Digital Transformation in the Australian Water and Wastewater Sector, Forecast to 2022

Two-speed Transformation as Larger Customers Innovate Faster than the Rest of the Sector

The scope of the addressable market for this study is the water and wastewater utility sector (including council-run water and wastewater operations). This excludes water and wastewater assets operated in-house by commercial and industrial enterprises for their own use. Segments included in the scope are hardware, software, onsite communications, and services. The market is also analyzed by smart water meters solutions and the rest of the intelligent water utility network.

The increasing need for optimizing performance and efficiency, focus on customer service improvements, billing revenue and accuracy, ensuring sustainable water supply, emphasis on workplace safety, regulatory and technological changes, and the need to reduce non-revenue water loss are the key drivers of digital transformation in water and wastewater sector. Large, urban utilities tend to show greater digital maturity and a strong willingness and capacity to invest in digital transformation than smaller, rural utilities.

The millennium drought in Australia between 1996 and 2010 led to severe water scarcity across the country. Consequently, a large number of cities made significant changes to their water supply networks including the construction of desalination plants, large pipelines, and wastewater recycling systems, which were extremely costly to implement.

The rise of social media and mobile content and the ability to connect to a large number of people online have changed customer expectations in terms of the services they are offered as well as how they are offered. As a result, most water utilities are exploring digital interfaces to raise customer service levels. Smart water meters boost a utility’s ability to accurately and timely bill customers for the amount of water used.

The remote read capability allows for shorter intervals between billing reads, creating a more continuous flow of capital and better business planning in future revenue streams. Smart water meters also provide utilities with a greater ability to proactively manage relationships with customers and ensure smoother internal operations. These provide customer protection, with the ability to identify and control leakage, over-billing, and malfunctioning meters, which aids to plan for the future bill amounts.

Key Issues Addressed

• What are the key growth drivers and restraints for digital transformation in the water and wastewater sector?
• What is the size of the digital expenditure in the water and wastewater industry, and how is it growing year on year?
• Which technology and service trends are likely to impact the opportunity moving forward?
• Who are the leading solutions providers, and which competitive tools provide differentiation in this market?
• What are the emerging opportunities for utilities and solutions providers moving forward?