Case Study: Goulburn Valley Water achieves faster, more accurate meter mapping and cost savings with Trimble GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK and GeoXH handhelds

Goulburn Valley Water Improves Efficiency with Customized GPS Software

Goulburn Valley Water, a Victoria, Australia utility serving 121,000 people across 54 towns, faced a costly, time-consuming challenge: locating and reading 58,000 dispersed water meters across 20,000 km² using pen-and-paper methods and vague location notes. Meter reads occurred only every four months, making leaks hard to detect and driving high labor and travel costs.

The utility partnered with Thinking Windows and used Trimble GeoXH handhelds, Zephyr antennas and the GPS Pathfinder Tools SDK to build Aquire, a simple GPS-enabled module integrated with their AquaRate billing system. Meter readers follow optimized routes, capture accurate GPS locations (or use a Bluetooth laser rangefinder where needed), and upload data via Wi‑Fi—reducing office trips, avoiding two additional hires, speeding collection, and creating precise location data for future RF meter rollouts and improved network management.

Goulburn Valley Water

Noel Squires

Information Systems Manager