Water & Wastewater Treatment

Delegates explore insight- driven technologies The talk: events B uilding on the success of the past four years, the fih annual WWT Smart Water 2020 Conference & Exhibition, sponsored by ATi and Xylem, provided delegates with an opportunity to keep up-to-date with smart water innovation successes and essential regulatory updates while catching all the latest case studies and brand new smart technology from across Europe. David Elliott, chief innova- tion officer at Wessex Water, set the scene: "We are facing some very difficult times ahead – water availability and quality, health of the environ- ment, the age of our network and decarbonisation for sure, but also a very tight price constraint." He went on to say that it will be about investing wisely with the funding that water companies have available. Wessex Water is aiming to use smart technologies to be proactive rather than reactive reach their ambitious plans. He explained the com- pany's approach to combining data science and machine learning capabilities to create rich insight and a deeper understanding of how the organisation can perform better – a measure that will be imperative in AMP7. Elsewhere, delegates heard about Thames Water's 'game-changing' smart meter- ing journey, how Deltares in The Netherlands is utilising Data science and machine learning capabilities will create rich insight and a deeper understanding of how organisations can perform better in AMP7, delegates heard at WWT's fifth Smart Water Conference. and will be predicting service failures ahead of time, inform- ing customers about issues they might experience before they experience them, and making processes in general more efficient in AMP7. Elliot went on to explain that Inernet of Things presents a growing opportunity for Wessex Water to connect things and a chance to act ahead of time. Martin Jackson, head of IT strategy and enterprise architecture at Northumbrian Water, described the com- pany's digital vision as 'a new insight-driven way of working'. Northumbrian Water is looking to provide easy and intuitive experiences, enable knowledge to be shared, and empower people to think smart. Jackson described company culture as the 'glue' between digital technology and out- comes, things like having a common language for digital, being key in helping them www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | MAY 2020 | 17 Sponsored by machine learning to enhance flood risk management, and how Welsh Water is dealing with cyber security and smart water. Key stakeholders in the water industry gathered to hear the latest smart technol- ogy insights through live and virtual presentations, interac- tive workshops, live polling and networking. The WWT Smart Water 2020 Conference was held in Birmingham on 11 March. Smart technologies put control in the hands of water companies.

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