Follow Us :

Smart water meters cut water usage by 25% for multi-tenant property – body corp impressed.

Body corporate finds smart meters solve water management woes

The body corporate at the 8-14 Quay Street Apartments in central Auckland wanted to apportion water costs more transparently across their varied tenants and remove a manual and costly billing process.

They achieved this and more.

As well as delivering the fair, reliable billing tenants were demanding and saving body corporate administration pain, the water meter solution also significantly reduced water usage and water bills for the property.

“With water getting more expensive from a unit rate perspective, tenants are looking more closely at their costs and are asking for fairer billing”, says Greta, Chairperson, Body Corp 8-14 Quay Street Apartments.

“Increasingly in the apartment space, there are owners that may be overseas, owners that may be renting their apartment out short-term or long-term. They’re demanding transparent apportionment of costs that better reflect their usage.”

This context drove the body corporate at the Quay Street Apartments to go to market to find a solution that delivered effective and efficient water billing. They wanted more transparency and less discussion with tenants about how costs were apportioned. 

The Quay Street property is a mixed commercial, retail, residential property made up of 20 residential apartments, 20 retail premises ranging from hospitality businesses and fast-food outlets to professional services and a fuel station.

After assessing their options, the body corporate chose Zici Water because the solution is so comprehensive. Zici Water wrap together the installation of water metering hardware and connected software, along with full project management of plumbers, tenants, and support for the body corporate. The comprehensive approach gave a seamless installation of the IoT system as well as ongoing technical support. Zici Water also take on the billing and associated payment management.

In total, Zici Water installed 40 smart meters for the body corporate, in early 2022, to accurately measure water use of each tenant. Each water meter transfers this information via data collection points to the cloud, for billing and reporting.

Transparent, fair water bills for all tenants
Smart meters reduced water usage and costs fast

Without smart water meters, water usage is commonly apportioned between tenants by unit entitlement – where every unit is given a proportional account. This doesn’t reflect actual water usage and means body corporates need to manage tenant concerns about fairness and outlay.

In the rare circumstances there are basic water meters in place, the body corporate or property manager needs to manually collect meter readings, which can involve taking photos of each meter and manually record the readings. They then need to calculate the difference, then manually raise and distribute the invoices, and chase payment.  

With smart meters installed at a tenant level, as the saying goes, ‘what gets measured, gets managed’.

At the Quay Street Apartments, in the first four months of all smart water meters being installed, a 25% reduction in water use and costs was measured.

This equates to savings of 467,000 Litres of water and over $4,000 for the period, when compared against Watercare’s estimates and property level readings for the same period.

Before smart meters were installed, one of the food outlets in the complex regularly left a tap running while they were preparing food. With no clear link to the impact, this was a habit that went unnoticed.

Following the installation of smart water meters, the business is now more aware of the impact of efficient water use – both financially and environmentally.

In another case, the smart water meters identified leaks in otherwise unmonitored vacant units. These leaks were able to be remedied leading to further water and cost savings. 

Across Auckland, water reduction is a strategic goal for Watercare.

Behaviour change in action
By 2050, the goal is for Aucklanders to use less than 225 Litres of water per day.

Looking at the bigger picture, Auckland Council’s water utility company, Watercare are working to encourage and embed water efficiency behaviours. The short-term goal is to get every Aucklander using 6L less water per day by winter 2026 (from an average 258 Litres per day in the year to June 2023, to 252 Litres for the year to 30 June 2026). By 2050, the goal is for Aucklanders each to be using 33 Litres less per day – to just 225 Litres.

While Watercare is investing in smart meters to each property, this doesn’t extend inside. Data and insights from smart meters at a tenant level combined with direct-customer communications can enable users to make informed decisions about their water use and reap the benefits (or cost savings) of using less change.

“Climate change is already impacting both water demand and water availability, which will continue to increase over the coming decades. Auckland will experience more dry days, and more frequent and longer-lasting droughts, which drive higher water demand. Annual rainfall is projected to stay about the same, but that rain is expected to fall in less frequent, higher intensity rainfall events.”

Careful management of average demand is needed to manage this well, and we all have a part to play in keeping our water flowing.

Smart water meter benefits

To find out how Zici Water meters can help your property cut water use and streamline water billing get in touch.