Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2023 | 29 Water Fido works with clients around the world analysing acoustic les from a breadth of devices, feeding the AI with information of pipes and networks around the world. "We turn each leak into a living thing, we give it an ID number and track it through its investigation and repair. This builds a global feedback loop back into the AI model about leaks and how they operate in di• erent conditions. "It's a true global collaboration; every time we process data, and we track it through looking for false positives, false negatives, we're learning more about how networks react." This builds a picture of how and where leaks are likely to occur, how they'll behave. "We constantly update the functionality based on what the industry tells us. We're not arrogant enough to say we know what you should be doing. We're listening to what people want." This feedback has led to the creation of a device that allows workers to walk down the street, detect leaks as a second point of evi- dence, and of an easier method of deploying listening bugs into very deep chambers. "We're launching a forum for how to develop the next part of the app based on the expertise of people in the eld. We're not here to replace jobs, we're here to make sure the world doesn't run out of water." With technological advances on o• er, Edwards despairs of companies that are not taking advantage of data and AI. She is aghast at a company in water- scarce California measuring leaks by digging a hole and holding a bucket in place. "This is the United States, they put a man on the moon and they're measuring the size of a leak with a bucket?" In contrast, the AI is all about making visible what's invisible, and she says that nding leaks is just the start. "We're deliver- ers of that truth of what is happening in the network and solving it, because we have to solve this thing." Scary as that may sound for a sector oˆ en under attack for losing water to leakage, Edwards says the industry can own that nar- rative and turn it around to show the work that is being done to solve the problem. Carrot or stick The emphasis at PR19 no doubt got leakage back on the top of priority lists, but Edwards fears the regulator's approach is not the rightŽone. "Ofwat should be encouraging water companies to adopt and trial things out on a bigger scale. Not innovation, there's enough innovation to solve all the problems in the world!" Edwards says. "I believe it's about adoption." She believes the reduction goal for PR19 and the longer-term ambition to halve leak- age rates is achievable, though not easy. "It's good to have these targets but it's too much stick and not enough carrot. The targets are so stringent. Who in a water com- pany would adopt a solution at scale if they risk being penalised so much? It's ne hav- ing innovation that's all in a little box but that doesn't help a utility implement the operational change necessary." She believes Ofwat has a role to play by doing away with short-termism of ve-year cycles and by establishing a framework that encourages operational change to be adopted. "There needs to be guidelines for change that won't penalise companies trying to make a transformational change," the zeal- ous chief executive says. "Otherwise we'll keep having people walking up and down streets with listening sticks." Ruth Williams, water correspondent "Ofwat should be encouraging water companies to adopt and trial things out on a bigger scale." Victoria Edwards, chief executive, Fido Photo: Fido Using AI, Fido claims to be able to detect the location and size of leaks from audio recordings

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