Data & Analytics in the Water Utility Sector

Digitising engagement to support a collaborative approach

Severn Trent

As our drainage and wastewater systems face ever increasing pressures they need to become more resilient. Whilst sewerage companies already carry out wastewater catchment planning to mitigate future risks, these wastewater assets interact with other drainage systems, which are the responsibility of other stakeholders. To support the development of long-term collaborative catchment strategies, sewerage companies are developing Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMP). In an industry first, Severn Trent has developed an innovative, digitised approach for multiple flood risk management stakeholders to work together, through an interactive, map-centric platform based on Esri’s ArcGIS Hub.

The Challenge

In May 2018, some areas of Birmingham and the West Midlands experienced over a month’s worth of rainfall in one hour. This was not an isolated event. As a result of climate change, extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent and more intense, and the nation’s drainage systems need to adapt to cope. The requirement for new housing to accommodate population growth is set to add even more water to the current systems, as well as the surface run-off from this new infrastructure. Ambitious Water Quality requirements for England’s rivers mean that wastewater will need to be treated to a higher standard. Customers and stakeholders also expect continuous improvement in the level of services that Severn Trent provides. Responsibility for managing such intense rainfall events and surface run-off is split across several organisations, with Lead Local Flood Authorities responsible for water above ground, the Environment Agency responsible for main river flooding and the sewerage companies responsible for the rainfall which overloads wastewater capacity. All risk management and environmental organisations therefore need to look at collaborative ways to improve the development of catchment strategies and plans such as the DWMP. Previously, Severn Trent would invite organisations and stakeholders across all areas of its wastewater network to attend a series of in-person, interactive workshops. The advent of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions meant that these meetings were no longer possible. What Severn Trent needed was a means to engage with its stakeholders in a socially distanced fashion, where they could provide their input in a structured way.

If we can work with organisations more collaboratively to identify how to solve possible flooding issues, then we can potentially solve other problems. Digitising the process with ArcGIS Hub has not only made this possible but has many other crossovers that it could lend itself for in the future.

Paul Hurcombe, Strategic Asset Manager, Severn Trent Water The Solution

In an industry first, Severn Trent has developed the DWMP Stakeholder Engagement Hub, a multiple-party engagement platform. A seamless extension of its own in-house GIS system, the DWMP Stakeholder Engagement Hub is based on ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Hub Premium, digitising the previous face-to-face approach. The company has been a long-standing customer of Esri since 2007 and this latest advancement came about from discussions with Esri around the specific requirements of the DWMP, and how the business could present it to its stakeholders, engage with them and solicit their feedback before considering strategic options. All or most of the data needing to be embedded in the DWMP already existed on premise or on GISSTOnline, Severn Trent’s ArcGIS Online platform. The team simply needed to configure the data into presentable information products, ie maps, dashboards

Setting up the DWMP Engagement Platform with ArcGIS Hub has been great. It’s intuitive to work with and easy to setup, visually engaging and easy to access. We can now get everyone in a room, digitally”

Jack Robinson, Strategic Catchment Planner, Severn Trent Water

and surveys, and embed it into their DWMP Hub initiative.

The Hub enables Severn Trent to engage with local stakeholders in a socially distanced fashion. Engagement with stakeholders is done in a very structured way and it has direct control over how stakeholders can access the DWMP information and how stakeholders can submit their input. The data presented in the Hub comes directly from the company’s core systems on top of the common geography, and the feedback comes in pre-defined forms which makes follow-up modelling much easier. Users simply log into the Hub and can make their input in as little as ten minutes. Severn Trent was aware that other organisations are facing constant resource challenges which had been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic and so wanted to ensure the Hub was simple to use, with flexibility to allow stakeholders to access the Hub at a time to suit their busy work schedule. The uptake has already been significant, seen as an important marker of success, given there is no statutory obligation for stakeholders to respond. The first consultation was shared with over 200 stakeholders with an uptake of almost 50 per cent, an unprecedented figure. Previously, no more than 25 per cent of stakeholders would have attended a face-toface meeting, meaning the company now has twice as much data from initiating this digital approach, which will ultimately enable Severn Trent to identify the most impactful options across all types of drainage.

Benefits

Speedy set up The DWMP Hub was quick to set up, as all or most of the data already existed in the company’s ArcGIS Online account. The data was easily configured into visually engaging maps and dashboards, its UI design being acknowledged as a key element in the Hub’s success.

Digitising data collection Severn Trent has exact control over how stakeholders can access the DWMP Hub empowering feedback in a more structured way. Stakeholders can submit their feedback digitally, rather than having to travel to and attend meetings out of the office. Since inception, responses have more than doubled.

Sharing of Information With feedback coming through in predefined forms, follow-up modelling by the Severn Trent team is much quicker. This content can then be presented as the Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan and published out to stakeholders and other parties including Ofwat. It is Severn Trent’s intention that this Hub platform will ultimately be used to share the findings of the DWMP process, with the draft being published for consultation in Summer 2022.

Collaborative approach Bringing together invested stakeholders digitally and identifying ways in which to solve flooding and wastewater issues, drives participation and engagement. Presenting information via charts and maps makes it easier for everyone to have a shared understanding of the goal, which can pave the way to action and potentially solving other problems. To find out how ArcGIS enables organisations to collaborate more effectively with stakeholders in the water industry, visit esriuk.com/water or contact Craig Hayes, head of Critical National Infrastructure at Esri UK on 01296 745599 or sales@esriuk.com

Smart sewer network pilots to enable systematic approach to Yorkshire’s wastewater

Yorkshire Water is planning three innovative smart wastewater network pilots, which will better inform a systematic approach to the management of Yorkshire’s wastewater.

The pilots will be use cutting edge monitoring and communications technology, Digital Twins (DT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Operational Technology (OT) solutions to improve understanding of sewer network performance, to reduce sewer flooding and pollution. This approach will enable Yorkshire Water to proactively intervene, protecting customers and the environment.

One pilot will be conducted in Ilkley, where the smart monitoring, analytics and control solutions will be used to manage the flow of sewage from homes to treatment works and, once treated, discharges back into the environment. The pilot will ultimately offer real-time, end-to-end management and control of wastewater flows and assets, reducing intermittent discharges from CSOs, sewer flooding and improving energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions. In conjunction with a range of wider initiatives the smart wastewater pilot will contribute to planned river water quality improvements in the River Wharfe.

Two further areas have been identified.

The first in Hadfield, Sheffield will build on the existing smart water distribution and metering scheme to reduce water leakage and detect bursts.

The smart wastewater network will use the same communication technology to monitor wastewater at an individual property level. The data will be used with water consumption data to help determine the normal function of the sewers in a small area. This brand new approach will detect unexpected fluctuations in flow and level, enabling blockages and other network problems to be quickly attended and resolved, reducing the potential for sewer flooding in homes and gardens. A further pilot scheme in Holbeck, Leeds will focus on predicting sewer network problems before they occur using increased monitoring and rainfall data, ensuring Yorkshire Water’s teams can provide a pre-emptive response and reduce sewer flooding incidents. Richard Kershaw, Yorkshire Water wastewater innovation programme manager, said: “The technology available to us now means we are better able to access and analyse data from multiple sources. Ultimately, this provides us with greater visibility of what’s happening within the wastewater network so we can manage and control it better and respond to changes quickly and efficiently. “Each project will tackle specific issues that are important to our customers locally, but they will each offer important learning for how we manage our network in the future and provide value to our customers throughout the region for the long term.” Claire Green, Yorkshire Water’s manager of environment and wastewater strategy, said: “These pilot projects will increase our understanding of the performance of the sewer network and could lead to a wide range of measures to improve the systematic approach we take to managing wastewater flows from sinks and toilets, through our networks and treatment works, and back to the environment.

The technology available to us now means we are better able to access and analyse data from multiple sources. Ultimately, this provides us with greater visibility of what’s happening within the wastewater network so we can manage and control it better and respond to changes quickly and efficiently.

Richard Kershaw, Yorkshire Water wastewater innovation programme manager

The digital innovator harnessing the power of data

Houston, we have a problem!

You may remember that iconic quote from the movie Apollo 13, which centred on NASA’s near-disastrous moon mission. Fast forward 50 years, and the ingenious solutions to that problem have become the basis for a superb technology that is reaping rewards for industry. Digital technology solutions have evolved light years since Mission Control’s frantic experiments on a replica of the stricken space module ultimately succeeded in bringing the crew home to Earth.

Keen to use lessons learned, NASA promptly moved the module’s physical replica into digital representations of future space missions, so they could simulate a multitude of problems and solutions in super-quick time, and come up with best outcomes. Hence the concept of digital twinning was born. Digital technology specialists Avanade have built on this brilliant early work and developed their own high-value – and quick – digital twinning solutions to help companies leverage value from data by connecting data sources from disparate systems in ways that model the real-world more closely. For example, as we all know, people are no longer content with simply receiving and paying bills in return for a service. They want value for money and they want to know how they’re getting it, which could mean anything from demanding a real-time response to complaints and queries, to actual contact with field crew.

This is where Avanade steps in. They help clients harness the once largely hidden value of data by applying new and innovative approaches that enable companies to focus on a ‘real world view’ of their assets and information.

Simon Turner, Avanade’s chief technology officer for Data and AI, explains: “We can re-create real world environments for water companies, produce real world data, and model specific solutions with a high degree of accuracy. For instance, monitoring water flow through pipes, or consumer demand on networks and resources, and simulating outcomes. The data can be used to watch for drops in water pressure and flow, spot leaks, and offer timely solutions.” “With the speed of change in technology, particularly during the past few years, it has become almost impossible for organisations to keep abreast of developments if technology isn’t their main focus. This is where we can really help make a difference. “Digital twinning is a particular boost for water companies with lots of legacy infrastructure. For example, Victorian sewerage works simply can’t be replaced quickly. We ask, ‘How can we digitise this infrastructure, how can we put sensors in to understand the health of the network without wholesale replacement and disruption?” He continues, “We don’t expect water companies to be at the ‘bleeding edge’ of the latest developments. That’s not their job, their job is to make sure water is used effectively. Our role is to help our clients tackle pressing issues and very real business needs, and choose and use technology to their best advantage. Our end goal is to become their trusted adviser.”

“We can approach the challenge holistically or look at a specific problem, but always with a value driven and prioritised perspective, and then deliver using the appropriate and the right level of innovation.” “Our work has shown proven value within 4-6 weeks for previous clients. We adopt an agile approach that allows us to innovate, experiment and deliver incremental value quickly; but it also allows us investigate and to ‘fail fast’ so that we don’t invest a lot of time and money in something that will ultimately not create a return.”

Simon is keen to stress that Avanade, with its global workforce of over 50,000, is not just involved with digital twins. This highly regarded company has a breadth of experience and services spanning modern data platforms, the modern workplace, infrastructure, and application development. Its highly advanced and innovative solutions include artificial intelligence, process automation, big data and analytics, virtual and augmented reality and internet of things. Simon concludes, “We are very focused on Microsoft technology – it’s part of our heritage - but our goal is to stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients, and be technical advisers and thought leaders in this space. “If a company has a number of business scenarios and preferred outcomes, and already gone through a value analysis, that’s great. If they have not, our advisor team can help them with that; we can also look at areas that would benefit from innovation. This could be in the form of brainstorming, workshops, working with in-house IT, and drawing up a priority list to show them how and where this can add value.”

Avanade’s ultimate aim is to help clients deliver the best customer experience. And, with the added challenges of a shrinking, ageing workforce, their solutions are also key to providing employees with the necessary tools and the right insights at the right time. Visit Avanade.com for more details.