Partner Article

Northumbrian Water and Softwire secure £1.6m for AI smart alarm to reduce water disruption

Customers across the North East could see faster responses to water leaks and bursts, thanks to a new smart alarm system which has secured more than £1m funding.

Northumbrian Water has been awarded £1.6m from the Ofwat Innovation Fund to develop Smart Alarm Management (SAM), a project that will help teams respond more quickly to issues on the water and wastewater network.

The water company, which supplies 2.7 million customers with water and sewer services from the Scottish borders to north Yorkshire, manages its vast network around the clock from a central control centre.

Every day, thousands of alarms are triggered across the region’s water and wastewater network, warning operators about potential problems, from pressure changes to equipment faults.

With so many alarms coming in, it can take time to identify which ones need urgent action.

Using artificial intelligence, machine-learning and data-modelling, SAM will help to change that by prioritising the most important alerts, identifying the root cause and recommending what action should be taken.

This means control teams can get engineers to the right place faster, reducing the risk of interruptions to supply and providing better protection for the environment by helping prevent leaks or spills.

Steve Blanks, Emerging Tech Product Manager at Northumbrian Water, said: “We’re very excited about this project, which is set to make life easier for our control room teams and improve the service we provide for our customers.

“By turning complex alarms into clear, helpful insights, it means that from the moment an alert comes in, our teams can quickly understand what’s happening, why it matters and what to do next.”

Marcus Gardiner, Client Director for Energy and Utilities at Softwire said: “Control rooms are the beating heart of our utility networks, but the volume of data flowing into them has grown far faster than the teams managing it. 

“We developed SAM in partnership with Northumbrian Water and its control room operators, grounding the solution in their day-to-day experience. The proof-of-concept reduced alarm volumes by 75%, showing where AI can make a tangible difference in cutting through the noise and helping operators focus on what matters most.”

The collaborative project, led by Northumbrian Water in partnership with Softwire, Anglian Water, the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association (EEMUA) and Wessex Water, was awarded the funding by Ofwat as part of its Innovation Fund, which aims to drive new ideas and technology across the water sector.

It is delivered by Challenge Works (part of the Nesta group), in partnership with Arup and Isle Utilities.   

To find out more about all the Water Breakthrough Challenge winners, including Northumbrian Water’s two other successful bids, OCI³ and Printfrastructure, visit: waterinnovation.challenges.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Northumbrian Water Group .