Barwon Water is integrating Iota’s Lentic technology, which encompasses device management and meter data management, into its Smart Networks program. The aim is to target customer and network leaks to reduce non-revenue water and improve water security.
Barwon Water has teamed up with Iota to meet the shared challenges facing the Victorian water sector. The rollout of cutting-edge technology developed by South East Water will accelerate and expand Barwon Water’s digital meter rollout to save water across the region.
The Smart Networks program is pivotal to Barwon Water’s long-term digital transformation and water-saving strategies. Its primary goal is to conserve water, enhance efficiency and reduce customers’ water bills. The program is designed to identify leaks within the Barwon Water network and foster closer engagement with customers to support them to understand their water usage and reduce bill shock.
Lentic is an enterprise IoT platform supporting digital metering to provide near real-time monitoring of water usage, device health, and leaks. The technology ingests and validates digital meter data and applies domain-specific rules, enabling a utility to proactively monitor network health, including device-related issues and water loss. Utilities can configure and create their own water-specific rules to drive operational efficiencies that assist in streamlining the management of their meter fleet at scale.
When issues are detected, Lentic visualises system-generated and device-based alarms for operators to investigate. This will enable Barwon Water to proactively and efficiently respond to network issues early, saving time and money.
David Snadden is the Executive General Manager for Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure at Barwon Water. He’s been in the water industry for more than 25 years.
“I’m very connected to delivering services to the community and caring for the natural environment,” he said. “When you put those two things together, the water industry is a natural fit for me. There are so many strengths within the water industry, particularly when you look at its role in society and the community.”
Reducing water loss and non-revenue water at scale
Barwon Water started its collaboration with Iota with a trial project in Apollo Bay, focusing specifically on Marengo. Barwon Water rolled out about 300 digital meters installed with integrated Sotto® vibration sensors. These smart meters detected leaks on customer properties and within its network.
“There are several different strategies for reducing water loss at scale,” Snadden said. “At a macro level, it’s all about understanding and monitoring how water is used across the network. From there, we can target and focus interventions on different leakage programs.”
Digital metering sensors allow water utilities to act in near real-time. This is where Iota’s enterprise IoT platform, Lentic, steps in. It is being deployed to enable the effective rollout of digital meters at scale, optimise device management, and streamline alarm management.
“We are in the initial stages of the program,” he said. “We’ve entered an agreement with Iota to use their Lentic platform, as we want to leverage not just the capabilities of their platform but also the learnings from South East Water’s digital utility program.”
The agreement leverages not just the technology but also Iota’s meter-managed services and lessons from other water authorities, including South East Water, which has deployed one of Australia’s largest rollouts of 93,000 digital meters.
As part of the partnership Iota is providing service management for the platform. Iota will provide daily system and device health monitoring, over-the-air device updates and configurations, and training and education to Barwon Water employees through an extended transitionary period.
The first stage of the rollout involves building capability and expanding deployments to specific areas in Barwon Water’s network, targeting leak reduction and water savings. The second stage will focus on a broader rollout to customers across Barwon Water’s service region, which has a population of more than 370,000 people, with expected annual savings of approximately 1,200 million litres.
Delivering savings for customers
In these early stages of delivery Barwon Water is verifying the savings that can be achieved for customers and the community. The utility is initially aiming to roll out 41,000 meters to about 20 per cent of its customers over the next four years, with plans to roll out digital meters to all its customers over coming years.
“Once we are fully rolled out to our entire network, we would expect to have saved around five gigalitres of water over 10 years,” Snadden said. “Through the early concept trials, we have been able to save about 38 megalitres and repaired more than 90 leaks. We’ve also supported a reduction in bills to customers of about $81,000, since we established the program in 2020.”
Barwon Water has estimated that 260 megalitres of water could be saved annually, just across the first phase of the program. These savings come in conjunction with enhanced network and customer leak detection, as well as improved customer engagement.
Learnings from South East Water
Iota, a wholly owned subsidiary of South East Water, brings invaluable insights from South East Water’s application of the technology. Barwon Water benefits from the partnership with Iota, by applying South East Water’s learnings to operations. The Barwon Water and Iota partnership highlights the practical value of shared knowledge between Victorian water utilities, where insights gained by one are directly applicable and beneficial to another.
“The things we have really focused on is ensuring that we, as an organisation, are making the necessary changes to support the successful deployment and rollout of the technology,” Snadden said. “This is one of the benefits of partnering with Iota and using the Lentic platform, as it is a turnkey solution. We can leverage the capacity and capability, and we are focused on ensuring that we are delivering the benefits to our customers.”
Different approaches to customer engagement is one area in which water utilities are constantly learning. Undertaking a program like this needs to be done in a way that builds trust with its customers.
“We want our work with this collaboration to be a success,” Snadden said. “By partnering with Iota, we’re tapping into a wealth of knowledge from South East Water. As two Victorian water utilities working collaboratively, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the potential that comes with sharing information and growing together”.
Unique challenges and non-revenue water
Barwon Water is headquartered in the large regional city of Geelong. However, its services extend across regional areas of southwest Victoria, including towns like Colac, Anglesea, Queenscliff and Apollo Bay.
“We have a great mix of a large regional urban centre in Geelong while also providing services to regional communities,” Snadden said. “We have a great diversity of customers. We face challenges like those faced by water utilities across the world. That’s primarily around long-term water security and ensuring enough water is available for the community, the environment, and business.”
One challenge that every water utility faces is non-revenue water, or NRW. It’s measured as the volume of water lost as a share of net water produced or per kilometre of water distribution network per day. According to Iota, the loss level in some parts of the world can reach 50 per cent, and in Australia, it averages around 10 per cent. A study by the World Bank estimates that the world’s yearly volume of water loss amounts to 32 billion cubic metres or $60bn. NRW loss is not just a drain on the water authority’s finances but also a waste of a precious resource. Immense volumes of drinking water are lost through leakage, and a large amount of energy is expended to supply, treat, and pump water throughout the network.
“Ultimately, it’s about making every drop count,” said Snadden. “All our potable water comes from the environment, and we have to ensure that we are using it efficiently and effectively. Our customers have told us they want a water future where our rivers flow, our foods grow, and our impact is low, and saving water is a key part of that approach.”
For more information, visit https://www.barwonwater.vic.gov.au/ and https://iotaservices.com.au/
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