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Concerns 

Busselton Water is a water corporation servicing the Busselton region, one of Western Australia’s fastest growing areas, located 220 kilometres south of Perth. It provides over a billion litres of drinking water each year to more than 30,000 people, delivered via a complex network of treatment plants, storage tanks and 363 kilometres of pipes. Busselton Water also works closely with the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, WA Department of Health, WA Water Corporation, emergency services and the Economic Regulation Authority to ensure water quality, reliability and compliance. 

Over time, however, its ageing asset management system made these tasks increasingly challenging. “We had an old asset management system, but it was no longer supported or maintained,” said Keith Mungham, Asset Information Officer at Busselton Water. “To meet our audit requirements and make the asset management process more seamless, we needed a robust, modern system to help us track all our infrastructure in one place.”

Manual work order processes also made operations less efficient. Maintenance jobs were printed and placed in trays at the depot – sometimes taking days to be picked up. Jenny Mathies, Field Services Officer at Busselton Water, added: “Some jobs would just disappear into a black hole – it was frustrating. For cyclic jobs, like annual calibrations of mag flow meters, we need to show the ERA and the Department of Water that the work was completed. If the job sheet was misplaced or wasn’t properly closed out, it might mean the job wasn’t done or that data wasn’t collected. This would waste additional time finding out what happened and rectifying it.” 

Besides meeting regulatory requirements, Busselton Water also wanted to better manage customer service commitments, especially with more new homes being built and requiring water connections. “We have a 10-day requirement for new service jobs, like connecting meters and services to new properties. If the work order went missing, that connection could be delayed. We needed a reliable digital process to make sure we met our service targets.” 

Solution 

Busselton Water implemented �㽶��Ƶ’s Confirm Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system as its single source of truth for all asset data, helping it track, manage, and maintain its water infrastructure more effectively. Confirm now stores detailed information about each asset, including type, location, material, components, and condition. Once the asset register was established, Busselton Water expanded its use of Confirm to include: 

• ConfirmConnect – a mobile app that lets field crews access data, update asset information, and manage tasks in real time.
• ConfirmWorkzone – a map-based scheduling tool that allows asset managers to allocate jobs to specific crews based on location. 

Results 

Confirm has transformed how Busselton Water manages its assets and meets its regulatory obligations. Monthly operational and planning reports now draw on validated data from Confirm, providing visibility of asset performance, maintenance activities and licence obligations. Trend charts track key measures across the water network, enabling proactive interventions and better planning. 

“Since implementing Confirm, the ERA has been so happy with the standard of our audit reporting that they’ve extended our audit period from two to three years,” said Keith. “If the regulator is confident in your system, that’s a great sign you’re managing your assets well.” 

The move from paper-based to digital work orders has also saved time in scheduling and completing jobs and improved data accuracy. 

“We’ve gone from a completely paper system to being almost fully digital,” said Jenny. “It’s been a big step forward – jobs are now being completed up to a week faster, and we’re much more organised and efficient.” 

Looking ahead, Busselton Water plans to move to the cloud as part of its broader digital transformation strategy. This shift will allow the organisation to integrate asset management and finance operations, reduce double-handling of data, and improve long-term investment planning. 

“We’ve been on a long maturity journey,” said Keith. “We’re excited about what’s ahead – unlocking new efficiencies, improving decision-making, and continuing to deliver reliable, high-quality water services for the Busselton community.”