Online Monitoring

How to detect costly unusual water use

Hidden leaks and inefficient processes cost businesses of all sizes thousands of dollars each year. They can waste tens of thousands of litres of water. Our Online Monitoring program provides real-time data logging to help you track your business's water consumption. Pinpoint the areas where you can save.

Apply for your data logger subsidy
Our Online Monitoring program subsidises data loggers for eligible businesses. Go greener and take control of water use. Email us at onlinemonitoring@sydneywater.com.au.


Understand your water usage in real time

Manual meter readings and offline monitoring systems are a start, but they can't give you on-the-spot data to identify potential problems. Continuous online monitoring is a valuable tool. You can collect information on your water use in real time. If there's a leak, or other water use you can't account for, you can respond straight away.

The sooner you understand how much water your business uses, the sooner you can start using less. Take control of:

  • the services you're connected to
  • how much water your business uses, and when
  • your key water using areas
  • how your water use impacts other business costs, like water treatment, wastewater treatment, power for pumping, heating or cooling or chemicals.

Discover problem areas

We transform your main meter into a smart meter by attaching a data logger: a device that reports your water usage at regular intervals. Sub-meters that register more than 15% of overall site water use can have their own data loggers, too. They let you access the data yourself anytime via an online portal. You will know exactly how much water your site is consuming in real time. The bigger your business, the bigger the potential savings.

Data loggers allow you to:

  • detect leaks early
  • detect unaccounted water use or unusual water behaviour
  • access real-time data for reporting
  • get email alerts if there's any sudden change or spike in water consumption
  • see baseline data to track the success of new water saving initiatives.

Add to your green credentials

More businesses than ever are seeking ways to do their bit for the environment. Saving water should be top of mind. The technology behind online monitoring is a positive step you can take, and you show you're responding to environmental issues. That's a win for both your business and the environment.


Case study: Massive savings for local council

In 2021, a major Greater Sydney council installed 13 data loggers across 9 of its sites. These included aquatic centres and caravan parks. Almost immediately, monitoring helped pinpoint leaks totalling around 29 litres of water per minute, or 15 million litres per year – enough to fill 6 Olympic-size swimming pools.

The savings added up to around $50,000 a year.

  • About $15,000 of those savings came from a single caravan park, which had a broken pipe losing 9 litres per minute. The leak was identified just 3 weeks after the data logger was installed. As a result, this caravan park is now saving over 4 million litres of water a year.
  • A tourist park identified a leak with water loss reaching up to 20 litres per minute. It now saves approximately $34,000 in charges and over 10 million litres of water per year.