Smarter Tanks to build a resilient network

Smarter Tanks to build a resilient network

Amount awarded: £94,500

Led by: Affinity Water

Partners: Aqua Civils Ltd and University of Exeter

Project completed: July 2022

Challenge

During the last sixty years the average water consumption per individual in the UK has doubled and water providers have struggled to consistently meet this growing demand. To improve this situation, water storage needs to be made more effective and efficient and the supply network needs to be improved and made more resilient.

Using real-time monitoring and control solutions, the Smarter Tanks to build a resilient network project will explore how to best monitor drinking water and rainwater storage tanks to understand if more water can be stored when needed most.

Project Scope  

Affinity Water partnered with Aqua Civils and the University of Exeter to explore the use of emerging technologies to optimise water storage capacity, maximise water availability during “peak” demand periods and avoid the tank refilling process during these “peak” periods. It was envisaged that this trial would identify the benefits, challenges and barriers involved in retrofitting remote technology control to optimise the storage of drinking water in urban areas.

Project Stages

• Explore the use of smart technologies to optimise water-storage capacity.
• Identify pilot sites to test the technologies in a real-world environment.
• Assess the suitability of tanks (for drinking water storage and rainwater harvesting) as part of the Affinity Water storage infrastructure capability.
• Consider enterprise development opportunities and how to incentivise producers, users and customers.

Outcome

The project proposed to develop a “business model canvas”, laying the groundwork for other companies or providers to adopt the concept if value is identified through successful proof of concept installations. However, due to the difficulty experienced in integrating third party infrastructure from a control systems perspective and the discovery that gains on peak demand were minimal the “business model canvas” was not created.

Learning Outcomes

• The appropriate smart water storage technology exists, it is about how we use it and apply it.
• There is an ongoing need for key stakeholders to be engaged and working with water companies to apply these technologies.
• It is easier to install the relevant technology at initial commission rather than retrofitting.
• Tank sizes may be too small to have a significant effect in a supply catchment and will require mass utilisation.
• The technology may be useful for problem solving local pressure problems.
• Currently it is not clear whether these installations can be integrated with wider control systems for water supply.
• Questions remain around who pays for the technology to be implemented and who manages it going forward.
• The project needed more time. Tank assets were not part of the Affinity Water asset base and owned by third parties. This presented problems with the identification of the asset owners and this situation was exacerbated by the travel restrictions imposed during the Covid Pandemic

Recommendations

1. Explore the potential use of real time monitoring and control to understand customer demand patterns.
2. Identify locations of decentralised assets such as drinking water tanks in high rise residential buildings and rainwater harvesting tanks.
3. Install and pilot real time monitoring and control systems on decentralised assets within their operational area.
4. Explore the requirement for formal agreements between the building management companies and the water supply provider for the installation, operation and maintenance of real time monitoring and control technology.
5. Explore the potential use of IoT sensors for the dual purpose of monitoring water quality and water levels for real time control.

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Resources:

For more information on Smarter Tanks to build a resilient network, take a look at the following resources:

• Read the case study from July 2023
• The foreground IPR developed by this project is as follows:
  • Evaluation of existing Internet of Things technology using Business Model Canvas framework
• The project has presented its findings at dissemination events. See a copy of materials used here.