Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
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OCTOBER 2016 WET NEWS 13 ONSITE IT & TElEmETRy • Having decided to adopt a smarter busi- ness model, Anglian felt its existing telemetry was not up to the job. A nglian Water is the larg- est water supply and water recycling utility in England and Wales by geo- graphic area. It covers more than 10,000 square miles from Humber to the Thames estuary and from Buckinghamshire to Lowesto-, servicing approxi- mately six million customers. Its mission is to deliver con- tinuous and sustainable ser- vices that include providing safe, clean water, keeping water bills affordable and ensuring that the long-term environmen- tal needs of the region are met. Priding itself on driving contin- uous improvement, it is fully committed to innovation and collaboration. Anglian Water operates in a particularly challenging market. Its supply demand balance is under threat from a number of issues, including climate change, growth and sustainability. The UK's mature water industry largely relies on a stressed, ageing infrastructure, with the added pressure of a rising population (29% growth over the past 25 years, with one million new homes expected in the next 25 years), growing water scarcity (driest area in the UK, with an average yearly rainfall of 600mm) and the risk of abstraction licenses being reduced to ensure that water sources remain stable. In addition, utilities must adhere to a number of regulations on water quality, leakage and service enforced by Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and the Consumer Council for Water. To support its ambitious vision and maintain its competi- tive advantage as a private water utility, Anglian Water knew it needed to build a smarter busi- ness that could utilise the vast volumes of big data being generated. This would enable it to reduce leakage, reduce energy bills and streamline operations. Foundation Furthermore, this smarter busi- ness model would enable the utility to provide improved cus- tomer experience. The foundation of this included the replacement of its ARTS2000 telemetry system, (built upon a system imple- mented in the 1970s) which now lacked functionality and the ability to interoperate with other corporate systems within The Water management Suite (WmS) technology enables the collection of data across multiple systems to be facilitated the organisation. Given the lengthy and complex nature of the project, Anglian Water required close collaboration with a technology provider that could offer second to none sup- port, consultancy and service and move away from the traditional customer / vendor technology procurement relationship. Anglian Water embarked on a competitive tender and Schneider Electric was selected not just because of its flexible, scalable technical offering but also because it was seen as the best company to work in partnership with on this complex and challenging journey. Partnering with Schneider Electric, Anglian Water embarked on the significant Getting smart on data projEcT SpEcS • Replace wireless telemetry system • Implement Integrated Remote Intelligence Service