New Zealand utility begins major smart water meter upgrade

New Zealand’s largest water and wastewater utility, Watercare Services, is working with Itron to modernise its water network.

It is upgrading existing mechanical meters with 100,000 Itron Intelis wSource digital water meters, as part of its plan to connect almost half a million smart meters in total across the Auckland region.

Network visibility and leak detection

The deployment represents one of the largest smart water metering upgrades in New Zealand and will give Watercare Services greater visibility into its network to accelerate leak detection and improve billing accuracy.

This digital transformation project supports Watercare’s broader technology programme to modernise Auckland’s water network and improve how data is used to manage assets, customer use and leak detection.

“In support of New Zealand’s 2025 Water Services, our goal is to enable utilities, such as Watercare Services, to reduce real water losses across their network”

With the integration of advanced sensors and analytics, Itron’s solution positions Watercare to meet the evolving needs of its customers while improving resiliency. 

Itron’s Intelis wSource meters use an NB-IoT network to deliver frequent and accurate consumption data. Built to operate for 15 years with minimal maintenance, even in Auckland’s harsh marine environment, the meter provides reliable data transmission and long-lasting durability.