Dubbo residents should brace for the possibility of "bill shock" when their ageing water meters are replaced by smart meters.
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Dubbo Regional Council has confirmed water bills could be impacted by the changeover which will be covered by about $5 million in ratepayer dollars in its "water and sewage budget".
The council's director of infrastructure Julian Geddes has responded to warnings of bigger bills by users of the Daily Liberal's Facebook page.
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"The smart water meters aim to avoid bill shock as a result of property owners being able to monitor their usage via the online app," he said.
"In turn the customer will be more prepared for their bill when it is issued as they will be privy to the water they have been using on a real time basis.
"Commentary that alludes to water bills increasing due to smart water meters can only be attributed to the smart water meters being more accurate than the ageing infrastructure that is currently in place."
Among the Daily Liberal Facebook page users to raise the alarm was Stuart Davies.
"..replacing old, less accurate meters with modern meters will record water use more accurately," he wrote.
"It is known in the industry that old meters are not accurate. Stand by for bill shock when the new meters are installed.
"Council will win big."
Another user, Mudgee resident Tina Catelotti Barnes, told of her bill doubling.
She claims to have been told by the Mid-Western Regional Council of a slow leak.
"The tiny percentage they told us would nowhere near be the amount of extra usage but what can we do?," Ms Catelotti Barnes wrote.
"We dug up our front yard to investigate but found nothing."
The Mid-Western Regional Council smart meter rollout, funded by a federal government grant, aims to save ratepayers an estimated $445,000 annually through detection of leaks in real time.
Identifying "hidden leaks" will be a priority for Dubbo Regional Council when it starts to receive data from smart meters yet to be rolled out across the region.
The six-to-eight-month task will be undertaken by Taggle Systems from a date yet to be announced.