Written by Aimi Macready, Head of Sales, WaterGroup
Facility and property managers in Australia face many challenges in understanding water usage and reducing costs. Inefficient water use and leaks, left unchecked, result in poor ESG outcomes, high water bills, and risk of building damage and can also destroy a good NABERS Water rating.
Smart metering helps address this with a powerful data display and analysis system like UtiliOS, which allows facility and property managers to identify abnormal usage when it occurs, manage it, reduce water usage, keep their NABERS Water ratings, reduce costs, and improve sustainability/ESG outcomes.
Smart water metering involves replacing an existing water meter with a fully integrated one or installing an IoT device directly to your current water meter. Both solutions allow the remote monitoring of water usage in near real-time. They can transmit the data to the cloud for storage and visualisation. Using advanced analytics, meaningful alarms are generated to help facility and property managers take corrective action.
Here are the top five things smart water metering can help facility and property managers with:
- Maintain your NABERS Water Rating: A few weeks of an unnoticed water leak can destroy an otherwise excellent NABERS Water rating from a 4 or 5 Star to a 3 or 3.5. Knowing about excessive water use allows FMs to respond in time to stop the unravelling of a lot of good work and large investments that have gone into obtaining a high NABERS rating.
- Reduce water wastage and lower costs: Smart water metering identifies leaks, promotes water conservation, and optimises water usage. Detecting leaks and other anomalies reduces water bills and lessens overall consumption for facility and property managers.
- Early detection of problems: Smart water metering can help property managers proactively address the problem and reduce the risk of damage to infrastructure and buildings before they become significant problems.
- Improved sustainability and ESG: Smart water metering improves operational sustainability by reducing water waste and enhancing efficiency. It provides data for analysing and predicting future water use and its impact. It enables managers to reduce consumption and environmental impact for a more sustainable future.
- Social license and compliance with regulations: Companies are expected to use resources responsibly. This includes water. As we head into another dry spell, the BoM now predicts a 70% chance of an El Nino for the next summer; facility and property managers need to place a renewed focus on responsible water usage and conservation. It also helps comply with relevant regulations by providing real-time data on water usage and identifying opportunities for improvement.
To maximize the benefits of your smart water metering system, there are three essential secrets to keep in mind.
Firstly, it is crucial to have a dedicated individual or team responsible for overseeing and maintaining the smart water metering system. This ensures that any issues or malfunctions are promptly addressed, and the system operates optimally.
Secondly, proper setup, commissioning, documentation, and fine-tuning of the system are essential. By configuring appropriate alarms, you can receive timely notifications about abnormal water usage or potential leaks allowing you to take swift action.
Lastly, driving action based on the data provided by the smart water metering system is crucial to achieve the desired outcomes. Consider employing a dedicated resource, such as outsourcing to a service like WaterGroup's AWARE program. This external support can help you interpret the data, identify areas for improvement, and implement effective strategies to optimise water usage and conservation.
By following these secrets, you can harness the full potential of your smart water metering system.
In conclusion, smart water metering is a valuable tool for facility and property managers in Australia to optimise water usage, reduce costs and improve sustainability. With the increasing pressure on water resources, smart water metering has become essential for facility and property managers to manage and conserve water effectively. By providing real-time data on water usage, identifying waste areas, and optimising water usage, smart water metering can help facility and property managers achieve their goals of reducing water consumption, lowering costs, improving sustainability, and complying with regulations.
