Victoria’s Western Water has completed a smart meter trial that involved it monitoring irrigators’ use of recycled water.

Western Water received half-hourly readings of customers’ recycled water usage during the trial, which finished in 2019. Technology supplier WaterGroup recently published news about the trial.

The readings gave Western Water a better understanding of customers’ usage of class B and C recycled water. That enabled it to reduce or increase water supply based on customers’ consumption, according to WaterGroup

“It was extremely important for Western Water to get close to live consumption data so they could better manage customers’ actual consumption to their contracted allocations,” stated Guenter Hauber Davidson, Managing Director of WaterGroup.

The trial also resulted in “better conversations with customers”, according to WaterGroup. Western Water was able to proactively ask some customers to reduce or increase usage as required.

Recycled water users in the Western Water region include producers of fodder crops, fruit orchids, grapes and olives, according to the organisation’s web site.