A consulting and system integration company, together with a software provider and an IoT platform, offer IoT solutions to help Australian water authorities optimize usage in one of the world’s driest regions.
Customer
A consulting firm based in Melbourne, Australia, is a consultancy and systems integrator with more than 75 advisory consultants focused on the utilities, telecommunications, and local government sectors. The company specializes in digital and business transformation, smart grid technologies, and traditional operational and information technology. It is the partner of choice for Australian water authorities looking to leverage the power of IoT to empower consumers to optimize the digital future.
Challenges
- Undetected water loss and theft in drought-prone Australia
- Lack of visibility in usage data for water consumers
- Inaccurate usage creates compliance issues and high costs for consumers
Outcomes
- 22% reduction in average water usage per consumer
- Fast visibility into network and customer digital data
- Rapid identification of leaks and water theft
- Promote water conservation with gamified education with user apps
- Customers using the IoT solution have reduced water consumption by 22% compared to non-users.
Quenching a thirst for IoT in Australia
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth—hot, prone to drought, and one of the highest consumers of fresh water. Its more than 140 water authorities serve over 25 million people and keep 135,000 farms irrigated. The population has lived through substantial periods of drought, making the consumption and storage of water a very dear, emotional matter to Australians, who feel a collective responsibility to report leakages and conserve water wherever possible. Visibility is a crucial way to promote awareness of water consumption habits. By being able to see their usage, people can adapt how they participate in taking care of this valuable resource.
With over 140 water authorities, all but 12 are “tier two”—smaller government authorities like councils and municipalities—and face the same responsibilities as their larger counterparts. They need to source, store, and distribute clean water. Workflows include managing wastewater reticulation and treatment as well as handling customer administration, including billing. Infrastructure budgets are primarily focused on maintenance rather than upgrades. Cost-recovery charges permitted by regulatory bodies are well below inflation.
The balance of supplying clean water efficiently while minimizing leaks and managing demand at the lowest OPEX and CAPEX costs is a recognized challenge that the industry is answering with Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that connect devices like digital water meters and leakage detecting sensors.
Getting smarter about IoT
With a focus on utilities, telecommunications, and local government sectors, a consulting company has strong roots in the energy and water sectors industry. As a known consultancy and proven systems integrator who has helped many Australian authorities kick-start smaller IoT projects using an IoT platform, working with their implementation partner, a software provider, an established Australian ‘software as a service’ firm which has extensive experience in deploying award-winning Government and Utility customer-facing portals and mobile solutions.
Utilities in Australia were accustomed to working with industry-standard supervisory control and data acquisition architecture (SCADA). “Most authorities had well-established centralized control and monitoring of their larger material assets, such as plants, pumps, water pipes, and sewers, from traditional SCADA operations,” says an industry expert. “But they still needed to learn how IoT could fit and benefit into their unique environments.”
The key to meeting this more sophisticated demand is an integration layer that enables integrating IoT data with enterprise systems for a fluid flow of data. A consulting firm offers water authorities a fully integrated IoT solution, which includes device connectivity and management, data capture, and analytics. A complete end-to-end water management solution ideal for smaller water authorities.
Transforming data into water conservation
With the IoT solution deployed at water authorities around Australia, IoT data is fueling tangible improvements in consumer engagement and customer satisfaction. Having that data connection in near real-time and being able to view it quickly and easily at 15-minute intervals instead of once per quarter transforms their ability to spot problems and influence behavior.
Authorities running proof of concept implementations have been able to detect leaks that have been losing water for years. Thanks to integrated smart meters placed in homes or sensors at each end of a street allowing for checks of pressure points between two meters, they’ve been able to identify and repair major leaks. In other councils, significant water theft has been uncovered for the first time only because of digital sensors and meters and in one case saving 700 liters every 30 minutes.
A software provider’s technology picks up all the data that is connected with, including billing data. With throughput billing integration and gamification, consumers are encouraged and empowered to change their water usage behaviors. In near real-time, they can see how much water their home appliances, pools, or air conditioning are consuming, which leads to changes in behavior. Consumers enter the “virtuous circle” of saving on their water bills and conserving a precious Australian resource.
Pouring on the benefits
An IoT water management solution offers a plug-and-play implementation without complexity or a large capital investment. Systems, expertise, and resources are all part of the solution. Connectivity via the cloud reduces capital costs. API adapters enable the utilities to plug enterprise and operational systems into the IoT solution for a complete asset-to-customer view of all operations.
With this IoT data readily available and advanced capabilities, the team has observed positive change with customers and community engaging impact. By becoming conscious of their water consumption behaviors, the relationship between the community and the environmental benefits brings everyone closer to a more sustainable future for the next generations and beyond.
As IoT quickly becomes best practice not just in water authority management, but in gas and electricity as well, companies are pushing intelligence to the edge of the grid and into the benefits of consumers.
Text taken over from the original – Cumulocity
