NEXT-GENERATION INTELLIGENT WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: AN EDGE-BASED IOT FRAMEWORK FOR REAL-TIME HYDRAULIC ANALYTICS, AUTOMATED ANOMALY MITIGATION, AND CONSUMPTION-BASED BILLING IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Commercial real estate portfolios face mounting pressure to reduce operational costs, comply with sustainability mandates, and enhance tenant satisfaction through accurate utility billing.Traditional water management approaches-reliant on manual readings, reactive maintenance, and estimated allocation methods-fail to address the complexities of modern commercial infrastructure.This paper presents a novel, edge-centric IoT framework designed specifically for commercial water systems.The proposed architecture leverages distributed intelligence through smart valves with onboard processing, multi-protocol connectivity (LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and LTE-M), and a unified cloud analytics layer.Unlike conventional cloud-dependent models, our approach executes critical leak detection algorithms at the edge, enabling sub-second response times for burst mitigation.The framework integrates three core functions: (1) continuous hydraulic auditing with 15-minute granularity, (2) multi-modal leak detection combining flow anomaly analysis with acoustic sensing, and (3) automated tiered billing compliant with emerging submetering regulations.Validation through pilot deployments in mixed-use commercial properties demonstrates a 25% reduction in water waste, 99.8% billing accuracy, and recovery of previously unbilled consumption equivalent to 18% of total volume.This research establishes a scalable blueprint for transforming commercial water systems from passive infrastructure into intelligent, self-optimizing assets.