Page 5 - Foundation for Water Research Winter Newsletter 2020

WATER & WASTEWATER MATTERS companies in planning how much water
(a) is needed and (b) is being used in
Digital Transformation a particular area, and also helps in

calculating the water balance. By allowing
and the Customer water companies to highlight areas of
unusually high consumption, this can
help to manage leakage. Customers are
Oliver Grievson, FWR Wastewater Section Co-ordinator
always challenging water companies to
or those working in the water industry, in the last few years you can’t reduce their own leakage, and this is
have escaped people talking about the ‘Smart’ water industry or even a key target in the plans for the next
Fthe ‘Digital Transformation’ of the water business. It is touted to be a five years with percentage reductions
revolution for the industry but what impact and benefit will this have for the of between 11–20%. It is through the
people who are at the heart of the industry – the customer? use of a wide range of data sources that
the industry will be able to concentrate
The digital transformation is set to make preventing nasty surprises when the bill its efforts in leakage reduction, which
massive changes within the water sector comes through the door will in turn reduce the amount of water
and one of the most developed areas that lost through leakage, providing a better
it is set to influence is that of the potable The advantage of smart meters to service to both the customer and the
water side of things and the advent of the water company mainly concerns wider environment.
smart water meters. In the next asset the reduction of the amount of water
management period (from 2020–2025) each customer uses. This is termed Water companies are also using advanced
the industry is set to install millions of the ‘per capita consumption’ which has analytics to look at the way that the
smart water meters, either replacing remained stubbornly stable for many customer uses water. Behavioural science
old meters or installing new ones. The years, at around 140–150 litres per is being used to help the customer use
benefit to the customer is that it means person per day. Typically, smart water water more efficiently, and there is also
there is the ability to look at what each meters reduce the amount of water the potential to use artificial intelligence
household uses in detail, coupled with that a customer uses by 18% which to look at some of the major water-
the fact that bills are based upon what is will partly address the water resource consuming white goods such as washing
actually used. This will help address the issue raised by Sir James Bevan (Chief machines and dishwashers to see what
phenomenon of customer-side leakage, Executive of the Environment Agency) in savings can be made in these areas.
something that has been the bane of 2019 (https://www.gov.uk/government/ This sounds very intrusive in terms of
the industry for many years, and which speeches/escaping-the-jaws-of-death- customer privacy, but this is not the case
is ultimately something for which the ensuring-enough-water-in-2050) and will as only general patterns and average
customer is ultimately responsible. help water companies in their targets to consumption in customer zones are
Examples of this are leaky taps, toilets reduce per capita consumption over the utilised. At all times the customers’ data
or boiler systems that can increase a next five years (and beyond). and their rights are protected under
customer’s bills through large amounts of GDPR.
wasted water. With smart water meters Knowing how much water is being used
this should be picked up more rapidly, by customers also helps the water Although most of the developments to
date have been made on the potable
water side of the industry, the wastewater
side has not been immune from digital
transformation, and there are some
important developments that have
both direct and indirect impacts on the
customer and the environment.

With climate change and flooding
becoming more and more of an issue
within the wastewater network, the use
of sensors is becoming increasingly
important. The area that directly affects
Water meters, even the traditional type (as pictured) can provide a diverse amount of data on the customer is when the sewer is pushed
how a customer is consuming water. When smart water meters are used the abundance of data
can help with aspects such as customer-side leakage. © Oliver Grievson beyond its capacity or where sewer

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