News
27 April, 2023
Smart water meters save $1 million for Unitywater customers
SMART water meters have saved Unitywater customers more than $1 million on bills and 231 million litres of water over the past two years.
To put that into perspective, that’s the same volume of water the entire Caboolture community uses in nearly two months.
Smart water meters can help identify hidden leaks, enabling Unitywater to quickly let customers know to have them repaired.
Unitywater Executive Manager Customer and Community Katherine Gee said reaching $1 million in savings was a significant milestone.
“It demonstrates the huge benefits of this technology – that’s $1 million that otherwise would have been on those customers’ bills,” she said.
“And, it’s more than 1500 customers who have experienced a leak, which shows how common leaks can be and how important it is to check for them.”
Ms Gee said the project, known as the Smart Meter Network, helped save customers money and had significant environmental advantages.
“As we adapt to changing weather patterns it’s more important than ever to look at the ways we use water, think about water security and ensure the sustainability and liveability of our region,” she said.
Customer Kylie Bartholomew, who manages unit complex ‘Coco Mooloolaba’, experienced a major leak that Unitywater identified through the smart water meter at the property.
The burst pipe was under a garden, and the complex spa was on automatic top-up, resulting in huge volumes of water being lost, almost the same amount of water that was being used by the complex each day. If this continued without detection, the water bill would have been more than $4000.
“This has saved us as a property, and all of the owners in our property, a load of money and heartache,” Ms Bartholomew said.
Over the next 12 months, Unitywater will analyse the data from the smart water meters to assess and value the benefits they can provide.
Ms Gee said the utility hoped to roll out smart water meters more broadly across the region to help customers manage their water usage, detect leaks faster and save money on their bills.
