Every day our region loses as estimated 1.4 million litres of water to leaks that go undetected. Barwon Water is committed to solving this by installing digital water meters, so that we can find and fix undetected leaks faster.

By using digital meters to map the flow of water, vibrations in pipes, water pressure and usage throughout the region, our teams will gain the ability to pinpoint problems, optimise maintenance, improve customer service and most importantly save water that would have otherwise been lost to undetected leaks.

We are deploying a range of technology solutions across our network including sewer sensors, loggers and digital meters to work together to find hidden leaks that we otherwise would not be able to find.

Barwon Water is aiming to complete an initial roll out of digital meters to 20% of our customers in both residential and commercial settings by 2027-28.

An estimated 286 million litres of water could be saved by finding and fixing leaks in Apollo Bay that currently go undetected.

Apollo Bay is one of the most challenging sections of our water network, in a region that also faces some of the most challenging conditions.

In 2022-23 Barwon water conducted a proof-of-concept trial in Marengo, testing the performance of digital meter technology, communication systems, and software platform architecture in detecting network leaks. The trial confirmed our concept, in particular our ability to use digital meters to find and fix water leaks that would have otherwise gone undetected.

Barwon Water is now focused on implementing findings from the Marengo pilot, alongside a recent Birregurra pilot at scale. We plan to begin replacing mechanical meters across the region in late 2025.

If you're interested in being more involved in the project, consider joining the Apollo Bay Community Working Group, your input would be highly valued.

An estimated 55 million litres of water could be saved by finding and fixing leaks in Lorne that currently go undetected.

In combination with the local geography and conditions, Lorne represents one of the most challenging sections of our water network.

By replacing mechanical meters across the region we aim to build a world-class water network that can be scaled across the rest of Barwon Water's service area at no cost to our customers.

In 2020, as part of the Sustainable Communities program, around 400 digital meters were installed in Birregurra. Since then, Barwon Water collaborated with the local community, providing daily consumption data to customers and identifying and repairing over 90 leaks.

We are aiming to start replacing meters in Lorne in late 2025 - early 2026.

An estimated 223 million litres of water could be saved by finding and fixing leaks in Geelong that currently go undetected.

With a large and growing population, Geelong faces some unique challenges across its water network. Barwon Water will initially focus on large commercial and industrial customers who consume the most water, enabling them to proactively identify leaks through near real-time water usage information.

Since large customers use significantly more water per connection, the data gained from working in partnership with these customers can inform and optimise future system requirements while helping customer save time, water and money.

Where can network leaks occur?

Our water network spans over 6,800 kilometres of pipe, 240 pumping stations, 40 water tanks, 8 water treatment plants, and 12 major reservoirs serving 320,000 permanent residents.

Leaks can occur at any point in the network. Advanced leak detection technology in already place at major distribution infrastructure but more can be done to service the rest of the network.

To secure our water future we must make smarter choices about how we service our water and sewer networks. Instead of waiting for anomalies to be noticed, Barwon Water is taking a proactive approach. We will map the flow of water through our network by measuring vibrations in pipes, pressure and usage across the region.

Using a range of technology solutions, including sewer sensors, loggers and digital meters, our teams can then pinpoint problems, optimise maintenance, and find and fix hidden leaks, saving billions of litres of water.

What are customer leaks?

Up to 15% of homes are affected by undetected leaks. That’s bucket loads of water waste that could be impacting your water bill and potentially causing damage to your property. It pays to check for tell-tale signs that you might have a leak.

Leaks can happen for a variety of different reasons, ground movement, pipe corrosion, damage to pipes or faulty pipes and fittings. Spotting leaks at home can be as tricky, because much like network leaks they’re often hidden.

If a leak is suspected to be located on a customer property, Barwon Water will make every effort to notify the customer and assist in any way we can to get it fixed. Customer leaks are potentially expensive, can cause property damage and result in unexpectedly expensive water bills.

While historically we have had no way to notify customers of leaks on their property, as more and more digital meters are installed our ability to catch leaks early increases. Instead of customers receiving a larger than expected quarterly bill then notifying us of a potential leak, we aim to make customer bill shock a thing of the past.

Since 2020, we have been having community conversations about the development of a smarter water network.

We have been listening and learning what our community wants out of the program. We invite you to respond with any questions, you might have regarding how our future network will operate.

If you have more questions, we invite you to read our FAQs, deep dive into our engagement reports and summary findings or you can ask a question and share your feedback by:

• Using the question tool to ask a question from the project team
• If you would prefer to provide a longer response, please submit your document (see tab below)
• Contact us via the email or phone number below.