Digital water meters have helped the region’s residents save $3.8 million during the past three years, including one woman who could have lost $54 a day while on holidays.
Unitywater’s Digital Metering Program – which has seen 10,000 digital water meters installed across the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Moreton Bay – has essentially stopped 646 million litres of water from going down the drain since 2001.
The meters connect to a network that enables Unitywater to alert customers with unusually-high water usage to check for leaks on their property and take action to repair them.
Maroochydore resident Heather Coey was away on holidays when a representative of the water supplier called to say her meter was recording continuous water usage on her property.
“We were very happy to get the phone call and we were glad we had a neighbour who could go straight over and check (our house),” she said.
“He realised immediately the downstairs toilet was left flushing.”
Without a digital meter alerting her to the situation, the constantly flushing toilet would have cost her an extra $54 a day on her next water bill, giving new meaning to the post-holiday blues.
“I think a lot of us are very conscious of our water usage but I had no idea it would waste that much money,” she said.
“It’s such a great benefit to have a digital meter, particularly if you have young kids who might leave a tap on.
“I think there will be enormous benefits for families.
“I had a friend who went away for a couple of months and came back to a flooded, stinking laundry full of mould.
“There was no technology in those days to know if anything was wrong back at home.”
Unitywater executive manager customer delivery Rhett Duncan said the program had been so successful the utility was planning a further rollout to more customers.
“Our Digital Metering Program has been a huge success for our customers impacted by leaks and we’re keen to expand to further suburbs,” he said.
“The technology is simple but effective, with huge benefits to our communities.
“That’s $3.8 million that would have otherwise been on customers’ bills.”
Mr Duncan said it was important customers checked for leaks regularly, to avoid bill shock.
“With our Digital Metering Program alone, 3900 customers have experienced water leaks, demonstrating how common leaks can be,” he said.
“Identifying leaks early is better for our customers’ bank balances and the environment.”
Digital water meters help identify hidden leaks as they record a water usage reading every 15 minutes and transmit the data to Unitywater daily via a digital communication network. Unitywater can quickly notify customers where a hidden leak is suspected.
For more information about the program visit Unitywater.
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