Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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Revolutionising infrastructure The Talk: opinion A s an industry, the water sector is no stranger to digital technologies. Digital sensor and control tech has transformed many operations in recent years and across privatised water suppli- ers there is no shortage of innovation. However, does that same appetite for innovation still apply when it comes to the construction of water infrastructure? Put simply the answer should be yes. And we're certainly seeing water suppliers looking for new digital innovations and o• -site build in both major and minor construction works. But a key barrier we're seeing time and time again is a lack of standardisation across the industry as di• erent suppliers look for di• erent innovations. In theory this is all well and good of course as di• erent approaches will inevitably lead to new developments which will drive the industry forward. However, what this o• en results in, certainly from a construction perspective, is each individual what hampered by a lack of standardisation between suppliers. Increasing standardisa- tion across di• erent organisations can only boost these e ciencies further. The road to digital transformation As with o• -site build the potential for the water industry when it comes to digital construction is huge. By implementing digital innovations right from the build stage, water suppliers can ensure that assets remain at their peak performance throughout their lifecycle. In an indus- try where security and e• ectiveness for processing infrastructure can mean the di• erence between a clean or contaminat- ed water supply, ensuring assets perform adequately throughout their lifecycle is essential. Implementing digital construc- tion approaches means performance can be monitored remotely and assets regu- larly serviced or replaced as they come to the end of their e• ective life. The stumbling blocks So, if the bene‚ ts are so clear why is water construction not universally embracing new construction methods and technolo- gies? The answer is not a simple one. The construction industry as a whole is one which has long since struggled with a fear for change and this is no di• erent in water construction. While there is a great deal of appetite for o• -site build and digital construction from both contractors and clients alike, there remains a culture of doing as we always did. That lack of con‚ dence in change is not helped by the shortage of standardisation in water infrastructure construction across providers. The major barrier we face to increase standardisation and digital transformation is without doubt a lack of leadership in a privatised industry. Other construction sectors o• en have strict targets to meet set by government departments which act as a catalyst for change, but without these de‚ ned and measured targets in water we risk being le• behind. The onus then is on us – as construction contractors and water suppliers - to drive that change and to do that we must lead ourselves through some- thing of a culture change. Right now our industry is on the cusp of revolution as two transformational con- cepts, o• -site build and digital construction methods, come together. Without doubt, progressing either of these two technologi- cal trends into mainstream water construc- tion projects will have huge organisa- tional bene‚ ts. However, we believe that by combining them, contractors and suppliers have the power to transform not only their own businesses, but water infrastructure in its entirety. Gavin Stonard, engineering director at nmcn, examines whether standardisation is the solution to digital transformation in water construction. supplier looking to their construction part- ners for their own brand of innovation. The cumulative result of this is that things don't move forward for the whole industry at the same time which of course makes it more di cult for anyone to bene‚ t from the ef- ‚ ciencies a• orded by new ways of working. The off -site revolution This is something which has become particularly prevalent in the rise of o• -site construction for water infrastructure. Of- ten the very nature of the water industry means that construction sites are remote and fraught with accessibility challenges, lending itself perfectly to the o• -site ap- proach. A controlled environment which enables full testing and dosing units for example to be assembled in full in a factory setting and then 'plugged-in' on site o• ers bene‚ ts in terms of both safety and e ciency. How- ever, those e ciency savings remain some- 14 | DECEMBER 2019 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Benefits of using BIO-BLOK ® : Highly efficient media Substantial cost saving Less media required Reduced asset size Experience the benefits of BIO-BLOK ® The only Intelligent Fixed Film Media on the market!