Clear for inspectors

KEEP your water meter clear of obstacles and within view.
That’s the message South East Water is sending to Greater Dandenong residents this week as it campaigns to make water meters more accessible for inspectors trekking across the city.
South East Water says its meter inspectors walk up to eight kilometres a day and are often faced with obstacles such as overprotective pets, overgrown gardens and hidden meters, that prevent them from doing their job.
Over the next few months, South East Water’s 30-strong meter inspector team will examine almost 65,000 metres in Greater Dandenong and nearly 550,000 metres across Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs.
South East Water managing director Dennis Cavagna local residents could easily make meters more accessible. “Local residents can be of great help to our meter readers by making sure that the immediate area around meters is clear from obstruction,” he said.
“Occupational hazards including electric fences, cactus bushes, bee hives and long grass with snakes are serious risks that are difficult for our meter readers to avoid.
“Meter readers perform their duties irrespective of rain, wind and heat, so it’s important that residents go out of their way to make their duties easier.”
South East Water says that meters are read four times a year, equating to 2.2 million meters.
If they cannot be accessed, the company says a household’s consumption is estimated from previous readings.
Therefore, if people have made water savings between meter reads, they may not see a reduction on their water bills.