{"id":49472,"date":"2021-05-13T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T07:00:37","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-05-24T15:03:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T14:03:52","slug":"water-companies-sustainability-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-gb\/industry\/blog\/utilities\/2021\/05\/13\/water-companies-sustainability-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"How water companies can reach their sustainability goals through digital modernisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IndoorIn our second article examining the key priorities for the UK water sector, we take a deeper dive into the topic of sustainability. Sustainability is increasingly at the heart of strategy, customer and regulator expectations for UK water companies. It affects organisations from customer engagement and operations to capital delivery and organisational purpose, all of which can be optimised through better use of data.<\/p>\n

The English regulator has stated that \u201cthe solutions of the past will not be enough to continue to deliver the services of the future.\u201d Amid this, there is also uncertainty about levels of demand, changing weather patterns, population growth, lifestyle and demographic shifts. For the current regulatory period, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland has already adopted the principles of Ethical Business Regulation.<\/p>\n

As we work to build back better and reduce our impact on the world, the water sector must not wait to act. It must find better ways of doing things and must start looking for solutions now. Here we review the broader landscape of opportunity for insight-led sustainability in the water sector and five areas of consideration.<\/p>\n

Water companies need to build\u00a0technology partnerships<\/h2>\n

\"ALast month, we discussed how the water industry could learn from oil and gas<\/a> as it reinvents itself. Emerging technology such as analytics, AI, IoT, machine learning and smart metering have enormous potential to reduce utilities\u2019 water footprint. Additionally, these technologies can improve productivity, cost-effectiveness and deliver remote solutions to hybrid and frontline workers.\u00a0 Fundamental to building sustainable approaches is the need to increase the use of digital technology, the alignment of water industry domain expertise with cross sector collaborations and the pursuit of a comprehensive internal reskilling\/upskilling programme.<\/p>\n

Partnering with transformation companies allows for collaborative innovation ecosystems to harness these emerging technologies and drive the sustainability agenda forward.<\/p>\n

Reducing the leak lifecycle in water companies<\/h2>\n

For the current regulatory period, Ofwat has tasked water companies to cut leakage rates by 16 percent and reduce mains bursts by 12 percent. When comparing to the improvements demanded over the last decade, this is a quantum leap. Water companies cannot simply continue to pursue strategies that have struggled to deliver typically single-digit improvements in recent years. Harnessing data and analytics is key to meet these targets. Microsoft\u2019s cloud technology provides the foundations for organisations like EY to analyse and visualise massive quantities of data collected by sensors and pumps. Combining that data with historical information enables proactive, predictive and even prescriptive maintenance scenarios.<\/p>\n

We believe there are five key data and analytics capabilities water companies must establish to enable effective leakage management, and step-change operational performance:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leak detection – accelerated awareness<\/h3>\n

By combining existing and long-standing data from SCADA sources with IoT and other distributed assets such as bulk meters and critical pressure points, water companies can analyse and understand pressure and flow anomalies in the supply network. Add in machine learning, and organisations can quickly identify and validate leak events. They can do this at a pace that is unrecognisable in comparison with enduring net nigh-time flow methods, which commonly require days or even weeks to elapse before catalysing on-the-ground investigations.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leak location – increased accuracy<\/h3>\n

\"Two<\/h3>\n

Knowing you have a leak is only part of the problem. To fix it you must first find it. Here, the opportunity is to extend the data landscape to incorporate operational maintenance, network asset and other open and acquired datasets such as weather, soil type, council works registers, CCTV networks, utility groundworks datasets and even satellite image data. Additionally, there is substantial value and insight in establishing a segmented view of network \u2018leak propensity\u2019. In our experience, this vastly accelerates the ability of on-the-ground leakage teams to pin-point leaks up to 70 percent faster and significantly reduce the number of interventions resulting in dry holes.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Intervention optimisation \u2013 enabling a digital workforce<\/h3>\n

With faster leak detection and more accurate leak location, you can rapidly make risk and priority-based decisions for human or automated job ticketing and allocation. Coupled with field-force digital enablement that combines engineers with location and asset information, the latest information is placed directly in the hands of on-the-ground teams for faster, smarter and better-informed decisions and outcomes.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Network pressure \u2013 limiting collateral damage<\/h3>\n

With a focus on reducing service interruption and improving customer service, the rapid post-repair re-pressurisation of the network can often lead to destabilisation of other vulnerable assets in the area. This can create a domino-effect of leak repairs causing further outbreaks. Automated pressure balancing is increasingly common. However, to reduce destabilisation, the speed and level of recommissioning a post-repair segment of the network plays a significant role. Taking an insight-led approach over an extended period can provide support in post-repair decision making; further reducing unwanted additional leak events.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Network renewal \u2013 better targeting capital investment<\/h3>\n

Traditional water and wastewater utility systems are not built for the dramatically changing stresses of climate change and rapid urbanisation. Typically, less than half of one percent of the underground asset network is replaced annually. Putting that into context, it\u2019ll be around 200 years before the current network is refreshed in full. Yet the average pipe lifespan is considered to be around 30 years. The risk that this aging infrastructure brings – both in terms of potential failure and poor environmental compliance – is a key concern for water utilities and highlights the opportunity to embrace digital modernisation.<\/p>\n

Therefore, an effective asset replacement strategy is informed by clearly understanding network condition and weak points. The insights common to leak detection and location can be applied with equal success to drive condition-based network replacement priorities and associated value for operational KPIs.<\/p>\n

EY has worked with several UK water companies and have extended practical experience creating and implementing analytics-driven solutions including leak detection. In our experience, organisations pursuing an analytics-led augmentation of leak management processes can achieve:<\/p>\n