South East Water has rolled out almost 100,000 smart meters across Victoria, which the utility said has saved customers more than $5.2 million.
Victorian Minister for Water, Harriet Shing, visited Cranbourne to see one of the digital meters South East Water has installed that allows customers to detect costly leaks and track their water use in real-time.
Since the rollout began, South East Water has alerted more than 14,200 customers to a leak on their property.
In many cases, the meters detected small leaks weeks or months before they came to the surface, saving more than 1.25 billion litres of drinking water that may have been lost had the leaks gone undetected.
The digital meters have seen an average saving of $100 off a customer’s quarterly bill. The meters are also quicker to read than traditional meters, leading to bills that are more accurate.
South East Water Acting General Manager Digital Utility, Mark Elvins, said reaching almost 100,000 meters was an exciting milestone, but there was still work to do in the coming years.
“The savings for customers so far represent a huge effort, across our entire organisation to improve customer experience from the minute they turn on the tap to when they receive their bill,” Mr Elvins said.
“We still have a big task ahead to rollout more digital meters across our entire network but we’re full steam ahead.”
The rollout aims to replace around one million traditional water meters with upgraded digital meters by 2029.
South East Water has already installed almost 100,000 meters across its service area, assisting customers to save on their water bills.
The program is a commitment of South East Water’s five-year customer commitment through its Price Submission 2023–28, designed to support customers, community and environment, now and into the future.
Featured image: Victorian Minister for Water, Harriet Shing, with a Cranbourne resident getting a digital water meter installed. Courtesy of South East Water.
