Five-year partnership to deliver major water savings to large enterprises and councils across Australia and New Zealand.
WaterGroup, one of the leading players in the smart water meter market in Australia, has today announced it has signed a five-year partnership with Thinxtra that will enable large water users to detect water leaks and thereby avoid wasting millions of litres of water while realising thousands of dollars in water savings each month.
The announcement of the partnership comes after WaterGroup spent 24 months researching and developing multiple LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) wireless technologies that will work best with smart water devices. Through LPWAN connectivity, devices and sensors such as smart water meters can reliably and securely transmit data over long distances, at previously unachievable low cost points.
“Sigfox technology became an obvious choice for use as a part of our smart water metering solution,” says Guenter Hauber-Davidson, Managing Director of WaterGroup.
“In the past, the cost of connectivity was a constraint but now, with this simple-to-use, large-scale and low-cost network, not only councils but also any large water users can start monitoring their water within weeks at low cost.”
By joining forces with Thinxtra, WaterGroup’s best-of-breed smart metering systems and solutions will be able to capture and send data on water use via the Sigfox wireless network.
“Councils and businesses will benefit greatly from this, because our smart meter systems deliver not only automated meter readings but also valuable additional information on water use that helps our clients save water and money. In particular, undetected leaks wasting millions of litres of water, will become a thing of the past,” says Guenter Hauber-Davidson.
“Our smart water meter systems are so innovative they can detect leaks almost as soon as they occur. For example, one of our customers, Fairfield Council, is saving $4,500 a month as a result of early leak detection. Another customer, Australian National University (ANU), saved over $300,000 within six weeks of our smart meter system being installed.”
“Our smart water meter systems and solutions also help overcome one of the major challenges facing large users of water which is the shock they get when they realise that their quarterly water bill has gone up enormously due to a costly leak or large unauthorised use,” he adds.
Thinxtra CEO, Loic Barancourt said that WaterGroup had been chosen as a partner because it is one of the leading providers of systems and solutions to the smart water meter market in Australia with an excellent reputation of delivering tangible business outcomes to its enterprise and utility customers.
“By joining forces with WaterGroup we will be combining their smarts in water meters with the benefits of Sigfox, the leading wireless technology for low cost and low power IoT applications to meet demand from councils”
Thinxtra is moving quickly to ensure the Sigfox network covers 95% of Australian population by the end of the year. The network currently covers 71%.
Mr. Barancourt added: “Thinxtra is becoming the low power wide area network of choice in Australasia for the Internet of Things. Thinxtra makes it simple and economical for objects to connect, thanks to the nationwide Sigfox networks we have already deployed and are operating.
By deploying complementary Sigfox network coverage on demand, we are paving the way for any councils or businesses to embrace IoT technology and deploy solutions such as WaterGroup’s smart water meter systems to reduce their costs.” he adds.
Side note:
Out of 4 companies nominated for the Accomm – IOTAA impact award, both Watergroup & Thinxtra are finalists. Winner will be announced on 19/7. This again shows that the two companies are well aligned and recognised by the IoT community in Australia.
About WaterGroup
WaterGroup is one of the largest integrated corporate water savings companies in Australia, a widely recognised leader in smart metering (gas and water), leak detection, waterloss and efficiency management and capture and reuse.
By leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), innovation and sustainable solutions, WaterGroup’s services and products help water suppliers, municipalities, hospitals, universities, large corporates, shopping centres and other large water users save water and money.
With a specialist pool of expertise, proven design models and innovative engineering solutions, WaterGroup creates and delivers the best possible outcomes for its clients.
For further media inquiries or interviews, contacts:
Guenter Hauber-Davidson, WaterGroup Managing Director on 0422 44 99 00. [email protected]
To learn more about WaterGroup’s innovative new smart metering technology visit www.watergroup.com.au
About Thinxtra
Thinxtra is empowering the Internet of Things (IoT) in Asia Pacific by deploying Sigfox technology, the world-leading provider of connectivity for the IoT, as well as building a full eco-system of partners providing IoT solutions and services to enable the non-connected to connect, to increase productivity, accelerate decision making, improve quality of service and quality of life, and find more economical solutions to common problems.
Sigfox is a global network designed to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox’ unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.
Thinxtra was founded by IoT and network experts who share a common passion for connecting things. It is backed by NZX-listed high-tech company Rakon Limited, which has a history of innovation in communications technology going back some 50 years.
For more information, contact:
Renald Gallis – VP Marketing and Ecosystem
[email protected] +61 404 894 960
