The human touch of the Internet of Things and IoT in water

Have you ever wondered how to prepare for the increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices within the water industry? WaterGroup is working to help.

WaterGroup has been helping large water users save water cost-effectively and sustainably since 2006. In 2010, after assessing the water use for many of its clients, WaterGroup saw the benefits of active monitoring to increase water savings. This helps businesses meet ESG goals, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and save costs with attractive payback periods.

All that was needed was a cost-effective and reliable way to remotely monitor the water use at individual sites. This data then needed to be brought back via the Internet to a platform for visualisation and analysis. When Internet of Things (IoT) devices became available, it afforded this opportunity.

WaterGroup wholeheartedly embarked on this journey. It developed a reliable solution that could readily be deployed anywhere. The state-of-the-art IoT solution consists of a small logger attached to a company’s water meter, turning it into a smart meter. Data is then sent to its SaaS-based platform, UtiliOS. WaterGroup developed it to help users identify, address, and rectify abnormal water use.

The human touch

A vital challenge was to ensure that once a logger identified abnormal water use, it triggered the appropriate corrective actions. Too often, nothing happens or it is only way too late. That is when WaterGroup realised that a supporting programme must accompany its IoT water monitoring solution.

This was when AWARE, its Active Water Analysis Risk and Efficiency service, was born. Here, WaterGroup works hand in hand with its customers to ensure that actions are not only remembered but are taken and implemented. An essential part is that savings are clearly recorded, monitored, verified, and regularly reported to key stakeholders.

“By infusing the ‘human touch’ of our AWARE service into our smart water metering solution, we’ve undoubtedly transformed water-saving practices for the foreseeable future, and we have the evidence to back it up,” Guenter Hauber Davidson, Managing Director of WaterGroup, said.

The unique aspect of AWARE is that WaterGroup, in association with its customers, monitors and regularly reports directly on verifiable savings. As of FY23, WaterGroup’s smart metering and AWARE monitoring service customers have collectively saved 2.3 billion litres of water and 7.7 million dollars in savings. With an average Australian using about 180 litres of water daily, these savings equate to 12.8 million days of water saved.

Since 2021, two of Australia’s supermarket chains, Sydney Water and an extensive shopping centre portfolio, have achieved more than 50 per cent of those savings. Data extracted from WaterGroup’s AWARE reporting shows continuous water savings across these four organisations.

Improving sustainability outcomes

Sydney Water established an online monitoring program in 2021 with the help of WaterGroup’s Smart Metering Solution and AWARE service. Businesses taking part in this program are alerted of unexpected water use and leaks by WaterGroup’s AWARE team. This service has helped them pinpoint whether they have a leaking toilet, a valve, a cooling tower, an equipment malfunction, a wrong set point, or a pipe leak. In the past, without that visibility, those issues typically remained unresolved for many months and sometimes years.

Through this programme, Sydney Water has saved 500 million litres of water for its business customers, which represents a savings of about $1.25 million.

In 2019, Woolworths found a partner in WaterGroup that could align with its commitment to best-practice environmental sustainability and operational outputs. They decided to roll out a smart water metering and AWARE trial across 35 stores.

WaterGroup investigated, actioned, and recorded every abnormal water use event at Woolworths. This allowed the supermarket chain to qualify and quantify the initiative’s success and discover the reasons for the water usage abnormalities observed. These abnormalities included inefficient toilet fixtures, taps left on, leaks in vegetable water sprays, chicken warmers incorrectly set up, blocked valves, and many more.

WaterGroup now monitors more than 400 Woolworths stores. The AWARE monitoring services report shows Woolworths’ total water savings as of December 2023 to be 256 million litres.

Long term benefits

With a good track record, recognition by industry peers like Sydney Water, and sustained growth, WaterGroup’s AWARE service monitors 20 billion litres of water across 1,100 water-using points for businesses all over Australia.

“We are continually working to harness the influence of major corporations to foster a lasting transformation in the use, monitoring and management of water,” says Guenter.

With the support of its business customers, WaterGroup continues to share its solutions at industry events, media, conferences, water industry associations, water utility magazines, and sustainability channels.

Some highlights include McDonald’s announcing WaterGroup’s smart water metering solution in its 1,000th sustainable flagship restaurant. Similarly, Woolworths presented a case study to procurement and sustainability managers across two ESG events. Sydney Water shared the results of its online monitoring program, which recently resulted in a TV news report featuring one of its customers, d’Albora Marinas.

“The presence of dedicated advocates who share their stories underscores the profound impact that AWARE’s ‘human touch’ has on enhancing and supporting water-saving efforts across organisations,” said Guenter. “What keeps me awake at night is how to get this solution out to every business that uses more than $5,000 worth of water per year, especially when its benefits are obvious.”

For more information, visit https://watergroup.com.au/