14 | JUNE 2019 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk
Round Table: Smart Asset
Management for Water
Companies
The Talk: Round Table
A
s the water sector faces up to a
wide variety of challenges, such
as climate change, the skills gap
and growing customer expectation, the
industry must find ways to work more
effectively.
Smart asset management, includ-
ing artificial intelligence, could play an
important role in driving improvements
and, while there are questions over the
sector's readiness for technological
transformation, there is little doubt that
such approaches are likely to be required
volves looking beyond maintenance to the
whole lifecycle – knowing when assets
will break down and when they need to
be replaced, and enabling asset owners to
make the right decisions at the right time.
"The best form of asset management is
the one where you don't build anything,"
one attendee said. "The priority is to do
more with what you've got. If you can't do
that, enhance it. If you can't do that, then
you replace it."
Others raised the point that smart
asset management facilitates a systematic
Smart asset management is expected to drive significant improvements in
water companies' operations, but is the industry ready to embrace cutting-
edge analytical technology?
By Robin Hackett
sooner rather than later.
Representatives from a range of UK
water companies gathered to discuss the
topic at WWT's round table in Birming-
ham on May 1st, which was held in as-
sociation with Black & Veatch.
Asked to define smart asset manage-
ment, participants agreed that it involves
having the ability to make informed, reli-
able decisions with accurate information
– not just making predictions but making
them confidently.
It was also argued that the concept in-
