FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
OUR METERS
Multi-unit complexes have a master meter to record the total water used.
A sub meter is an additional meter used to measure the water used in each individual apartment / unit / townhouse.
Private meters are installed on private property by the owner/s and used by them to apportion costs of measured water consumption according to ‘user pays’ rather than by some other method e.g. unit entitlement.
Private meters are owned and maintained by private individuals or their body corporates.
They empower people to make their water fair.
Water service provider approval is not required for sub-meters that have been retro-fitted in existing properties, where the sub meters are not to be used for direct invoicing by the water service provider.
BENEFITS
For whole complexes:
If you are currently billed via the “lot contribution method”, your complex will switch over to “Body Corporate billing method” (where the Body Corporate is invoiced for the total volume of water supplied to the scheme). e.g. Scenario 1 in the Water Sub-Metering and Billing Arrangements For Community Titles Schemes Policy – Gold Coast City Council.
Service Charges continue to be invoiced to the unit owner by the water service provider. Any applicable subsidy or concession will be applied to this individual account.
Water Usage Charges for each unit are calculated from your sub meter readings and invoiced to the unit owner via your billing agent (e.g. Fair Water Bills). Landlords may recoup this amount from their tenants providing the relevant legislative criteria have been met. (See Water charging – Residential Tenancies Authority.)
Water usage charges for Common Areas (e.g. pool, carwash) are calculated as the difference between the bulk meter and the sum of the private meters. This amount can continue to be allocated by the Body Corporate via levies.
For landlords:
What are the minimum criteria for water charging?
Lessors are able to pass on the full water consumption charges to tenants if:
The minimum criteria for passing on water usage charges is:
- You SAVE MONEY – as an owner occupier, you are assured that you are only being billed for the water you actually use. NO subsidising others through shared bills or paying for water while your unit is vacant.
- LEAK DETECTION protects your property and your pocket
- BE EMPOWERED – you can’t manage water use if you don’t know what it is!
- ADD VALUE to your property and IMPROVE SALEABILITY
Installing a sub-meter in YOUR UNIT is an advantage because:
- You SAVE MONEY – The water usage component of your bill can be on-charged to your tenant providing:
- The rental property is individually metered; and
- The rental property is ‘water efficient’; and
- The tenancy agreement states the tenant must pay for water consumption.
- You SAVE MONEY – The water usage component of your bill can be on-charged to your tenant providing:
- LEAK DETECTION protects your property and your pocket
- ADD VALUE to your property and IMPROVE SALEABILITY
- TAX DEDUCTIBLE improvement
Additional benefits if ALL UNITS in your Community Title Scheme are sub-metered:
- You SAVE MONEY – you are assured that you are only being billed for the water you actually use. NO subsidising others through shared bills or paying for water while your unit is vacant.
Yes. There is even more need for sub meters in commercial complexes. Just think of the huge difference in water used by businesses like laundromats, hairdressers and restaurants, compared to accountants, travel agents and retail outlets!
SWITCHING OVER TO USER-PAYS WATER
Individual meters are installed at the isolator or shut-off valve for your unit. This is the tap that turns off water to all outlets within your lot, excluding common water.
When installed inside your property, Body Corporate approval is not required.
When installed on common property, Body Corporate approval is required.
If, as a landlord you wish to install an individual meter within your lot boundary, it would be courteous to let your Body Corporate know. They may wish to consider individual metering for the whole complex.
- Sub meters do not replace or interfere with the council / water provider’s bulk meter to a complex.
- Sub meters simply give accurate information on the actual water used by each unit so that water usage can be attributed on a ‘user-pays’ basis instead of on an arbitrary basis (such as by size of unit, number of bedrooms or lot entitlement).
For Owner Occupiers:
- Yes, providing we service your area, you can receive the bill for the measured water to pass on to your tenant.
- In the meantime, landlords anywhere can have their meters read by their property managers during routine property inspections.
- We currently service the coastal centres from Ballina to the Sunshine Coast. Check if we service your area, or sign up to know when we are in your neighbourhood.
For Owner Investors:
- You can only benefit from individual ‘user-pays’ water bills if your whole complex installs water meters.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Generally not, as water providers generally update their system as soon as the new water charges agreement is received or scheduled to takes effect. See question above.
There is no need for our meter readers to access your property. When our meter readers drive past, the wireless radio module fitted on your meter is “pinged” and it responds by sending your meter reading.
The radio module collects and processes pulses received from the measuring device and sends them to the remote reading system.
The radio module:
- automatically saves your monthly water use for the past 12 months
- records unusual usage / “alarm” notifications (for leaks / baseline flow, backflow, or tampering)
When the drive-by reader comes within range:
- your radio module is ‘woken up’ by the remote reading system
- it transmits your usage data and any “alarm” notifications (for leaks / baseline flow, back-flow, or tampering) to the remote reading system
The data is matched to your meter’s serial number in our system, and then used to generate your water bill.
This remote reading system is robust and reliable and has been used and trusted in Europe for 20 years.
Meter readings are sent to
- our billing platform, or
- to your nominated billing provider
to issue bills to unit owners.
If you have chosen a complete, end-to-end billing service then payments are made into a trust account before being transferred into the Body Corporate account to settle the bulk bill with your water provider.
If you have chosen to receive notational invoices only, then payments are made:
For Owner Investors (where just their lot is metered):
- directly to the property manager (by the tenant)
For Owner Occupiers (where the whole complex is individually metered)
- directly to the Body Corporate (by the owner)
If you have chosen a complete, end-to-end billing service then payments are made into a trust account before being transferred into the Body Corporate account to settle the bulk bill with your water provider.
If you have chosen to receive notational invoices only, then payments are made:
For Owner Investors (where just their lot is metered) – directly to the property manager (by the tenant).
For Owner Occupiers (where the whole complex is individually metered) – directly to the Body Corporate (by the owner).
ACCURACY, RELIABILITY & WARRANTY
All water meters are required to be verified or replaced every 8 years – which can be costly and a hassle.
Our ECO measuring capsule simply unscrews to be recycled – so its kinder on the planet and your pocket. When the time comes, we send you a reminder.
- Fair Water Meters are triple tested for durability as well as accuracy – twice in Germany and samples from each batch is tested again upon arrival in Australia as part of mandatory verification.
- Provided your meter has been installed as recommended, a fault is highly unlikely.
- We are proud to introduce meters of this quality to Australia and customer satisfaction is very important to us. If you have a concern, please contact us directly.
Lifetime Warranty on the valve-meter base and in-line base.
8-Year Replacement Warranty on the measuring capsule and radio module.
