The Municipality of Spata–Artemida has launched an open tender worth 803,520 euros (€648,000 plus VAT) to maintain, for a period of three years, the system that reads digital water meters in homes and remotely monitors pumping stations, reservoirs and water pressure in the water network. The tender notice was published on Diaugia on Tuesday 13 October, and bids must be submitted electronically via ESIDIS by Monday 16 November at 14:00.
As of November 2025, the system does not appear to have a maintenance contract. The previous contract (No. 37131/29-11-2022) expired on 28 November 2025, as stated in the municipality’s payment orders. The contractor was MELCER, which has since been taken over by THITA-FI. The final payment, €81,455.60 in March 2026, related to invoices from December 2025. We were unable to locate a new contract or extension on the ‘Diafania’ transparency portal following the expiry. With the deadline for tenders in mid-November and the subsequent evaluation, it is unlikely that the new contract will be signed before a year has passed since the expiry of the old one.
What the system monitors
According to Study 135/2026 by the Technical Services Directorate, the system was set up in three phases. It comprises 33 local monitoring stations across the network, 10 stations that measure water quality and 26,700 digital water meters, which were installed in three phases (1,000, 10,000 and 15,700). The study states that all the municipality’s water connections are now fitted with digital meters.
In Artemida, the stations are located, amongst other places, at the Agia Kyriaki, Skampa and Sotiros, at the reservoir in the Arava area, at the points where EYDAP (the Athens water and sewerage company) water enters the system (Chryseidos, Agios Ioannis, Vravrona and Grigorios E’, Ypapanti and Georgios Papandreou) and at pressure-reducing valves on streets such as Hesiodou, Chalkidikis, Ifigeneias and Serifou.
The meters are Sensus iPerl models. Their readings are not transmitted directly to the local authority: they are collected using handheld devices and managed centrally by Ianic’s Smartville software. During the study, the meters also record alerts for leaks or burst pipes inside the home, reverse flow, supply interruptions, air in the network, tampering with the meter and low battery. The alerts also appear on the Smartville App, where consumers can view their meter readings and bills.
What the local council will pay
Of the 648,000 euros excluding VAT, 468,000 euros is for fixed monthly services over 36 months: 2,500 euros per month for the collection and correction of errors in meter data, €4,000 for the supervision and maintenance of the meter reading system, €4,000 for the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, and €2,500 for software. A further 180,000 euros relates to meter replacements and spare parts, which are paid for on a per-unit basis. A new meter is priced at 220 euros and its replacement at 42 euros; it must be of the same model and manufacturer as the existing ones. The tender is not divided into lots, and the award criterion is the lowest price. The project was approved by the Municipal Committee by Decision No. 611/2026.
The expenditure is covered by the municipality’s own resources and is spread over four financial years: 66,960 euros in 2026, 267,840 in 2027 and 2028, and 200,880 in 2029. Under the previous contract, the municipality had committed €135,000 in 2024 and €170,462.80 in 2025. The new contract therefore costs approximately 268,000 euros per year, 57 per cent more than the amount committed for 2025.
Why this affects your bills
The announcement comes a few days after the council acknowledged an error in the water bills, which charged several quarters’ worth of consumption to a single bill. The study does not link the two. However, it states that the purpose of the contract is the ‘smooth, unhindered and uninterrupted operation’ of the system, so as to minimise leaks and ensure ‘accurate billing’. The contractor must, amongst other things, monitor the SCADA system remotely on a daily basis, visit each local station once a month and submit fault reports and water balance reports, that is, how much water enters the network and how much is consumed.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, tender notice and study 135/2026 on the telemetry of the water supply network (ADA 9XRIΩ1X-3F6), Diavgeia 13/10/2026; payment orders Ψ9Η6Ω1Χ-ΣΝΠ (27/03/2026) and Ψ2Ζ7Ω1Χ-ΘΒΙ (20/08/2025); commitment decisions ΨΠΥΦΩ1Χ-ΥΥΘ (2024) and ΨΛΝΡΩ1Χ-Κ2Π (2025).
