Results from IAWAI’s first Hamilton East residential water meter pilot have confirmed the value of better water-use information, with the trial identifying private leaks, testing customer tools and providing practical lessons for the next stage of Hamilton’s metering programme.
The findings have informed the next stage of the programme, including a larger Hamilton East pilot starting next month. The October trial across around 1500 properties will allow IAWAI to test the approach at greater scale before the wider four-year rollout across Hamilton.
The initial three-month pilot involved 200 Hamilton East households and was designed to test water meter technology, installation approaches, data communications, customer information and support before metering is rolled out more widely.
One of the clearest findings was the benefit of metering data in helping identify hidden leaks. The pilot found 19% of the participating 200 households had previously unknown leaks on private property, allowing a combined 5.1 million litres (that’s two Olympic sized swimming pools) of treated drinking water to be lost each year.
Andrew Parsons, IAWAI's General Manager Growth and Delivery said the pilot showed why water metering is a practical tool for water efficiency, customer awareness and long-term planning.
“The first pilot gave us exactly the kind of real-world information we need. It showed us how different technologies perform, how installation works in an older suburb, and how valuable meter data can be in finding leaks that would otherwise go unnoticed,” Mr Parsons said.
“Every litre of treated drinking water we can save matters. It reduces waste, helps households understand their water use, and supports better decisions about the infrastructure Hamilton will need in the future.”
The first pilot also tested the use of a customer app, allowing participating households to monitor daily water use and compare usage over time. IAWAI also offered support to help customers identify and respond to potential private leaks.
Images: The leaking copper pipe above was significant enough to cause the flooded subfloor area below.
