We use water meters to charge you correctly for your water use and to ensure the quality of our water supply and networks.
When we'll read your meter
We generally try to read your water meter every 3 months, and then we issue your bill.
- If you're a business customer who uses a high volume of water, we may read your meter and issue a bill monthly.
- If you're a residential customer and you'd prefer monthly billing, you can request a monthly reading for a fee, listed under metering charges. The fee appears on the first bill of each quarter.
To arrange monthly billing
Call us on 13 20 92 8am–5:30pm Monday to Friday (except public holidays).
If we can't read your meter
If we can't read your meter, we'll leave a self-read card in your mailbox and ask you to provide your reading.
Maybe your meter is:
- behind a locked gate or door
- buried in concrete or dirt
- hidden by trees, plants or grass
- on a property the meter reader felt it may be unsafe to enter (e.g. unrestrained animal, 'Beware of dog' sign).
If we can't record a meter reading, we will estimate your water usage based on past patterns, or base it on similar properties in your area.
Please keep the area around your meter clear.
How to read a mechanical meter
The white and black dial is the meter reading in kilolitres (kL). It may be 4 digits or 5 digits. You don't need to read the red numbers or pointers, which are litres. The meter serial number is 4 letters and 4 digits. Its location depends on the type of meter.
How to read a smart meter
The number to the left of the decimal point is the meter reading in kilolitres (kL). Some smart meters display other information, such as flow rates. The meter serial number is 4 letters and 4 digits. It's located under the bar code.
Bonus: free automatic leak alerts
If you're registered with My Account and have a smart meter, we'll text, email or phone you if overnight water use is unusually high.
How to read a metered standpipe
The white and black dial (plus the number the black pointer points to, if there is one) is the meter reading in kilolitres (kL). It may be 5 digits or 7 digits. You don't need to read the red pointers, which are litres. The location of the meter serial number depends on the brand of the metered standpipe.
