Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | december 2014 | 23 "We don't know what we don't know ....data variety is critical in this new data revolution. We mustn't limit ourselves to conventional thinking" increases. Data analytics can then be used to prevent efficiency excursions before they happen and to identify further reductions by a change of operation or equipment. Many water companies have extensive energy data at plant level, but rarely at component level, but this is improving. The trend has been to base energy management on mechanical efficiency i.e. has it used the same energy to deliver the same flow? We then compare it to historical trends and alert and fix on deviation. This prevents gradual performance deterioration, but does little to improve process efficiency. Asking questions such as 'Should we be pumping that much?' 'Can we reduce it, or change the time of day?' could make us more energy effective. Wastewater treatment is highly dynamic in na- ture. We can create sophisticated process models and calibrate them with huge amounts of data and link it together. In near real time, we can accurately predict plant process efficiency and make dramatic performance improve- ments in energy and consumable costs. In time, this sort of analysis may enable us to establish trends and insights which allow us to make interventions before efficiency declines. We can apply the same thinking to process compliance and maximise inherent plant capacity. All of these ideas are possible with data we have now or with an understanding of what the influencing facts are. In the future we need to decide what data we'd like to collect. For example, is there value in having household wastewater meters so we can better understand people's habits? Should we have an "internet of things" on toilets so we know how many times a flush occurs? I'm pretty sure water consumption devices such as washing machines, dishwashers and even showers and taps will soon be factory fitted with data chips, allowing manufacturers to understand performance and failure rates. This same data could be used by the water industry to help us understand and alter behaviours to improve performance. We don't know what we don't know ....Data variety is critical in this new data revolution. We mustn't limit ourselves to conventional thinking. It's not just collecting the obvious, but capturing everything that may or may not have an influence on an outcome. For example, can we improve water treatment costs by better understanding when, how and what influences contaminants to appear? Their duration? Can we prepare for them so we can reduce or stop their intake through catchment changes or by creating capacity head- room to allow plants to shut down? The ultimate aim is for treatment plants to be operating with maximum plant reliability at the lowest cost to treat. For us to do that, then we need to make sure our understanding of the whole water "Eco- system" is understood and to continue to extend the boundaries of influence against which we constrain ourselves. Big Data + Predictive Analytics = Improved Customer Outcomes and Reduced Cost to Serve. Big Data needs IT masters, predictive analytics need subject matter experts with stat- isticians and the whole requires our imagination and willingness to embrace a new tool kit to cra‹ a new set of data-based, rather than concrete- based, processes. The outcomes won't necessar- ily be new kit, but ways of behaving differently to get better results with what we have already. I don't know how much the water industry will use the power of data. But I do know we shouldn't dismiss this amazing new set of tools which could create significant value enhancing products. Other industries from British Airways to the NHS are already spending time and money understanding how data analytics can be used to improve their services, so the water industry is not lagging behind and collaboration and shar- ing between industries will be key to exploiting the opportunity presented. MWH, as experts on water and wastewater, has teamed up with Accenture, a data and transformation expert to provide the right mix of knowledge and capabilities to meet this new challenge. We invite other water industry protagonists to join in the revolution and deliver something truly masterful. About the author: Ajay Nair is a technical director at mWH and an expert in water, wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

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