Estate case study · Anonymised
Know your groundwater.
Choose what pumps first.
An estate’s boreholes can supply the same reservoir with very different water levels, yields and pumping costs. Measuring each source makes those differences visible.
What the measurements revealed
Same estate.
Different pumping effort.
Recorded energy needed to pump one kilolitre of water, compared across three selected boreholes.
- Source A
- 1.0×
- Source B
- 1.3×
- Source C
- 2.4×
- Groundwater
- Levels while pumping and at rest
- Water delivered
- Flow and recorded volume
- Pumping energy
- Electricity used per kilolitre
- Reservoir demand
- When to refill and when to stop
The challenge
A full reservoir is only part of the picture.
At this residential estate, several boreholes feed a shared reservoir. Keeping water in storage means understanding both the supply above ground and the water available below it.
The useful questions go beyond whether a pump is running: how much water did it deliver, how much electricity did it use, and what happened to the groundwater level while it was working?
What Smarta makes visible
Each borehole tells its own story.
A review of the estate’s operating records brought three useful observations together:
- Pumping effort varies. Among the three sources shown above, the highest recorded energy per kilolitre was more than twice the lowest. Total electricity use alone would miss that difference.
- Groundwater response varies. Pump-on and pump-off readings showed different level responses at different boreholes. Reviewing these alongside runtime helps inform pumping and rest schedules.
- Storage and source controls work together. The configured system uses reservoir levels to enable pumping schedules or stop filling. Low-water stop rules are also configured at individual boreholes.
How we set the pumping order
The lowest-cost suitable borehole goes first.
We use measured water and energy, together with the applicable electricity tariff, to compare pumping cost per kilolitre. That helps us select which suitable boreholes should refill the reservoir first and configure the pumping plan around the estate’s needs.
Check the source.
Review groundwater levels, available yield and pump condition. Agree the operating limits and rest periods for each borehole.
Choose the pumping order.
Prioritise the lowest electricity cost per kilolitre among suitable, available boreholes. Bring in additional sources when the reservoir needs more supply.
Fill, stop and review.
Configure reservoir-level rules and pumping schedules, then review water delivered, energy used and groundwater response as conditions change.
Pumping cost means electricity cost per kilolitre. We configure the pumping order around source availability, groundwater limits and reservoir demand.
About this case study
Based on a read-only review of Smarta Online production records on 21 October 2026. The comparison uses one complete month of recorded energy and water totals for three selected boreholes, normalised to the lowest energy per kilolitre in that group. Source names, locations, exact volumes, depths and control settings are withheld. The pumping approach describes how we use these measurements when configuring an estate; the figures compare sources within the same period.
Make every pumping decision count.
Let’s look at your boreholes, reservoir and operating costs.