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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.
TouchPoint (VIC)
This innovation initially came to life when…
SEWater has been replacing old septic tanks on properties in sensitive areas with Pressure Sewer Units for 10 years. These units come standard with localised alarming to let property owners know there is a problem with the sewer pump (siren & flashing light). SEWater did not have visibility or control of over 2,000 installed pumps installed. After a power outage in a small regional town caused the entire town to be woken at 4am by 100 units all flashing and alarming, our staff believed we needed to find a way to monitor and control the pumps from our office.
WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Provide remote control and monitoring capability for authorities to know how their Pressure Sewer Assets are performing. This ensures we know about any problems before the customer does, and allows full control of the pump at property, street and network level.
It does this by…
Utilising a pressure sensor and other monitoring and control technology to communicate information to and from the SEWater SCADA system, allowing operators to monitor activity and control the pumps 24/7 from an office desktop. Naturally, within the device there is some clever programming to enable full control of the pumps.
PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
Only alternative is localised alarm where customer needs to call SEWater if there is a problem on their property. Now we have complete visibility and control of the pumps and also understand the real maintenance/service requirements as well as a better understanding of what the life of the asset will be.
Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…
- SEWater responds to faults before customer even knows there is a problem
- No need for localised alarm at property level
- Ability to control network flows to treatment plant or stop flows if works required
- Saves operational time and money.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
Previously each PS unit had an alarm box on the customer’s property wall. This was connected to a float switch inside the unit which alarmed if the tank was filling beyond a certain tipping point — indicating a problem with the pump or a blockage. Customer would then have to call to get fault fixed — hopefully before tank overflowed.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
All Pressure Sewer Pump manufacturers sell their products with localised alarms. Previously nothing that competes with TouchPoint.
TARGET MARKET
It is made for…
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
It is available for sale through…
SEWater commercial ventures group now known as iota.
Our marketing strategy is to…
Socialise the product at several water and waste industry events and conferences, conduct personal visits to many water authorities we know are using PS units and issue editorials/papers detailing the success of the business case for SEWater.
SUPPORTING IMAGES
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