The water industry’s battle to reduce leakage levels could be transformed with the development of a new data-driven technique to identify and tackle the most problematic areas.
Using a wide range of information sources, Essex & Suffolk Water will work with data professionals to identify areas across Essex that can be targeted to deliver the best possible reductions in water loss and reduce leakage levels to a record low.
The aim is for this groundbreaking data and spatial awareness-led methodology to be used alongside existing techniques for tackling leakage in a bid to return the company’s levels to below their historic minimum of around 57 megalitres (Ml) a day, down from the current 70Ml.
In partnership with two companies, PA Consulting and 1Spatial, the company has identified that focusing its efforts on specific locations – known as district metered locations (DMAs) – where more water is being lost, can help to achieve this keep Essex & Suffolk Water at the forefront of the industry.
That’s an annual reduction of 4,745,000,000 litres a year and the methodology is adaptable to other geographic areas.
The idea first came about when Essex & Suffolk Water’s parent company, Northumbrian Water Group (NWG), held its first ever NWG Innovation Festival in July 2017.
As part of the week-long Festival, 60 data scientists spent three days crunching 55GB of data from a wide variety of sources, ranging from existing information on leakage and ground structure to road traffic statistics and Second World War bombing records.
