Launched at the Global Water Summit 2017 in Madrid, Spain earlier this year, the Victorian utility was one of six new members inducted into the network, ratified by the LUOW Advisory Board.
Established by the Global Water Leaders Group (GWLG), LUOW aims to promote innovation within utilities and communication between utilities.
“The launch event in Madrid has truly started a ripple effect throughout the water utilities sector,” said GWLG Secretary General Samantha Yates.
“It is a space where utilities doing remarkable and innovative things can shine a light on their achievements, share their experiences, and get involved in an ongoing conversation about how to do things even better – because we always perform better when we work together.”
“It’s rewarding to see our work recognised globally, and to share the stage with so many other innovative organisations,” said a South East Water spokesperson.
“We see it as a fantastic opportunity to bring the world’s best practices to Australia for the benefit of our customers and the broader water industry.
“South East Water was nominated and given an opportunity to present to an advisory board on the solutions we’re developing to deal with challenges such as climate change, population growth and changing customer expectations.
“We demonstrated how we’re leveraging emerging technologies to tackle these challenges.
“A good case study is Aquarevo, a collaboration with Villawood Properties to build what’s on track to become Australia’s most water efficient residential development.
“Aquarevo is intended to show there’s a better way to use water in the home without losing liveability.
“Solutions include an app that will enable Aquarevo homeowners to track and monitor all energy and water use in near real-time on a single interface, and a rain to hot water system for bathing and laundry,” said the spokesperson.
“We have also designed an intelligent pressure sewer system that takes wastewater to a treatment plant on the estate, treats it to Class A standard, and returns it to homes for irrigation and toilets.
“These solutions are all underpinned by South East Water’s intelligent OneBox® monitor and control technology, which we developed to make our water and wastewater systems smarter and more flexible.
“The solutions have the potential to support liveability not just in our service region, but across Australia and beyond, and it’s fantastic to see them recognised.”
South East Water said membership of the network will enable it to collaborate with some of the world’s most innovative utilities, to take and refine innovations and best practices, and ultimately deliver more value to its customers.
It joined Water Corporation of WA – a member of the Advisory Board – as the only other Australian member of the group.
LUOW includes other utilities such as Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and DC Water from the US, and the Republic of Korea’s K-water and Singapore’s Public Utilities Board.
For more information visit the South East Water website.
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