Smart Water Meters - Hāwea

Water meters are a critical way for Council to track water demand trends over time to develop an accurate representation of water usage in an area. They’ll help us find and fix leaks faster, making it easier to manage our water network.

Looking ahead, water meters will allow households to accurately see how much water they’re using and when they’re using it.

It’s also a requirement of central government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) to install these water meters to help support the expansion of new subdivisions and housing in Hāwea.

The new water meters will be installed within water toby boxes for each property, which are located under blue lids set into the ground within the road reserve on public land.

Contractors from Citcare Water will be starting work to install the smart water meters in September 2024. We’ll keep residents updated on these timings.

We expect all water meters to be installed by the end of November 2024.

Contractors may need to shut off water for certain properties in the event pipes servicing a house are old and in need of repairs or replacement.

We’ll contact residents in advance to let them know if a shutdown is required.

Water meters mean we can measure the amount of water leaving a reservoir and compare that with the amount households are using.

And when households are able to view their own water usage, they’ll be able to easily see if water is being used at their property while they’re away or late at night, which may indicate a leak on the property somewhere.

Your water usage data is collected by the smart water meter installed on your water toby.

Water usage data is sent securely from each meter over the cellular network to online servers, where it is then tagged to a property ID. The data is then processed and passed on to various systems that analyse it for potential problems like leaks or meter issues.

QLDC uses water usage data to help find and fix leaks faster, but also to make more informed decisions around investing in water infrastructure.

The information collected does not include your personal information. It tells us about the amount of water consumed at a household and when that water is being consumed.

Smart meters could be rolled out more widely across the district. However, any decision will require a wider conversation with the community.

No. Please do not touch the water meter installed outside your household. The removal of a smart water meter from road reserve and public land is considered vandalism.

QLDC is not currently looking to review how water services are charged.

The purpose of smart water meters being installed in Hāwea is to track water demand trends over time to develop an accurate representation of water usage in Hāwea, support more sustainble water use now and in the future, and to adhere to the requirements of central government’s IAF.