Council is working with leading digital metering company Intellihub, to trial smart water meters on the eastern side of Rakaia township.

The trial includes Intellihub supplying Council up to 350 meters and gathering data for 12 months. The meters are equipped with advanced water metering technology that captures data every 30 minutes and uploads it to a cloud platform.

The data will then be supplied electronically to Council to help see water losses, often identified through unusually high consumption, on its public network and on private properties.

Group Manager of Infrastructure and Open Spaces Neil McCann said Rakaia east of the railway line was considered a suitable location for the trial and could be ringfenced to ensure the data captured by the meters was accurate.

“Water meter technology is a rapidly changing and developing field and this is a good opportunity to trial some really advanced meters.

“The data will help us identify possible leaks in Council’s water reticulation network and we can then send in our acoustic and maintenance teams to pinpoint and fix them. That will save water and the cost of pumping it up from the ground and treating it in Council plants.”

Universal water metering has been rolled out on all Council schemes except for Ashburton, Rakaia and a small part of Hakatere but Council has not yet made a decision on meters for these remaining areas.

Mr McCann said that could be revisited in the future as Council analysed the information collected from the meters and applied it to tracking down leaks and better managing the reticulation system.

“We will be able to test this new technology and see its merits for minimal cost during this trial phase, with the results helping inform our next steps around the district-wide use of meters”.

Intellihub CEO New Zealand, Jonathan Hammond, said Intellihub was looking forward to working with Council on the trial.

“Smart water meters help to limit water wastage, reduce costs for customers and streamline network operations. We look forward to supporting Council in unlocking the benefits from smart meter technology for the community and the surrounding environment.”