The Smart Water Industry is no longer a choice....it's a must

Whatever you call it, be it Smart Water, Water 4.0 or even Digital Transformation, the world of the water industry is changing and the evolution of a "Smart" Water Industry is no longer a choice it is something that is just simply going to happen. This was the fundamental under-tone on this years WWT Smart Water Networks Conference. It's not a case of "If" it is a case of "when," but what exactly is the Smart Water Industry was one of the questions that was asked during the conference sessions...do we have a definition for it?

Well, if you look to "Industry 4.0," the definition is that of Cyber-Physical systems. To apply this to the water industry is something challenging as you have a very disparate system that is tied in by walls such as a "Smart Factory" but is much more open structure and form. However it is a system or as Andrew Welsh of Xylem spoke about a series of snapshots of a system that when brought together make a whole. So in the context of the Water Industry what is "Smart?" For me at least it is bringing together all of the data that we collect to give the industry, at least operationally, something called "Situational Awareness" allowing us to know what is going on within the operational framework in order to make an informed decision. This can be operationally in a relatively short time-scale or it can even refer to the customer by giving them the right data to enable them to make decision or it can even be about the performance of the assets or even resources on a much longer term enabling strategic and planning decisions. This is the fundamental heart of what a "Smart Water Industry" is to me and in order to get there we must work towards knowing what information that the industry requires on a stakeholder level whether that be the customer, CEO of the company or the operator on the ground. All of the informational needs are different and may even differ from company to company or region to region but the fundamental priniciple is the same.

Where are we and how do we get there?

The discussions have been going on for years and yet there are some great case-studies that are out there certainly on a "Smart City" approach. Eva Martinez Diaz from FCC Aqualia gave us some great examples on the "factory" approach to the water industry and the work that the innovation teams their have been doing including the development of biofuel from algae from Chiclana in Southern Spain when wastewater is used to grow algae which is then digested to create fuel not in the definition of "Smart" per se but certainly taking the principles of the circular economy and also the "Factory" approach that was proposed by STOWA so many moons ago in their report on the wastewater treatment works of 2030. On a more "Smart" approach is the work that has been done in San Ferran where the move from manual to automatic meter readings meant that the amount of data sky-rocketed from approximately 9,000 in 2016 to over 2 million the next year. As San Ferran is an island where water resources are stretched this gave a visability of un-accounted for water that meant that the resources could be managed. The project could be seen to have a clear need and it made sense to take this approach. Where water resources are short it makes obvious sense to adopt the technologies to enable the water industry to take this route. In the UK at least the report by Sir James Bevan has highlighted an obvious need.

In the UK at least there is an obvious need, certainly on water resources meaning careful monitoring of what resources we have in the environment but also protecting what we produce too through the management of non-revenue water. The need is there but is the technology. Within the conference this led us to the first poll of the day with the question of

How would you sum up the water industry's attitude to smart technology?

The answer that came out from the poll was "cautious" but "interested" which is wholly understandable position. Right now within the industry we are awash with technologies, techniques and various "as a service" offerings all the way from data, software and the likes. It is very difficult to navigate through all of these offerings and it is also very easy to think of alot of these offerings as "widgets". One of the reasons for this cautiousness was highlighted in the last poll of the day which asked the question

What are the biggest barriers to realising the benefits of smart water networks?

The biggest barrier? What we already have in place, the legacy systems that have served their purpose over the years but no longer fit suit the needs of the industry but of course to replace the legacy takes time and alot of investment and it does not always financially stack up to replace these systems.

What was interesting to see at this year's conference is that the technologies to do what we need to do are already present. Various technologies are available for the industry along with various services. Some neatly address the industry's needs such as chemical inventory systems and dosing optimisations systems as presented by Roderick Abinet of Keimira and Christopher Steele of Black & Veatch.

The key to "Smart" is collaboration....and of course data......

"Smart" is not something that we can deliver in isolation though and this was demonstrated in many different ways at this year's conference with Martin Jackson of Northumbrian Water Group talking about their development journey and the challenges and enablers that they have seem an the important areas that they've looked at including

1. Data Science - Yes there are the basics but its also leveraging the company expertise in different areas by developing those within the business. Did this with a Hackathon approach. They have created a culture where data is trusted to drive leading performance. Its not there yet but is getting there
2. Artificial Intelligence - When we look to use AI and have looked to bring this approach by having an in-house data architect. The focus has been through customer services as this is an easy-win area where basically the volume of calls means that a human can't do it
3. User Experience - Used an out of the box application and so not a bespoke service. An example of this is using Alexa to interact with the customer. Also developed a game approach for educational purposes. Basically using tailored application
4. Smart Technologies - There is a balance between new sensors and technologies and the existing. Its about outcomes rather than installing a new widget

There are enablers out there with cloud storage prices coming down in price that enables companies to use it for a huge amount. Data storage where not being exactly free is at least priced very reasonably. Cyber Security is always going to be a risk but this can be limited to the data that needs to be secure (for example customer billing data). The now famous Northumbrian Water approach has been through a number of design sprints, hackathons and the likes encouraging others to get involved in an ever developing landscape. In this Northumbrian Water, although arguably being amonst the most developed, are not on their own. Welsh Water in the form of Nial Grimes presented their collaborative approach and came up with three small culture hacks that they've have taken

1. Make a big small change - which was the approach at Welsh Water to hackathons and the likes which enabled going further with technology faster than they've done before, true collaboration between different teams in the company, contractors and supply chain and finally a new way of working
2. The power is in the team - or if you want to think of it this way in the members of staff within the organisation and the removal of blockers and enabling good ideas a huge amount can be done including the case study that was given which included the development of an application for the capture of real time data on wastewater treatment works.
3. Find the crazy person - There are some truly talented and passionate people within most business who have the great ideas and if enabled can develop something truly wonderful and get the company to follow it.

What this goes to show is that whether collaboration is internal, external within the UK or outside of it there are things that we can learn from each other across the water industry. There are barriers to this insofar as we are meant to be a competitive business although it was argued by Trevor Bishop that almost innovation & collaboration is almost more important from an industry-wide strategic perspective.

A good case study of this was presented by Tertius Rust of South-East Water where they have leveraged the technical experts available and along with the supply chain, working in collaboration a smart network has been developed from the sensors in the ground, to the telecommunications systems and cloud bases all the way to a data lake which feeds both the systems across the corporate system which is also fed by data loggers in the field. The art of this is knowing what technologies to apply and where (like anything in the water industry) and in order to do this there is a requirement for a multi-disciplinary team which in reality stretches not only within a company but within its supply chain too.

....the way to get there....through objectives

At the end of the day though there has to be a point to the whole "smart water" concept and that is to make the industry more efficiently. The second poll of the day asked the question

Where do you think smart technolgy could make the biggest difference to the water industry?

In the end it is always going to be in improving the service to the customer as really in the poll the answer to the question was "all of the below" and more besides. The most developed in the "smart water" industry is probably in non-revenue water reduction with the most recent sucessful case study from Denmark showing a NRW % of 6.7% and a PCC of under 100 litres per day but the other areas are just as important as this reduces the operating cost of the company which in turn enables water companies to operate at a leaner level. There are horizontal cross-company objectives in terms of increasing data quality by correct installation & maintenance (Level 2), more robust communications systems (Level 3) as well as visualisation (Level 4) and analytics (Level 5) but also vertical segments such as NRW reduction, flooding & pollution and (water/wastewater) system optimisation and is in the vertical segments that the objectives and drivers lie.

Take-aways

So,what do we take away from this year's WWT Smart Water Networks conference:

1. Collaboration - As water companies, contractors and supply chain the technologies and ways to deliver them are out there. Specialists will need to be used, especially in the current environment, where technical skills can be a challenge. New skills will have to be developed as the industry shifts into areas which are not in the current "typical" skill set of the industry and these can be co-opted as necessary. We should also be looking outside of the water industry as well as there is a lot to be learned outside.
2. Data Quality - This goes back to the 1950's and the US Army Corp of Engineers and the infamous phrase of "garbage in garbage out." If we are to build an industry based upon data we need to make sure that the data is right. Information based on wrong data will be wrong and the resultant analytics may come to the wrong conclusions. A machine cannot tell when data is wrong necessarily as its a difficult job for a person. This means we need more robust data sources and need to maintain them to ensure that they are right. This is essential moving forward as otherwise we are building a philosophy on uncertain foundations. However not only is data quality an issue but so is data availability too. The value of data and its quality and availability is all linked to its usefullness as information - this is a fundamental piece that I wrote about many years ago in what I termed at the time "the resistance to the effective use of information." Basically put if we value the information we will look after the data source.
3. Technology is currently available in one form or another to enable us to build a smart water industry. It may take a little help and a little trial and error to enable the technology with different people but it is already in place. It is just as case of starting the journey.
4. Skills - There are some area that the skills exist, there are some areas that the skills are in shortage and there are some areas where we don't know what skills are going to be needed. Some can be developed in-house, some are specialist or can be delivered more effectively externally either on an ad-hoc or permanent basis. There are the people available but not necessarily in the traditional sources.
5. The Smart Water Industry is a reality and is no longer a choice, it something that we simply must do in the Water Industry moving forward to address the challenges that we face.

This, for me at least, were are some of the key takeaway points from the day. The Smart Water industry is certainly possible and in fact has been highlighted as necessity. Now its up to us as a collaborative industry to deliver them.

There is some further feedback from the break-out sessions to come these will be brought together and fedback in another post. In the meantime there were some questions raised at the conference. I have mentioned them all below (warts & all), i have rationalsied some where it is appropriate...feel free to answer them in your own way in the comments below. A debate is encouraged

Questions

1. How are you going to feedback on the questions (un)answered -
2. Does the panel (everyone) have an agreed definition of "Smart Water"
3. Should we define smart networks - it should include treatment. Are we not considering data driven water to meet and exceed customer outcomes -
4. Do you feel the Water utilities have a digital roadmap and know where they are going and at what pace?
5. BIM, Digital Twin, analytics and Big Data are all interlinked. However they seem to be looked at separately within utilities - how do we join them up
6. Are you using the meter read data in Sant Ferran to feedback to customers and drive consumption reduction and if so how? Can we get a site visit to Sant Farran - it looks beautiful
7. There are a lot of people who want to help provide smarter solutions if only water companies provided access to there data. How can we solve this?
8. Could the partnership approach used in Yorkshire Water by Black & Veatch work on a wastewater network
9. When trying to implement smart systems into treatment works etc. do you see much resistance from the managers of those sites
10. No one has mentioned the skills shortage we are facing to enable and fully realise this Smart Future. What are the proposals to bridge this in time? Can AI hlpe bridge this gap and is Northumbrian Water (or any water company) looking at this possibility? What level of training is envisaged for end users i.e. the front-line operators at treatment works
11. At a site tech level do bespoke controllers have a future as most are now integrating their smart "apps" into connected PLCs or Edge Devices
12. Are the data analysts in the back office now as important as the engineers(/technicians) out front in order for smart networks to succeed?
13. What are the ethical implications of deploying smart tech, automated condition monitoring and increasing AI
14. How do we value data
15. Can you change people or do you need to "change" the people?
16. England won't be able to meet demand within 25 years, is there a role for smart networks to help the entire UK sector and not the individual companies
17. Tier 2 is the creation of cognitive hydraulic model. In practice can this be the conversion of offline models with added sensor data or something simpler.
18. How far away are Northumbrian Water form the South East water smart network system? How far ahead are South East Water compared to other companies.
19. How do your smart systems incorporate feedback and learning to continue optimisation from base model?
20. How as an industry are we connecting into the new innovation and data ethics committee set up by the government
21. Trevor (Bishop) talked about OFWAT's push for a systems based approach but only one company's draft business plan seem to satisfy them. What were the others missing?
22. Michael (Strahand) talked about data storage being (virtually) free. How far are we with establishing secure systems of data sharing systems with the growing threat of cyber-attacks.

About the author

Oliver Grievson, who chaired this year's WWT Smart Water Networks conference, is the Water Industry Technical Lead at Z-Tech Control Systems one of the UK's leading Water Industry EC&I specialists. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Sensors for Water Interest Group as well as the Executive Director of Water Industry Process Automation & Control which is also a LinkedIn Group which is free for anyone to join with an interest in Instrumentation, Automation & Control or the wider smart water industry.

Oliver has many years of experience in the water industry having previously held roles in the laboratory at Eurofins Scientifice, in the Falkland Islands, Grontmij (now Sweco), Yorkshire Water & Anglian Water before joining Z-Tech as a Water Industry expert in instrumentation and the smart water industry.