Water & Wastewater Treatment

SMART WATER NETWORKS 2018 | 5 actionable information from these data- gathering technologies, but in the insights and improvements that can be made when this data is analysed. Knowing in good time that there has been a burst, an incident discolouration or a ooded sewer is one thing – but if the information from the network can be linked up and ana- lysed – either by a human or a computer machine - to pinpoint the causes, then there is a much better chance of help- ing prevent a similar problem occurring elsewhere. The greater granularity and real-time nature of the data provided by smart tech- nology can also yield insights that would have evaded people and equipment in the past. For example, smart meter- ing technology installed in customers' properties, as made by Sensus (see p13) provides readings to the water company as frequently as every 15 minutes, which can give a very comprehensive picture of a household's consumption. Small leaks in customer-side pipes, or faulty appliances such as toilets that are wasting water, can be detected, corrected or agged to customers. Using data from smart technology in this way is a much better form of customer service than waiting for customers to notice and/or complain about high bills. Smart technology can also assist with asset management and resilience, building up a picture of the health of the network, identifying any weak points or systemic vulnerabilities which might need to be strengthened in order to avoid problems developing in future. Technol- ogy does not have to „ xed in the network, either. Later in this supplement Aquam (see p7) presents a remotely-operated vehicle for assessing the health of under- ground pipe assets – part of a new breed of robotic guardians of our subterranean universe. Xylem (p14) also oŠ ers market- leading pipeline inspection technology. Resilience is, of course, a key compo- Clearwater Controls' Deragger can get to grips with ragging on pumps (p8) Smart metering can represent the fi rst step towards a smarter water network (Sensus, p13) Aquam's new ROV Amplus (p7) Groundbreaker's Insuduct (p11) nent of the PR19 price review and water companies will need to look into every avenue of innovation, technological or otherwise, to make their assets and systems more hardy. The 'Beast from the East' freeze-thaw event in spring 2018 revealed some of the vulnerabilities that exist when it comes to leakage. Since both pipes and meters need protecting, insula- tion solutions such as those presented by Groundbreaker (p11) will be a key part of the picture in preventing a repeat scenario. Arguably the best applications of smart technology are those where operational information is used in real time to make changes on an automated basis, hence avoiding an incident that would have required human intervention. This is demonstrated in the case of the Derag- ger, made by Clearwater Controls (see p8 ) in which technology is used to detect a developing wastewater pump blockage and then to reverse the pump impeller direction to clear the potential block before it starts. Water utilities are certainly in varying positions along the road to creating smart networks – however, one thing is for sure: the direction of travel is clear.

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