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Water Sensors Allow For ‘More Efficient’ System Management
The world of water management looks set to be revolutionised thanks to sensing technology, which will allow suppliers to monitor and look after their systems more efficiently.
This is according to Alison Fergusson, associate director of industry watchdog Ofwat, speaking ahead of her keynote speech at the fifth Sensing in Water conference, which will be taking place at the Nottingham Belfry hotel on September 25th-26th, WWT Online reports.
Ms Fergusson made mention of a sensor system that is already in use over in New Zealand, which makes use of machine learning to help suppliers predict sewer overflow spills before they happen, while also telling people where it’s safe to swim. All this gives customers greater choice about what they do.
With regards to wastewater, the industry expert explained that the sensors could be used to drive innovation and there is certainly room for improvement in this regard, and these sensors could deliver huge benefits where quality, system behaviour and quantity is concerned.
“We’re starting to see opportunities coming through monitoring, seeing data come into a sensory system and then mining that data to get some useful information out of it. By putting that to use, companies can start to manage their systems more efficiently.
“I can’t think of a place where water companies wouldn’t want to have a bit more information, be able to communicate with customers and let them know that they really understand what’s going on, right down to their locality,” Ms Fergusson went on to say.
Water sensors can be used to monitor streams and rivers or in pipe networks for water supply and recovery. Water companies are already introducing sensors across their networks to help with both domestic and industrial water metering, as well as using them to monitor pipe networks for the detection and prevention of water leaks.
According to the St Albans Review, companies like Anglian Water, Northumbrian and South East Water are now piloting the use of Hive’s Leak Sensor technology to help reduce water wastage in their regions.
Head of product at Hive Leak Sensor John Gutch explained that without this kind of technology, it’s very tricky to spot a leak or find out where water is being wasted or lost. But data from the sensors has already shown that if 30 per cent of all UK homes used this kind of technology to monitor water flow, the number of reported leaks would be reduced from 2.3 million to 540,000 in a year.
If you’re keen to find out more about how to detect and prevent leaks on site, get in touch with water management consultants H2O Building Services today to see how we can help.