Council will resume the rollout of smart water meters (SWM) from July, with more than 50,000 gauges to be installed throughout Cairns by mid-2025.
Phase 1 of Council's Smart Water Meters project was completed at the end of 2019, with the installation of 697 SWM in Palm Cove and development of approximately 50% of the associated communications network.
Phase 2 of the project was originally scheduled to start shortly after but was paused as part of Council's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of Council's ongoing water management, Phase 2 of the project will start in July with the installation of 5,000 SWM in the 2022-23 financial year.
Council has allocated more than $15 million in its draft capital works program to complete the rollout of over 50,000 SWM over the next three years.
A SMW is a digital device that measures, in real time, the amount of water in use, and transmits the data to Council for processing. They can help save water by early leak detection and identifying patterns in water usage.
Since the smart meters were installed at Palm Cove, Council estimates about 10 megalitres of water has been saved.
Over the past 15 years, Cairns residents have supported Council's water saving initiatives with nearly a 40% reduction in water usage per person.
This latest $15 million investment demonstrates Council's commitment to water conservation and about helping our residents monitor and manage their own use of this precious commodity.
While demand management initiatives, such as the Smart Water Meters project remain important, investment is still needed in new water capacity.
Council is calling on the State and Federal Governments to invest in the water needs of the Cairns community by contributing $107.5 million each to the Cairns Water Security – Stage 1 project.
