An innovative new water saving app has been recognised as a finalist in the Australian Water Association’s (AWA) National Water Awards, with South East Water set to battle it out for the top spot in the Customer Experience category in May 2025.
The utility’s groundbreaking Water Saver App, developed in partnership with The University of Melbourne, combines cutting-edge technology and behavioural science to empower customers to save water and reduce their bills.
The mobile application, likened to a ‘smart watch for water’, has progressed through three rigorous pilot trials to date, with feedback from users being overwhelmingly positive and water usage reducing up to 47L per day, per participating household.
South East Water General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, Daniel Sullivan, said the utility is proud to be recognised nationally for putting customer experience at the centre of water innovation.
“The Water Saver App is a great example of how we can help customers take control of their water use with simple, actionable insights while supporting sustainability for the broader community,” he said.
The Water Saver App was defined and delivered through years of planning, research-driven insights and strong collaboration. To build on this momentum, South East Water has renewed its partnership with The University of Melbourne.
The app reinforces South East Water’s commitment to saving precious drinking water. Faced with a changing climate and growing population, every drop saved will help ensure Australia has water for the future. In 2023–24 alone, South East Water helped customers save 683ML of water.
The recognition complements South East Water and The University of Melbourne’s earlier success with their Water Sensitive Cities research into irrigation for urban cooling, which won the Victorian Water Award for Research and Development Excellence in 2024.
The urban cooling research is also a finalist in the 2025 National Water Awards under the Research and Development Excellence category.
South East Water said both projects demonstrate the power of collaboration and innovation in building a more sustainable and liveable future.
In addition to these projects, South East Water’s Customer Experience Optimisation technical paper, by Christopher Riddle and Peter Hiransi from Customer Strategy and Design, has been selected as an OzWater’25 Best Paper Finalist.
The AWA will announce the winners of the National Water Awards at Ozwater’25 in Adelaide in May 2025.
