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What is being funded?

WaterSmart aims to help save water and reduce water-related operating costs. This will be done by providing eligible organisations with digital water use monitoring for 3 years or a one-off water efficiency audit of their site.

Digital monitoring, either through data loggers or digital water meters, helps organisations to understand how they are using water. It also helps to identify leaks or other forms of water waste at their sites.

Water efficiency audits help organisations identify not only leaks, but where they are using the most water. Audits can then make recommendations on how to use water more efficiently.

Audits can identify things like equipment and fixture upgrades or changes in water use behaviours that can save a lot of water.

WaterSmart is funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by water corporations.

Who is the funding for?

WaterSmart is targeting high water using organisations that provide important and essential services to the community and in industries that have the potential to make significant water savings.

Targeted organisations include:

  • outdoor community sporting grounds
  • healthcare organisations
  • councils
  • aged care facilities
  • some industrial sites.

What are the benefits?

Almost 30% of WaterSmart participants have identified water waste or leaks onsite.

By taking action early to fix leaks and faulty equipment, or change the way water is used on site, WaterSmart participants are saving on average $900 per year on their water bills.

Water use monitoring and audits help organisations to understand their water use, identify options and make informed decisions around efficient water use.

Those who reduce their water use are not only more sustainable but have lower water bills.

If hot water use is also reduced, they also use less energy leading to lower energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Success stories

Water corporation: Barwon Water

  • Bellarine Bayside installed data loggers on 22 of its sites, including camping and caravan parks and public facilities, in the northern Bellarine Peninsula. Bellarine Bayside manages caravan parks, camping and foreshore reserves as well as public facilities and amenities in Portarlington, St Leonards and Indented Heads.
  • Data loggers installed at their Portarlington caravan park alerted Bellarine Bayside to higher-than-expected water use.
  • Further investigations showed that more than half of the toilets in a heavily frequented amenity block had leaks or flushes that got stuck. This led to elevated water use at the site, particularly during peak holiday periods.
  • In response, Bellarine Bayside replaced 9 toilets with more water-efficient models and installed 36 very efficient (5-star) WELS rated showerheads to help reduce water use.
  • The upgrades have saved around 1.5 million litres of water and $3,590 in bill savings per year.

Water corporation: Goulburn Valley Water

  • Prompted by large water bills, Greater Shepparton City Council (GSCC), with the help of Goulburn Valley Water, installed digital water monitoring devices on 11 of its sites, including its office buildings, showground, sportsgrounds and neighbourhood parks.
  • Within 12 months, the water use data provided enabled GSCC to identify the source of the high water use and fix leaks across 5 of its sites, leading to significant water and bill savings.
  • Water losses at Shepparton showgrounds, Deakin Reserve and Rumbalara sports ground were rectified quickly, thereby reducing disruption to community and sporting events.
  • Without water use monitoring, many of these leaks would not have been found. Monitoring has allowed GSCC to take quick action to save water resources and money that would otherwise have been wasted.

Water corporation: Yarra Valley Water

  • The New Preston Depot is home to Melbourne’s E-class trams and includes tram maintenance and automated tram wash facilities.
  • Quarterly depot water bills showed consistently high water use, but with so many different water-using points, it was difficult to locate the cause.
  • Data loggers were installed to monitor water use at 15-minute intervals. This enabled Yarra Trams to identify that its highest use was occurring between 4 am and 5 am each day.
  • This enabled Yarra Trams to identify the source of high use: the tram wash filtration system cleaning process, which was using 26,000 litres daily.
  • Yarra Trams then implemented a project to increase the water efficiency of this process, while still ensuring the tram wash would keep trams clean.
  • In a staged approach, the backflush time was reduced from 60 minutes to 15 minutes, which reduced the water used by 18,200 litres.
  • This equates to approximately 6.6 million litres of water saved annually, enough to fill 20 E-class trams.

Further information

For further information and to see if your non-residential business or organisation is eligible, please get in touch with your water corporation.

Please note that further eligibility criteria will apply.

Page last updated: 18/12/24