The second phase of Cairns Regional Council’s Smart Water Meter project – which was expected to commence in 2020 but was deferred until 2022/23 as part of Council’s response to COVID‑19 – is being rolled out.
Council has committed to recommencing the project, with the planned installation of 5,000 smart water meters in the first six months of 2023.
The $24 million Smart Water Meter project will involve the replacement of about 55,000 existing mechanical meters with new, smart water meters (SWM), that will enable customers to track their water use and identify potential property leakages.
Council completed phase one of the Smart Water Meter project in December 2019, which included installation of almost 700 devices across Palm Cove and development of a communications network for over a large portion of the Cairns area.
Since the smart meters were installed, Council has identified over 120 leaks, saving approximately 50ML of water.
It is expected the roll out of all smart water meters and the completion of the communication system, including the customer portal, will be installed by July 2026.
