes. Platform users can export water usage data for billing purposes.

Our cloud platform is built with security at its core, backed by ISO 27001, 27002, and 9001 certifications that prove our processes, controls, and quality standards are thoroughly managed and independently verified. Developed on AWS infrastructure, our system benefits from industry-leading cloud security features that smaller providers simply can’t match. We take a security-first approach in everything we do, ensuring proactive protection across every layer of our platform. To validate this, we conduct independent penetration tests annually, which consistently report no vulnerabilities above a medium severity. This track record demonstrates our commitment to delivering one of the most secure and reliable cloud solutions on the market.