Smart meters will provide better data

Adding smart metering to the existing mechanical water meter network will begin to give Hastings District Council a much improved understanding of water use and leak information.

Electronic smart water meters are being attached to 2000 Council tobies across Hastings, Havelock North, Flaxmere, Bridge Pa and Paki Paki over summer – which equates to about 10 per cent of connections.

Council’s Infrastructure Lead Councillor Kevin Watkins says the information will give Council “an improved picture” of water use and leakage.

“We have an absolute duty to know as much as possible about our water and how we use it. As we all know, it is a limited resource and as a Council we have a strong focus on its protection.”

Council’s Drinking Water Manager Matt Kersel says the new meters will provide timely data. “At the moment we have approximately 400 mechanical meters we obtain data from by manual read every six months. That means we don’t get real time data and can miss underground leaks we may have been able to pick up on much sooner. For water management, we also need much better data on which to base planning.”

“They will also give us a much more accurate picture of the community’s water use across the seasons, which will be valuable information as we work with Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to ensure we protect this precious resource.”

Other councils using smart water meters have been able to reduce water loss by getting to leaks early, says Mr Kersel.

The meters are being used for monitoring and reporting purposes only.

15 December 2022

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