CEM solution helps Unitywater conserve water and save millions

Unitywater was established in 2010, when the water operations of Moreton Bay Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Noosa Shire Council were amalgamated.

From the start, reducing non-revenue water (NRW) was a priority. As a first step, Unitywater created 200 district metered areas (DMAs) across the network and connected flowmeters and pressure sensors. Along with that, it sought a management solution to enable it to efficiently utilise the information provided by the sensors.

In 2013, Unitywater began working with TaKaDu to provide a Central Event Management (CEM) solution with the aim of reducing water loss, shortening repair cycles, improving customer service and increasing operational efficiency.

Unitywater CEO George Theo noted that with 65% of Queensland drought-declared and the South East Queensland combined water grid dam levels hovering around 55%, water conservation and efficient water management were among the utility’s most important undertakings.

Leveraging big data analytics, the TaKaDu solution is designed to enable water network owners to respond to network problems in near real time and manage the full event lifecycle: from event detection, through classification, prioritisation, resource allocation, until event closure.

“TaKaDu provides the technology and some best practices, but what Unitywater does so well and has perfected over the years is the processes, and they have the people that know how to use it and to make a real difference,” said Amir Peleg, TaKaDu CEO. “All the benefits of network efficiency and improved water management lead to real value, with higher uptime of the water service and reduced cost of operations.

“Reviewing performance data from utilities across the world, we have established industry benchmarks against which Unitywater can objectively evaluate its performance,” Peleg added. “It’s enlightening to see how they lead in multiple areas and to work with them to prioritise areas for further improvement.”

Unitywater’s partnership with TaKaDu since 2010 has delivered significant customer service improvements and helped save thousands of megalitres of water and millions of dollars for the utility’s service region in South East Queensland.

Since 2013, TaKaDu has detected more than 10,413 ML of water leakage and unauthorised use in the Unitywater network — equivalent to 4160 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water saved, had the hidden leaks or unauthorised use gone undetected for 12 months. The reduction in NRW loss equates to $27.9 million of savings over the period.

In the 2020–21 financial year alone, TaKaDu helped Unitywater detect 1400 ML of potential water loss at an annualised savings of $4.2 million. That year it recorded just 3.6 water main breaks and leaks per 100 km of mains — significantly below the industry median of 25.1 water main breaks and leaks per 100 km of mains.

The partnership has led to other benefits, with Unitywater’s average repair time for leaks being cut from 11 days to 2 days, more than $11 million in savings from operational improvements, better pressure monitoring and reduced knowledge loss from an ageing expert workforce.

Additionally, Unitywater has been able to improve data availability by efficiently detecting and fixing meter issues, and it now typically knows about problems before customers report them. Unitywater can now intelligently prioritise events and take a planned evidence- and risk-based approach to maintenance, with less need for an emergency response. All this has had flow-on benefits for improved customer service and has led to water and sewerage usage charges frozen for several consecutive years as part of the utility’s ongoing commitment to keeping customers’ bills low.

“We aim to continuously reduce water lost due to leaks and bursts across our extensive network wherever we can,” Theo said. “Not only does this help us to conserve and protect this precious resource, but it also helps keep our prices as low as possible for our customers. There’s no question that our … TaKaDu partnership has helped us deliver on this ongoing commitment.

“Our focus is to adopt a data-driven approach to our decision-making and utilise our digital assets to solve complex problems by delivering customer benefits and better environmental outcomes while continually improving our operations,” he continued. “TaKaDu has been instrumental in helping position Unitywater as an industry leader in innovation and technology, which has delivered exceptional outcomes for our environment and our customers.”

As Unitywater continues its digital journey, it is investigating additional ways to work with TaKaDu to gain more visibility in its water network and beyond. It is considering adding new systems such as pressure transient sensors, acoustic loggers and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and integrating them into TaKaDu. It is also exploring options for using the TaKaDu system to monitor the Unitywater sewerage network.

Additionally, water scarcity and security across Queensland has motivated Unitywater to leverage its long-time experience with TaKaDu CEM to help other regional utilities in Queensland overcome challenges in starting their own digital journey.