Utility Week

36 | NOVEMBER 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Analysis continued from previous page consequential pollution incidents. We have also been able to move from time-based maintenance to condition-based mainte- nance for these assets and have dramatically reduced the number of alarms being received in wet weather. "We have now completed the trials and are in the final stages of a tender process to roll this capability out across our sewer net- work over the coming years." Fast facts: Wessex Water • 100%. Coverage of EDMs on storm overflows to the environment targeted by March 2023. • 125. Number of EDM units installed in 2020 despite the Covid pandemic – 55 more than initial target of 70. • 100>. Manageable level of event detection alarms in wet weather is in the 10s per day – rather than 100s or 1,000s currently witnessed, according to Wessex Water. Influx of predictive and telemetry technology Northumbrian's response to pollution inci- dents is primarily governed by the early notification or detection of issues through monitoring and trend analytics. "Once we are aware of issues, our peo- ple perform a 'blue-light' pollution response to all potential incidents and aim to mini- mise any impacts immediately," MacLean explains. "We are then able to respond and resolve problems quickly before they cause an inci- dent. There have annually been hundreds of instances when operators were alerted and attended site to clear a problem before there was an overflow." Continued investment in sewer-level monitoring technology and trend analytics assists said early detection and prediction of issues, including pollution and flooding. "We constantly use and develop our extensive telemetry eSCADA system, cover- ing over three million data points with asso- ciated alarms and early warnings," MacLean says. "Algorithms have also been developed for the early warning of issues in our Sewer Network Information Performance Reporting (SNIPeR) system together with rainfall data to identify potential problems." This control, business intelligence and monitoring capability covering more than 99% of overflows at sewage pumping sta- tions and treatment works has contributed to the lowest levels of pollution events of any water company in the England and Wales since 2017, as measured by the EA, the spokesperson claims. Thames Water's de Garis adds that while EDMs are an industry-wide measure, the firm has approached some areas in "different ways" including attempts to provide the pub- lic with live updates. "For example, trialling a system to give river users in Oxford real-time notifications of discharges from six of our nearby sites," she explains. Such automatic release noti- fications for local community groups in the Oxfordshire area use information from EDMs to send an email whenever data indicates there's likely to have been a release. On top of this, an early innovator in real- time reporting to the public, Southern Water, has implemented a Beachbuoy monitor- ing service – offering real-time information about releases of stormwater or wastewater – which covers all of its designated bathing waters as well as areas such as Chichester and Langstone Harbours which are popular with recreational water users. Managing a data deluge The lynchpin of each of the approaches mentioned – whether real time or predic- tive – is effectively processing, analysing and utilising data, with Southern Water stating that simply installing monitors equates to roughly a third of the challenge The company – which provides water and wastewater services for east Kent, parts of Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – has grown its Beachbuoy service from man- ual data entry to a fully computerised system which provides both the EA and public with near real time updates. However, peripheral challenges span- ning both technology and workforce remain once data is collected – for example, how the industry ensures quality and accuracy of data collected, especially when it's gathered at scale. Fast facts: Southern Water • £3.7bn. Amount that Southern is primed to invest in its water and wastewater services under its Water for Life Business Plan 2020-25. • 40%. In 2020, Southern saw a 40% improvement in pollution incidents from wastewater treatment works, and a 10% boost overall. • 2040. Southern is working to eliminate all pollution incidents on its network by 2040. By collating the information from tens of million of separate data points, water companies want to get a big picture

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