Queensland utility Unitywater has launched a trial of digital water meters in select communities.

The company says it has studied the challenges other utilities have faced in making the technology cost-effective, and says it will use the one-year trial period to test additional technology that may improve the value proposition.

“We will take the opportunity to test other sensors that can be added to both water mains and sewers, transmitting that data by piggy-backing on the same communications network as the digital meters,” said Unitywater Executive Manager Infrastructure Planning and Capital Delivery Simon Taylor.

“This means we will capture benefits that would be greater than those of just a digital meter.”
The trial of 1000 digital meters in Clontarf, Caloundra and Noosa is currently out for tender.

“We have not made any decisions yet on the specific products but are focusing on the potential value of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) which utilises fixed network communications to deliver meter data back to base,” Taylor said.

“There have been successful implementations of a similar nature in regional NSW and north Queensland.”

Unitywater currently employs contract meter readers to manually read meters and leave a notice in the customer’s letterbox.

The utility says it could save a lot by going digital.

“[Data] could also be made available to customers, who would log into a customised portal, providing them with detailed water-usage information,” Taylor said.

“There is also potential for alerts via SMS, email or phone to make customers aware of suspected hidden or concealed leaks on their property.

“By reducing water loss and meter reading costs, Unitywater would be able to reduce the cost to serve, which benefits our customers in the long term.”