There are five fields defined in the Data Exchange Specification that act as identifiers – IDs for short. The most common question about each of these fields is when should they be changed? Use this list as a quick reference to answer that question. For more detailed explanations about all of the fields in the Data Exchange Specification, see Terminology.
- Account_ID – must be unique. The Account_ID will change if someone moves in or moves out.
- Location_ID coupled with Service_Point_ID – must be unique. You can think of the Location_ID as a commercial address and each Service_Point_ID pin points separate places (offices, buildings, stores) where water service is provided.
- The Service_Point_ID – must be provided for locations where multiple services are present. A Service_Point_ID is where the meter is. For example, if 123 Main Street had a potable meter and an irrigation meter, the Location_ID could be “123Main,” the potable water meter Service_Point_ID could be “001” and the irrigation water meter Service_Point_ID could be “002.” These are just examples. Service_Point_IDs shouldn’t change unless you stop supplying water or pull the pipes/meters out of the ground. In a typical installation, Location_ID and Service_Point_ID will never change.
- Meter_ID – must be unique. This could be the meter serial number. Change the Meter_ID when you perform a meter change out.
- Endpoint_SN – must be unique. This is the serial number on the endpoint. Change the Endpoint_SN if you replace the endpoint with a new endpoint.
