Property owners across the Toowoomba region will have the chance to be the first to use new smart water meter technology thanks to the Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC).
TRC Water and Waste Committee chair, Rebecca Vonhoff, said the council was calling for volunteers to be part of the initial rollout of smart water meters.
“We’re putting together a group of 5000 property owners initially to help fine-tune how the system will work,” Ms Vonhoff said
“Ideally we’ll have a mixture of domestic and commercial customers from across the Region volunteer.”
Ms Vonhoff said the volunteers were needed even though the council would directly contact 5000 property owners.
“We would like domestic and commercial water users to be part of the initial rollout and it will be a great opportunity to see first-hand the benefits smart water meters will bring,” Ms Vonhoff said.
“For property owners, the meters will provide close to real-time readings, with a web portal and/or an app to check usage. This means they will be able to identify high consumption and possible water leaks and potentially save money and water.
“The meters will provide Council with advanced analytics to help balance the entire water system and operate a more efficient network. The system will also help with the early detection of leaks and breaks in the network.”
TRC Water and Waste Committee portfolio leader, Nancy Sommerfield, also welcomed the advances on the project.
“I’m delighted that the smart meter journey has advanced to this next stage, especially as there will be no cost to property owners to switch from their existing meters to the smart water meters,” Ms Sommerfield said.
“We would welcome community members – residential, industrial and commercial – from across the Region to help us test the network from end to end.
“Once the initial rollout has been completed, Council will make any adjustments needed and look to complete the entire rollout over three to four years.
“This is a great opportunity for property owners to test leading-edge technology while helping them to better manage water use.”
A representative number of water users from every town water system will be included in the first round of early adopters. These will include residential and commercial customers, large and small water users.
For more information and to be part of the initial rollout please register at: https://www.tr.qld.gov.au/smartwatermeters
