South East Water and Avnet partner on smart water meter deployment
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Avnet has been awarded a contract to supply Huizhong’s SCL61H-100 smart ultrasonic water meters to South East Water’s Digital Meters programme.
South East Water is undertaking the largest rollout of smart meters in Australia. The deployment of Huizhong’s smart water meters aligns with the water utility’s aim to reduce water wastage, a critical issue as non-revenue water—water lost to leaks and bursts in distribution systems—represents a substantial operational cost for water utilities as well as an environmental issue.
South East Water have gained experiance in the integration of sensors into smart meters. By integrating a proprietary vibration sensor, developed and patented by South East Water, these smart meters will facilitate accurate network leak detection. As data is ingested into South East Water’s Lentic IoT platform, the vibration strength is triangulated thereby pinpointing the exact location of leaks in the network, the type of leak and potentially whether it is escalating into a burst. This helps South East Water reduce non-revenue water, lower operational costs and ultimately provide cost savings to consumers.
Aik Hoon, the regional president, South Asia, Korea and Avnet United said, “By collaborating with South East Water and Huizhong, we’re not only advancing pioneering technology but also making meaningful strides to reduce water waste and enhance resource management. It’s deeply rewarding to see our efforts contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future for the communities we serve.”
To support South East Water’s mass rollout, Avnet has established a dedicated water meter test lab at its Bayswater facility in Melbourne for thorough verification testing. These advanced meters will offer consumers near real-time data on water usage for improved management and conservation.
South East Water’s customer leak notifications saved around 683 million litres and customers US$2.9 million (during 2023–24) through the identification of potential leaks on customer properties in near real time. The network leak monitoring program, using data from digital meters, enabled over 140 million litres of drinking water to be saved through the early identification and repair of water leaks in South East Water’s network.
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