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NuRON (SMART 100)

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The following SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity. More about the SMART 100.

NuRON (VIC)

This innovation initially came to life when…

Our Operations team wanted to become more proactive with leak detection from our water main network in order to a) minimise non-revenue water; b) minimise customer disruptions/frustration; c) minimise repair/reinstatement costs for water main bursts; and d) gain greater understanding of the water network (i.e. make it smarter).

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

Create virtual water network zones which detect pressure and flow rate changes, indicating leaks and use of water within a virtual zone. Helps pinpoint leaks reducing time to search and repair.

It does this by…

Using a wet tapped flow sensor, pressure sensor and acoustic sensor combined with a data logger and mobile telephony to communicate daily flow, pressure and acoustic data to our servers allowing trend analysis and leak detection. Also can be set up to provide alarms if flow rates, or pressure is recorded out of trigger points.

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

It is now easier to pinpoint the location of a leak within a virtual zone, without relying on a call from customer or walking entire suburbs with electronic listening sticks.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

  • Ability to detect small leaks before they become a larger damaging/costly burst
  • Savings in reinstatement/repair time and operational costs
  • Water authority knows about the problem before a member of the public calls in a burst

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

Reacting to a customer call when they saw water coming up out of the ground somewhere. Some proactive detection was also undertaken using electronic listening equipment — cover entire network every eight years.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

There is a wide variety of manual leak detection approaches, including Electronic Leak Detection devices used by team of street walkers, flow meter totalisation, etc. There are also several software products which try to interpret flow data from existing sources.

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

Global water authorities and councils with water responsibility. Every water authority has some leakage from their network and this can reliably detect leaks as small as 5L per minute.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

SE Water commercial ventures group — now called iota.

Our marketing strategy is to…

Largely promote the product/service through water industry channels (events/conferences/trade shows) in Aus & NZ before expanding into Asia Pacific region and beyond. Market size is still being investigated.

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