Innovative water leak technology to go global

Council hands over rights to crafty software invention in multi-million deal.

Mackay Regional Council CEO Craig Doyle and Managing Director of Taggle Systems John Quinn. Picture: Contributed

INNOVATIVE software designed to identify water leaks and reduce water consumption in the Mackay region is now the centre of a multi-million dollar commerical deal.

Australian technology company Taggle Systems now has the rights to Mackay Regional Council's locally developed smart water application MiWater.

Mackay IT company Tyeware developed the MiWater software for the council.

The innovative software is designed to use smart water meters and other sensors to identify leaks, engage with consumers and reduce water consumption.

The software, developed in 2014, is now the most successful smart water application in Australia, used by more than 11,000 homes and businesses.

Council CEO Craig Doyle said he was proud of the program.

"We look forward to seeing Taggle Systems take our home grown innovation to the world," he said.

Taggle plans to expand MiWater's commercial use around Australia and the world but will continue to support the software for council and other existing customers.

In Mackay last year alone, the MiWater software helped identify and notify consumers of 35,000 water leaks.

Taggle Systems managing director John Quinn said he was excited to expand the capability of the software.

"Mackay has done a brilliant job of developing and commercialising MiWater and we look forward to furthering its success," he said.

"We want to collect and analyse more types of data and help utilities plan and monitor their assets, improve their operations and help them engage with households and businesses about their water consumption."

Software developer and managing director of Tyeware, Steven Tye, said the agreement was excellent for the economy.

"It will create economic benefit for the Mackay region and establishes a platform to take home-grown innovation to the rest of the world," he said.

Taggle Systems will continue to work with Tyeware on the future development of the MiWater software and is already planning to demonstrate an internationalised version of MiWater at the American Water Works Association conference in Denver, Colorado, in June this year.

Originally published as Innovative water leak technology to go global