Australian smart water meter company WaterGroup has signed a five-year partnership with IoT network operator Thinxtra to use IoT to enable large water users to detect water leaks.
Under the agreement, WaterGroup’s IoT-based smart water meters will be connected with the Sigfox low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology being deployed by Thinxtra across Asia–Pacific, including in Australia.
The Sigfox network currently covers 71% of the Australian population and this is expected to increase to 95% by the end of the year.
WaterGroup Managing Director Guenter Hauber-Davidson said the collaboration will allow the company’s smart meter systems to send and capture data on water use with the Sigfox wireless network.
“Our innovative smart water meter systems can detect leaks as soon as they occur at an hitherto unheard of price point. For example, one of our customers, Fairfield Council, is saving $4500 a month as a result of early leak detection. Another customer, Australian National University, found over $300,000 worth of savings within six weeks of our smart meter system being installed,” he said.
Hauber-Davidson said the company spent 24 months researching and developing multiple LPWAN technologies that will work best with smart metering devices before settling on Sigfox.
“Sigfox technology became an obvious choice for use as a part of our smart water metering solution,” he said.
“In the past, the cost of connectivity was a constraint. Now, with the simple-to-use, large-scale and low-cost Sigfox network, monitoring their water use — and identify leaks — is finally within reach for any school, age care centre, shop, restaurant, car wash or factory.”