Digital meters save money and water for Unitywater customers
Our digital metering program is enabling customers with a digital water meter to find and fix leaks on their property sooner, helping them to save money off their bills and conserve water.
Unlike mechanical meters, digital devices take a meter reading every 15 minutes and transmit this data to Unitywater each day – so we can alert customers who have a suspected leak on their property much sooner. The devices are powered by a long-life battery so they will keep working during power outages. Unitywater is also automatically notified if any device fails.
Approximately 10,000 customers across Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and Noosa have been part of a three-year Digital Metering Program trial to test the reliability and accuracy of digital water devices.
So far our digital meters have identified over 3,900 water leaks, saving a total of almost $4 million off customer bills and conserving nearly 650 million litres of water.
This year, over nine hundred of our Digital Metering Program customers will be the first to receive their bill through digital meter readings – instead of being billed from data that has been manually entered by a person conducting a meter reading.
Throughout the year, we will be transitioning more digital metering customers to digital billing. It’s the next step in our Digital Metering Program to make water meter readings and billing more efficient.
To find out more about digital metering, check out the FAQs below.
There are two types of digital metering devices:
1. Digital water meter – view video below
2. Digital logger on mechanical meter – view video below
Digital billing FAQs
We’re advancing to the next stage of our Digital Water Meter trial, which means we’ll now use readings from your digital water meter to calculate your quarterly water bill. When we are ready to transition your property to digital billing, you will receive an email or letter from Unitywater to inform you of this change.
Your digital meter transmits accurate water usage data Unitywater each day, so that we can identify any unusually high usage patterns or potential leaks on your property. If this occurs, we’ll notify you via SMS or email, and let you know how to check for a leak.
To make sure we have your most up-to-date contact details, please log in to My Account or contact us.
The only change you may notice is that there are no more manual meter reads – so Unitywater will no longer visit your property to read your water meter, and you won’t receive a meter reading card in your letterbox.
To ensure you receive timely notifications, such as alerts for unusually high water usage or potential leaks detected by your digital meter, please verify that your contact details are up to date.
You can update your contact details by logging into My Account or alternatively by contacting us.
We’ll notify you via SMS or email should you need to check for any potential leaks on your property.
We are initially rolling out digital billing to four hundred of the 10,000 customers who were part of our Digital Metering Program.
Throughout the year, we will be transitioning more digital metering customers to digital billing. If your property is moving to digital meter reading, you will receive an email or letter from Unitywater to inform you of this change.
To ensure we can keep you up to date, please log in to My Account or contact us to update your contact details.
Digital metering FAQs
While your existing mechanical water meter is read by a meter reader four times a year, a digital water meter captures your water meter readings frequently throughout each day (every 15 minutes), and transmits this data to Unitywater on a daily basis.
In the future, this extra data will give you a more detailed understanding of your water usage patterns and help you notice any significant or unusual changes. It will also be used to alert you to water leaks on your property (e.g. dripping taps, running toilets, broken pipes), especially concealed leaks that are hidden underground, in walls or other parts of your property.
After your digital water meter is installed, you will still be able see the water meter readings on the face of the water meter, so you can still take regular meter readings and use our handy online tool My Usage Tracker to keep an eye on your water usage between bills.
My Usage Tracker is available to online in My Account.
Digital water meters will also help us to identify leaks in our Unitywater infrastructure and improve the operational efficiency of our wider water supply network, so we can keep our customers and community safe and healthy, and keep customer bills as low as possible.
For water meter logger installation, there is no water outage
For digital water meter installation, the water is usually turned off for less than 15 minutes and we will notify you at least three days before installation.
Our contractor will also knock on your door when they arrive to see if you are home and tell when your water will be turned off. If you have any concerns, please use the contact details on the notification card or contact us.
We've rolled out 10,500 digital water meters to date and will keep you informed about the process. After your digital water meter is installed, you can still your readings on the face of the meter. You can also use our handy online Usage Tracker in My Account to monitor your water usage between bills.
No personal information is transmitted from your digital water meter. The data that is transmitted only includes the smart water meter serial number, timestamp and total amount of water used in kilolitres. Any data that Unitywater receives from a digital water meter or logger with be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Australian data security requirements.
Every batch of digital water meter devices that enters Australia is subject to very strict testing by Australian Government authorities to ensure it complies with relevant Australian Standards.
Digital water meter data is transmitted as an encrypted radio signal. The energy emitted from the device is just a tiny fraction of the energy from a normal mobile phone or a digital electricity meter - in fact, it’s only as much as one click of an automatic garage door.
Digital water meters have been in place in many locations around Australia and the world for some years, and there are no known health issues associated with their use.
If we suspect high water usage or a possible leak at your property, we will continue to alert you to this in the same way as we currently do for all our customers. Digital data enables us to alert customers sooner to help avoid higher bills, but it is the property owner’s responsibility to find and repair any leaks on their property and pay for any excess water usage caused by the leak. We recommend you follow our easy step-by-step guide to check for leaks regularly between bills.
