​​Innovative pilot app recognised as National Water Awards finalist ​

South East Water’s groundbreaking Water Saver App, developed in partnership with The University of Melbourne, has been recognised as a finalist in the Customer Experience category of the Australian Water Association’s National Water Awards. 

The mobile application, likened to a ‘smart watch for water’, combines cutting-edge technology and behavioural science to empower customers to save water and reduce their bills. 

To date, the app has progressed through 3 rigorous pilot trials, with feedback from users being overwhelmingly positive and water usage reducing up to 47 litres per day, per participating household.

“We’re proud to be recognised nationally for putting customer experience at the centre of water innovation,” said South East Water General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, Daniel Sullivan. 

“The Water Saver App is a great example of how we can help customers take control of their water use with simple, actionable insights while supporting sustainability for the broader community.”

The Water Saver App was defined and delivered through years of planning, research-driven insights and strong collaboration. To build on this momentum, South East Water has renewed its partnership with The University of Melbourne.

The app reinforces South East Water’s commitment to saving precious drinking water. Faced with a changing climate and growing population, every drop saved will help ensure we have water for the future. In 2023–24 alone, South East Water helped customers save 683 million litres of water.

The recognition complements South East Water and The University of Melbourne’s earlier success with their Water Sensitive Cities research into irrigation for urban cooling, which won the Victorian Water Award for Research and Development Excellence.

The urban cooling research is also a finalist in the upcoming National Water Awards under the Research and Development Excellence category.

Both projects demonstrate the power of collaboration and innovation in building a more sustainable and liveable future.

In addition to these projects, South East Water’s Customer Experience Optimisation technical paper, by Christopher Riddle and Peter Hiransi from Customer Strategy and Design, has been selected as an OzWater’25 Best Paper Finalist.  

The Australian Water Association will announce the winners of the National Water Awards at Ozwater’25 in Adelaide this May.