Emerald and Blackwater standpipes to be replaced

Council will replace the manual standpipes on Campbell Ford Drive in Emerald and near Ardurad Road in Blackwater with an automated system.

The new Avdata billing system will be easy to use, cut down administrative costs and prevent theft.

The existing standpipes will be dismantled, and the new system brought online on 1 October 2020.

Any existing keys for the Emerald standpipe will no longer provide access from this date. They will need to be handed back into the Emerald council office.

Under the Avdata system, there will be two options for payment as outlined below. New key tags will be available from council offices and transaction centres.

Account key:

An unlimited use access key for which Avdata creates and maintains a customer account. Usage charges are invoiced to the customer monthly on council’s behalf, and non-payment will automatically trigger suspension of access.

Prepaid key:

A key for which access to water at a particular standpipe is limited to the number of kilolitres which have been pre-purchased for that particular standpipe. Pre-purchased water credits can be added to prepaid keys by one or more of the following methods:

By phone Avdata staff can process credit card payments by phone. Note that customers choosing to use this service will be charged an additional processing fee by Avdata at the time of the transaction. Over the counter Council staff will receive the payment from the customer and record the pre-purchased water amount through the online portal. Online customer portal The customer portal provides online access to Avdata’s system for all customers. Prepaid key holders can pre-purchase water and view their recent transactions and current credit balance at the standpipe(s) to which they have access. Account holders can view their recent statements and the key tags for which they are responsible and pay their bills.

Users will be required to give permission for council to pass on their billing details to Avdata with all relevant forms to be provided when a key tag is issued.

If you have any questions or concerns about this new process or your account, please contact council on 1300 242 686.