Digital technology to help secure Fish Creek

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022

South Gippsland Water is considering installing digital meters in Fish Creek to help us secure the town’s water supply for the next 50 years.

Infrastructure and Planning General Manager Mark Lynch said South Gippsland Water’s most recent modelling showed Fish Creek may be losing up to 40 per cent of its drinking water through leakage.

“We want to know precisely where that leakage is occurring to help us come up with a way of fixing it. Faster identification of any leaks leads to lower water consumption, so lower water costs. This saves both you, and us as your provider, money,” he said.

“There will be no cost to the customer for the installation of these meters. It does have many benefits. Real-time monitoring provides us with quicker information on issues such as low water pressure, or pipe bursts.

“While the meters will help us identify leaks in the larger network, they may also help us find leaks behind your existing meter. If we do find a leak there, you can fix these with the help of a plumber. This will help reduce any future water use and the cost of that use.”

At this stage, South Gippsland Water expects to install digital meters by June 2022 if the project goes ahead. About 200 customers in Fish Creek have town water supplied to them.

Mr Lynch said that a digital water meter was very similar to residents’ current meter.

“The only difference is digital meters are linked to an electronic data logging device, to collect data at regular intervals, making them more accurate,” he said. Data will be sent to Sought Gippsland Water on a daily basis, using technology similar to mobile phones.

“This data is protected by Australian and Victorian privacy policies. When using this data we deidentify it – meaning we remove any personal information attached to it if we use it in any reporting, such as our annual report.

You can read more about your privacy rights here Your privacy rights – Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (ovic.vic.gov.au)

You can talk with our Communications and Engagement Team Leader Miranda Schooneveldt by emailing her at mirandas@sgwater.com.au or ringing her on 1300 851 636.

For more on the safety of digital meters go to Smart meters and health | ARPANSA