Smarter Tanks to Build a Resilient Network

Last summer, temperatures reached over 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in the UK, affecting customers as well as the environment. As we face increasing risk of drought due to climate change, tech to anticipate extreme weather patterns and prevent water shortages due to droughts will become more and more important.

The ‘Smarter tanks’ project explored how to best monitor drinking water and rainwater storage tanks using real-time control solutions, to see if more water can be stored when needed most, such as during extended dry periods or drought, ultimately contributing to a more resilient water network and reduced disruption to customers.

The idea was to try to understand the benefits of retrofitting existing assets, such as water tanks, with these new real-time monitoring solutions. The project, funded by the Ofwat Innovation Fund, encountered a huge challenge with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which ultimately meant that engineers were often prevented from accessing the sites to install these solutions, monitor the progress and capture data.

Despite initial set-backs due to the pandemic, the project was a success in terms of understanding what was happening at the assets, and the value of having real-time prompts for better decision making – for example, to know when more water supply was needed, or locate where water was being lost (when sensors identified the levels were decreasing). These benefits then led to others – for example by flagging decreasing water levels, leaks could be identified and repaired more quickly, saving water, preventing supply issues, and making it more cost-efficient for both customers and water companies.

However, the pandemic did mean the project was only completed on a much smaller scale. Additionally, the project would have benefitted from management by a dedicated innovation employee, or team.

The initial success of the small-scale project has provided learnings for a much larger endeavour called Safe Smart Systems which is now underway. This will explore automation from source to tap within the whole water network, rather than just with retrofitting existing assets – working with 19 partners to do so.

The Safe Smart Systems project has immense long-term potential, however, the nature of the work will mean that for some of the larger water companies, it could take up to four years to implement findings, and for some of the smaller ones it might be more like ten years to move to a Safe Smart System.