NSW Government Invests $4 Million in AI-Powered Water Leak Detection Platform

The New South Wales Government announced an investment in an AI-powered monitoring platform designed to detect water leaks in public buildings across the state, aiming to save up to 2,700 megalitres of water annually.

Funded through a $4 million allocation from the NSW Water Efficiency Program, the platform—named NSW DataDrop—is being developed in partnership with the Smart Water Informatics team at Griffith University. The system is scheduled to become operational by mid-2027.

NSW DataDrop will aggregate smart-meter data from government facilities, including schools, TAFEs, and hospitals, into a single near real-time platform. By using artificial intelligence and data analytics, the software is intended to identify abnormal consumption patterns, estimate water and financial losses, and generate consolidated leak reports for maintenance teams.

According to the state government, large public facilities face significant losses from undetected leaks. For example, an average school consumes approximately 2 million litres of water annually, with an estimated 20 percent attributed to leaks.

NSW Minister for Water Rose Jackson noted that the system will identify anomalies such as overnight water flow in unoccupied buildings, with the potential for future expansion to other sectors and residential homes.

In addition to facilities management, the platform will include an educational interface for school students featuring lesson plans and water auditing activities. The initiative also involves collaboration with NSW water utilities to integrate property and usage data for broader benchmarking and resource planning.

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