Residents of Boort in Victoria’s North-West are set to receive improved water security and greater network efficiency with the rollout of Coliban Water’s Digital Metering Program in the town.
The rollout, set to begin in late July 2019, is part of Stage 2 of a four stage program, which is expected to be completed within a six year period.
Coliban Water Acting Executive General Manager Service and Infrastructure, Danny McLean, said digital meters play a significant role in reducing water wastage and provide Coliban Water with a better understanding of customers’ water usage.
“We will be installing a digital device, known as a data logger, on existing customer water meters. A data logger can record the volume of water consumption at the water meter and it will transmit this data to a central database,” Mr McLean said.
“We will primarily be using data loggers for customer billing and network analysis. The digital data we receive will enable us to identify network efficiencies, manage and maintain our assets, and make informed decisions on repairs and capital works.”
Digital technology for water meters is already being used by other water corporations in Australia and has been successfully trialled on commercial customer meters in the Coliban Water region.
Mr McLean said data loggers are battery-operated and transmit data through a signal every hour that is lower than that of a text message sent from a mobile phone.
The data logger spends the majority of its time in ‘sleep’ mode and is typically on for less than half a second each hour.
“Our customers can feel confident the data that the digital device collects is encrypted and does not contain any personal information. All data is collected and is held on secure servers in accordance with national privacy policies,” Mr McLean said.
Customers do not need to be home at the time of installation, which will take up to 30 minutes to complete.
“Following an extensive verification process to check the network is operating effectively, we are now in a position to start billing customers via the digital meter network in our Stage 1 townships,” Mr McLean said.
“This same verification will need to be completed in Boort following the installation process and customers will be notified prior to the data loggers being used for billing purposes.”
