By Paul Hemsley

Calling in a plumber used to be a sure fire way to send shivers down a ratepayer’s spine, but the New South Wales Central Coast council of Wyong Shire appears to have found a way to minimise labour costs when it comes to upgrading domestic water infrastructure.

As the council prepares to embark on the substantial task of ripping out and replacing 12,000 aging water meters, field workers will be issued with a dedicated mobile application that enables them to send before-and-after images of the devices being upgraded so that progress and key details can be recorded on the fly.

With an overall price tag of just $1.48 million, the fitting of the replacement meters doesn’t even touch the sides when it comes to getting a big bill from plumbers, something for which ratepayers will undoubtedly be grateful.

But what is garnering attention is the fact that mobile apps put into the field are now increasingly being used to eliminate administrative costs and cumbersome paperwork to get services delivered faster and more cheaply.

According to Wyong Shire the water meter replacement program is “one of the biggest” water services upgrades it has undertaken in “many years”.

The main driver of the meter replacement project is the need to meet compliance obligations under the National Measurement Acts and Regulations.

A big problem for local governments like Wyong Council that operate and manage their own water utilities is that accurate assessments of ratepayer water usage can be hindered by old water meters which tend to under-record actual water usage.

Given that town water is often a key utilities charge, the appeal of stopping revenue literally leaking out of the system is understandable.

However a more important benefit is that because councils and utilities are able to more accurately measure usage, they get a much clearer picture of what is always a finite of not scarce resource in a nation that still often uses potable water for everything from watering gardens to flushing toilets.

To identify the water meters would be replaced, Wyong council undertook an audit of all meters in 2013, which produced an assessment that examined the water meter’s consumption and its age.

Although the new meters will have minor technical upgrades, the council has assured that the “only change some people may notice is the way the reading is displayed”.

Wyong Council’s Manager Water and Sewer, Daryl Mann said the water meter replacement app allowed its contractor, Select Solutions Group, to record details such as the water meter number, water meter reading, date and time of the change all on their mobile device.

According to Mr Mann, the user can add a photo of the old and new meters at the site so that all of the details of the change are recorded instantly. Council will also be recycling a large proportion of its investment in developing code for the app.

“After the [replacement] program is complete the app will be rolled out to all of Council’s water meter maintenance staff to allow us to continue this great use of technology and significantly reduce our overall paper usage.”

A Wyong Council spokesperson said the app was developed by an external provider called IT Online under a brief from council staff.

“There are a number of software providers that can provide similar services, however this app has been custom made to meet Wyong Shire Council’s needs,” the spokesperson said.