From six aquatic facilities to one connected view
Blue IoT brought gateways, pulse monitoring, secure connectivity and Encompass Blue together across Yarra Ranges Council's geographically dispersed aquatic estate.
One of six aquatic facilities included in the water-monitoring rollout.
- Estate
- Six aquatic facilities
- Environment
- Multi-site brownfield retrofit
- Delivery
- July–August 2025
- Programme
- Water-meter monitoring
Six facilities. One connected programme.
The rollout extended across indoor and outdoor aquatic facilities, each with its own meters, communications conditions and existing hardware.
A simple brief met six different site realities
The project began with a clear objective: connect water-meter data from six council aquatic facilities to Encompass Blue. However, the estate combined geographically dispersed sites, existing meters, mixed legacy sensing hardware and gateways with unknown network details.
The first visits uncovered conditions that could not be resolved from a desk. Some sensors were incompatible, batteries had failed, a capacitor had detached, gateway firmware behaved unpredictably and mobile reception at Olinda was too weak for the existing hardware.
The physical scope also changed in the field. Monbulk, Olinda and Yarra Centre each required two monitoring points, taking the final active scope from six to nine rather than forcing the original assumption onto the sites.
A secure path from each meter to one operating view
Blue IoT treated discovery, connectivity and remediation as one delivery process, working with the infrastructure already on site and changing the design where the field evidence demanded it.
Establish the digital estate
Blue IoT created the council account and six site records in Encompass Blue, then identified and documented the gateways, meters and sensors at each facility.
Secure every connection
Gateways were reset, provisioned and tested with cellular backhaul, VPN and cloud connectivity. Firmware was later updated remotely to stabilise connections across the estate.
Fit the solution to the field
Compatible pulse sensors replaced unsuitable or damaged hardware, batteries were renewed and an external antenna solution was positioned and tested for Olinda's low-signal environment.
The work behind a reliable connection
The strongest decisions came from inspecting the real installation, testing the constraints and responding with the right hardware and configuration.
Legacy hardware had to be assessed, not assumed
A detached capacitor made the existing sensor unsafe. The device was replaced, while failed batteries and incompatible legacy sensors found elsewhere were addressed as part of commissioning.
Connectivity was designed around the building
With no usable mobile signal inside the shed, the existing gateway could not provide reliable service. Blue IoT tested antenna positions and specified external-antenna hardware suited to the site.
The edge remained serviceable and securely connected
Each site gateway formed the path between local meter telemetry and Encompass Blue. VPN access also enabled the team to diagnose behaviour and stabilise gateway firmware remotely.
A verified deployment footprint not an invented ROI claim
The available project records establish the delivery scope and technical rectifications. Water, cost and leak-detection benefits should be added only when council-approved performance data is available.
Seven monitoring points were online, with the final two at Yarra Centre awaiting installation.
By the final dated site report, gateway instability had been resolved through remote firmware updates and Olinda's gateway and two sensors were communicating successfully with Encompass Blue.
The rollout evolved through evidence from the field
Initial deployment round
Four sites were visited. Gateways were connected at Yarra Centre, Healesville and Lilydale while incompatible sensing, dead batteries, damaged hardware and Monbulk connectivity issues were identified.
Scope adapts on site
Monbulk, Belgrave and Olinda were addressed. The team confirmed a nine-point final scope and identified the need for a different gateway and external antenna approach at Olinda.
Stabilisation and rectification
Gateway firmware was updated remotely through the VPN, Olinda antenna positions were tested and its two monitoring points were brought online.
