Customers in Melbourne’s south-east have saved over $5.2 million from their water bills thanks to one of the largest digital meter rollouts across the country.

Minister for Water Harriet Shing visited Cranbourne this week to see one of the almost 100,000 digital meters South East Water has installed, which have allowed customers to detect costly leaks and track their water use in real-time.

Since the rollout began, South East Water has alerted over 14,200 customers to a leak on their property. In many cases, the meters detected small leaks weeks or months before they came to the surface, saving more than 1.25 billion litres of drinking water that may have been lost had the leaks gone undetected.

The digital meters have seen on average a saving of $100 off a customer’s next quarterly bill. The meters are also quicker to read than traditional meters, leading to bills that are more accurate. 

South East Water Acting General Manager Digital Utility, Mark Elvins said reaching almost 100,000 meters was an exciting milestone, but there was still work to do in the coming years. 

The rollout aims to replace around 1 million traditional water meters with upgraded digital meters by 2029. South East Water has already installed almost 100,000 meters across its service area, assisting a wide range of customers to save on their water bills.

The program is a key commitment of South East Water’s five-year customer commitment through its Price Submission 2023–28 to support customers, community and environment, now and into the future. The rollout is one of many ways the water utility is optimising its operations in delivering seamless, fair and affordable services for all.

For more information on the program visit Digital water meters | South East Water.

Top image:
South East Water customer and Cranbourne resident, Liam is excited about the prospect of receiving a digital meter so he can track and monitor his real-time usage online through the customer portal mySouthEastWater.

L:R: Service Stream Meter Technician, Adam; Minister for Water, Harriet Shing;  
South East Water customer / Cranbourne resident, Liam.