How Unitywater used Forecaz delivered Data-Driven Demand Forecasting to Infrastructure Planners

CASE STUDY BACKGROUND

Unitywater is the water and sewerage authority serving over 755,000 people across South East Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Noosa, and Moreton Bay regions. Managing over $3.3 billion in infrastructure assets across one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions, Unitywater faces the dual challenge of maintaining service affordability while expanding sustainable water and sewer networks to cater for population growth.

In 2010, Unitywater partnered with Forecaz to develop the Demand Modeller and Tracking Tool (DMaTT) — a geospatial forecasting platform that puts data-driven scenario modelling directly into the hands of planners.

Transforming growth and demand modelling for utilities and councils.

Partnering with Unitywater, Forecaz developed the Demand Modeller and Tracking Tool (DMaTT) - a geospatial forecasting platform that puts dynamic scenario modelling directly into the hands of planners. Within days, Unitywater can generate property-level forecasts that once took months, optimising over $3 billion in infrastructure assets.

The result for Unitywater was faster decisions, smarter investments, and measurable environmental and customer savings. DMaTT has since been adopted by major water authorities and universities, setting a new industry standard for integrated infrastructure planning.

The challenge of demand modelling

Before the deployment of Forecaz (internally branded by Unitywater as DMaTT – the Demand Modeller and Tracking Tool), Unitywater’s demand modelling relied on time-intensive, static processes requiring specialist programmers and consultants. Forecasts were difficult to verify, inconsistent across teams, and often outdated by the time they were completed.

This limited Unitywater’s ability to confidently align infrastructure planning with actual development sequencing and population growth. The organisation needed a solution that could deliver:

• Dynamic, property-level demand forecasting

• Transparent modelling built on credible, repeatable assumptions

• Fast scenario testing without specialist programming skills

• Integration of multiple data sources under one geospatial environment

THE AIM OF THE PROJECT: To create a tool to build and maintain dynamic demand models to ensure Unitywater was providing the best value to customers by optimising capital investments.

Forecaz / DMATT Solution: Enabling Planners to demand forecast

Forecaz (formally Sizztech) worked closely with Unitywater to design and implement the Forecaz platform, configured as DMaTT for Unitywater’s operations. Forecaz leveraged Bayesian Network (BN) modelling and geospatial automation to bring demand forecasting directly into the hands of planners.

Key platform features included:

• Automated scenario modelling through a user-friendly web interface

• Integration of layers such as land use, approvals, constraints, planning provisions, and State growth data

• Dynamic demand modelling across water, sewer, and other networks

• Spatial data export for use in network models and mapping portals

This approach transformed how Unitywater analysed growth, moving from manually updated spreadsheets to a live, data-driven model capable of producing regional demand forecasts in days rather than months.

Implementation

Forecaz provided end-to-end enablement throughout the solution lifecycle:

• Solution design and software development using Forecaz’s geospatial modelling framework

• Integration consulting to align DMaTT with Unitywater’s data pipelines and strategic modelling environments

• Training and enablement for Unitywater planners and GIS specialists

• Ongoing enhancement and support services to incorporate new data layers, extended growth modelling, and industry best practice
  

Forecaz’s agile delivery model allowed phased deployment from 2012 to early 2014, followed by iterative enhancements supporting long-term scalability and inter-agency adoption.

Outcomes

1. Speed and Efficiency

   • Demand forecast timeframes reduced from 6–9 months to 5–7 days for large regions.

   • Scenario modelling no longer requires specialist programmers.

2. Financial Impact

   • Enabled deferral of major capital works by up to 10 years, saving millions in capital expenditure.

   • Forward five-year average capital expenditure budget reduced from $266M to $105M (2010–11 vs. 2017–18).

3. Environmental Benefits

   • Optimised infrastructure staging reduced unnecessary construction and environmental impact.

   • Improved utilisation of existing network assets supports sustainable growth.

4. Social and Economic Benefits

   • Customers benefit from lower ongoing service costs and improved transparency.

   • Developers access Unitywater’s validated demand assumptions via an online interactive mapping portal, reducing application time and costs.

   • Cross-council collaboration ensures consistent regional planning outcomes.

5. Industry Innovation

   • The tool’s transferable framework has since been adopted or tested by SEQwater, Noosa Council, and Queensland Urban Utilities, extending its impact beyond water infrastructure to energy and transport networks.

   • Unitywater has published a range of layers developed using Forecaz to a mapping portal allowing planners and engineers to access growth forecasts and view the type, scale, location and timing of growth and land requirements for development

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