Australia’s South East Water to roll out 1 million smart water meters
Image: South East Water
Victoria water corporation South East Water has awarded what is understood to be Australia’s largest smart water metering rollout to telco TPG Telecom.
Through a 10-year deal, TPG Telecom is set to manage one million narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) smart meters for South East Water.
Deployed across South East Water’s 27,000km pipe network, the new digital water meters replacing mechanical meters are expected to revolutionise water management in the region by saving an estimated five billion litres of water annually through enhanced network operation and customer leak detection.
The digital meters should enable customers to track and manage their water consumption using daily updated information, helping them identify usage spikes and providing greater insights into their water use.
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The meters should also help South East Water and its customers identify leaking taps, appliances, and faulty irrigation systems.
“We are excited about our partnership with TPG Telecom and the cost savings and sustainable benefits digital meters will bring to customers, community and the environment,” said South East Water Acting General Manager Digital Utility, Mark Elvins.
“As we look to the future, we need to build resilience into Australia’s water network to continue to respond to the challenges of water scarcity, a changing climate and growing population, with TPG Telecom we can now do that.”
TPG Telecom reports having developed the end-to-end IoT solution combining NB-IoT connectivity, SIM and device management to enable deployment of the smart meters at scale.
Chris Russo, TPG Telecom General Manager Enterprise & Government Customer Sales & Solutions, added: “TPG Telecom is proud to be at the forefront of NB-IoT deployments with this significant advancement in water resource management.”
The rollout follows a 10,000 smart water meter pilot undertaken together with the other Victorian government-owned retail water corporations Greater Western Water and Yarra Valley Water.
South East Water has a total of 1.7 million customers in its service area ranging from the southeast of Melbourne to south Gippsland.
