Competition: Breakthrough 2: Catalyst
Amount awarded: £714,880
Led by: Northumbrian Water
Partners: Siemens, The University of Sheffield, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, South East Water Limited, Scottish Water, Anglian Water Services Limited, Intelisys Ltd, Syrinix Ltd, AdvizzoLtd and Bunt Planet SL
Estimated completion date: October 2025
Water cycle tag: Water network
Treatment-to-Tap will demonstrate a step-change in the management of the water quality (WQ) for customers. By the end of the project, Northumbrian Water will be operating Europe’s largest integrated network of WQ and leakage management sensors and analytics software. Managing WQ is an increasing challenge due to ageing networks serving a growing population. This new behavioural science research will assess how best to engage and support customers when real-time WQ insight is available – meaning water company operations will be more intimately connected to customers than ever. A consortium of five water companies will all input to define and validate best practice on how new insights can be built into proactive operations. A new business model template will then enable all water companies to see how they can share risk and scope with the supply chain to deliver at scale and pace for the least cost and best service to the customer.
“Assuring good water quality for our customers is crucial. This innovative project will give us new insight and visibility of water quality as it travels from treatment works to customer tap allowing us to proactively meet our customer’s expectations. Northumbrian Water and our partners are making smart networks a reality.” – Keith Haslett, Water Director, Northumbrian Water
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The validation exercises on reservoir mixing, flushing operations and mains conditioning now completed. Additional validation has been achieved by using the sensors to track and mitigate a real network event, enabling more informed decision making and significantly reducing the potential impact on customers. Business processes are continuing to develop and progress into a business-as-usual environment.
