BACKGROUND
A consortium with Iota, led by Optus Networks Australia, was awarded the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Smart Water Meter contract for the Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC).
The staged implementation involves 68,000 smart water meters that deliver accurate data and real-time water usage updates, as well as early detection of leaks, for residents in the Toowoomba region.
THE CHALLENGE
According to Iota CEO, Dan Sullivan, “It’s challenging to make capital decisions and plan for the future if you don’t have sufficient data about your water network, but IoT also connects you to your customers. IoT provides utilities and customers with the tools and information to ensure we preserve the most precious natural resource.”
THE SOLUTION
Iota supplied its fully integrated ultrasonic Cura™ digital meters, communicating through Optus’s NB-IoT network. The meter data is analysed by Iota’s fit-for-water enterprise IoT platform, Lentic®, which integrates with TRC’s enterprise systems to provide valuable insights and help residents monitor water usage, and allow TRC to proactively manage its water network. Iota also implemented Flow Lotic™ on the Council’s larger commercial meters so that they can send data through to Lentic® via the NBIoT network.
Iota’s digital water solutions are unique as they are developed and tested at scale within its parent company South East Water.
RESULTS
The Lentic® platform will be integrated into the Council’s various corporate systems including Billing, Asset Management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and expects it to provide significant benefits to the Council and the regional community.
Consortium partner GreenBe will use data from Lentic®, to display consumption dashboards for customers and notifications when water usage goes beyond a certain threshold. Residential, industrial and commercial volunteers from the local community were also part of the initial rollout of the meters in 2022, allowing for testing and fine-tuning of the system.
– Rebecca Vonhoff, Deputy Mayor, Toowoomba Regional CouncilThe smart water meter technology will give Council accurate data and improve early detection of leaks and breaks.
