Self-powered in-pipe fluid meter and piping network comprising a plurality of such fluid meters

1. A self-powered in-pipe water quality meter to be mounted inside of a pipe carrying water or a mixture containing water as a fluid therein, comprising:

at least one sensing unit configured to measure one or more water quality parameters of the fluid inside of the pipe;

a telemetric data transmission unit configured to telemetrically transmit data including a measured water quality parameter to a host terminal and/or another fluid meter; and

at least one fluid-driven power source unit configured to generate power from the fluid flow within the pipe and supplying power to the sensing unit and/or the transmission unit; and

at least one battery storage charged by the fluid-driven power source;

wherein the at least one sensing unit is configured to extract a sample of the fluid inside the pipe and expose the sample to said at least one sensing unit.

2. The fluid meter according to claim 1 , wherein:

the transmission unit has a two-way telemetry function so that it is further configured to receive data from the host terminal and/or another fluid meter.

3. The fluid meter according to claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one signal conditioning unit configured to process the fluid parameters measured by said at least one sensing unit.

4. The fluid meter according to claim 1 , further comprising a control unit configured to:

control power supply from the power source unit to one or more of the other units; and/or store data received from said sensing unit and/or at least one signal conditioning unit and/or the host terminal; and/or

process data received from said host terminal and/or another fluid meter.

5. The fluid meter according to claim 1 , said fluid-driven power source unit comprising a power generator and a battery storage.

6. The fluid meter according to claim 1 , said transmission unit comprising an acoustic-wave transmission device configured to transmit data via an acoustic wave through the fluid within the pipe.

7. The fluid meter according claim 1 , wherein the at least one fluid-driven power source further comprises a diversion load providing an outlet of excess power, when the battery storage is fully charged.

8. A fluid transmission piping network comprising a plurality of self-powered in-pipe fluid meters according to claim 1 respectively mounted inside of a pipe of the piping network.

9. The fluid transmission piping network according to claim 8 , each fluid meter being configured to communicate with an adjacent fluid meter via the respective telemetric data transmission unit.