Facing Water Risk Head-on with IoT Enabled Technology

Anglian Water, a utility operator serving six million customers in England, is addressing water risk by implementing a new smart water solution that will help the company pinpoint leaks quickly and meet regulatory goals of reducing leakage targets by at least 15% by 2025. The new, web-based solution leverages the Internet of Things (IoT) to gather information from a variety of data sources, allowing Anglian to compare real-time information with historic data to pinpoint water leaks quickly.

Anglian chose Aveva’s Integrated Leakage and Pressure Management solution for its ability to offer better visibility into network performance, “resulting in great efficiency with less time spent processing data,” says David Jacobs, leakage manager for Anglian Water. “The system allows us to monitor the network on a daily basis and spot newleaks as they happen. This has enabled us to better plan repair activities to ensure leaks are fixed with greater speed and efficiency.” By leveraging IoT, data can be extracted from any water network distribution or maintenance-related data source.

In addition to reducing leakage, the leak management solution has boosted efficiency and productivity, enabling more time for employees to spend on other value-added activities, Anglian says.

Anglian is in the midst of implementing its Water Resources Management Plan, which will see the utility invest around $650 million on water management initiatives such as leak detection, smart meters, and helping the public become more water efficient. The utility plans to drive down leakage by 23% by 2025, the Eastern Daily Press reported last spring.

The Anglian Water region in the East of the United Kingdom faces the risk of water shortages due to serious drought conditions in the future and significant growth. Water risk has prompted the industry regulator of the water sector in England and Wales, Ofwat, to impose the 15% lower leakage targets, which could save the industry up to 170 billion liters of water a year.