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Our SP is in NSW with a single meter water supply charged to the SP. This results in each lot owner bearing the cost via strata levies (and not lot usage). I understand that a few businesses have begun a simple retro fit service that allows a central billing agent to charge each resident/owner based on actual usage. It also identifies main meter / sub-meter differences which means there is a leak. I understand this is more available in QLD rather than NSW. Has anyone had direct experience with changing over to one of theses systems and could they comment on the efficacy. Wondering why they are not more common, especially in NSW.
For clarity, I am not referring to replacing the exiting meter with individual lot meters from the utility – this is very expensive. I am referring to the digital sub meter systems remotely read by scanning.
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What you describe is a main water meter (existing) and then sub meters to each lot.
Sydney water can manage this IF you can fit their meters to each lot.
Alternatively you can have an embedded water network, where again meters are fitted to each lot and the billing is done by an embedded operator.
Nothing revolutionary here except in most multi level buildings, fitting any sort of meter is very expensive because the plumbing was never designed to have a meter installed. ( The incoming lot pipes are generally buried within the building structure.)
Has anyone had direct experience with changing over to one of theses systems and could they comment on the efficacy.
Re: efficacy/accuracy – all meters used for trade are required to be Pattern Approved (by the National Measurement Institute) and WaterMark certified.
Re: leaks – these can either be ‘deduced’ through data validation (monitoring of usage patterns) or ‘detected’ by the sub-meter (as continuous flow as low as say 3l/hr), with alerts via SMS for example.Now borders have reopened you will likely see greater availability in NSW of the options currently available in QLD, including solutions specifically designed for sites with ‘pipes buried in the building structure’ (as noted by kaindub).
A reputable supplier should be able to provide referees as well as indicative outcomes for comparable sites.