Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) needed to urgently increase the number of irrigation meters it tested and publish the results, according to the head of a northern water services committee.
Central Goulburn Water Services Committee (WSC) chair Peter Hacon made the call after a Tongala irrigator claimed he was paying for an irrigation allocation he hadn’t received.
“As a customer representative committee, we have asked GMW to follow it up, and they are going to do it,” Mr Hacon said. “We would like to see more meters tested a year and those results published.”
Mr Hacon said “a lot” of irrigators were questioning the amount of water they were being charged for, after having swapped over from the older Dethridge wheels. Testing took away “some of the cynicism and the doubt,” Mr Hacon said.
Cropper Greg Regan said his property had recently been upgraded, with a pipe and riser system. “I seemed to be using a hell of a lot more water than I used to,” Mr Regan said. “I borrowed a brand new mechanical meter and bolted that to the end of the line, where it falls into my dam. Every litre that went through their meter went through my meter.”
Mr Regan said the test showed him using 16 megalitres (ML), whereas he was being charged by GMW for 18ML. “That’s not right, because there are no losses anywhere, it’s a closed system.”
He said GMW engineers disputed the accuracy of the meter he installed, although it was certified and had a tolerance of 0.2 per cent.
“They also said if I wanted them to come and check the meter, I had to put up a $5000 deposit
“They said they would turn up with a flow meter and if it was wrong, I’d get my $5000 back and they would adjust it. But if it was right, they would keep the $5000.”
He said he was growing lucerne and believed GMW “has knocked off my water.
A GMW spokesman said the meter serving Mr Regan’s property, and those serving all GMW customer service points, was installed to meet National Water Meter Standards, required under the National Water Initiative.
To test meters, GMW employed qualified independent contractors using metering rigs tested in a National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) certified test laboratory
“This system is known as the Reverification Evaluation Vehicle (REVS). The REVS unit is routinely verified against NATA -certified meters in a NATA-certified test facility; the rig itself is tested to meet National Measurement Institute (NMI) standards”
The testing regime was discussed at an on-site meeting with Mr Regan.
Staff were following a validation process, to assess the condition of the meter, to ensure it was operating properly with no blockages or maintenance issues.
GMW managing director Pat Lennon said there were about 9000 modernised irrigation meters across the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation District (GMID).
“This investment means GMW has on average one of the most advanced and accurate metering fleets in the irrigation industry,” Mr Lennon said.
“The inaccuracy of old mechanical meters can be 20 per cent or more compared to modern meters which are achieving an accuracy to within plus or minus five pc tolerance across GMW’s modernised metering fleet.
In recent years, GMW has annually conducted approximately 50 independent on-site verification tests.
Testing was done by expert contactors employing best practice and the date used to assess GMW’s metering fleet against its compliance and accuracy requirements.
GMW’s customer operations general manager Scott Barber said over five years of testing, the modernised metering fleet was achieving accuracy and compliance.
The cost of conducting a single certified meter test, in accordance with the Australian Standards by certified contractors using NATA certified test meters, was in the vicinity of $7000.
Mr Barber said if a meter passed validation, the customer would be asked for an appropriate deposit toward most or all of the cost of compliance and accuracy testing. This was so all customers were not funding individual tests that may prove to be unnecessary.
“If a meter is found to be faulty and exceeding our allowed tolerances then GMW will rectify the problem and refund any customer deposit,” Mr Barber said.