Bristol Water has launched a consultation on its long-term plans to 2050 – better use of data is at the heart of what the water company is seeking to achieve.

A detailed consultation paper “Bristol Water…Clearly” sets out some of the options the company is considering for the long-term, and how it can work with others to address shared challenges. Key aims are to:

• Fulfil a role well beyond the basic provision of water
• Keep bills affordable through innovation and efficiency
• Improve resource efficiency by cutting leakage and boosting water efficiency
• Keep supplies resilient

One of Bristol Water’s major goals is to ensure that all major population centres can be served by more than one source. This has already been achieved with most population centres with over 25,000 people – the water company now wants to extend this to all population centres with over 10,000 people.

The firm is already already using a range of technologies and processes in its operational activities. The Southern Resilience project team are already using drones for topographical surveys, new pipeline specifications and smart Pressure Reducing Valves to implement the scheme.

Other technologies in use include Pipe Minding technology offering high-resolution data for long periods which can be used for pressure or flow monitoring, and is controlled remotely. The system highlights stresses and strains in the network and helps prevents leakage before it happens e.g flow and pressure data can show where the operation of pumps and valves are putting undue pressure on pipes.

Bristol Water has also been involved in a long-term collaboration project with Cla-Val, a technology company with extensive experience in pressure control and world leading research-led university Imperial College London looking at dynamically adaptive water distribution networks. The project developed and implemented both analytical methods and control technologies to enable the concurrent design, operation and control of dynamically adaptive water distribution networks that automatically configure their connectivity and hydraulic conditions.

Energy generation and use is another key area where the water company is seeking to optimise its processes. The paper says significant changes in the power generation mix are posing new challenges for the balancing systems of the grid, many of which are in the secondary electricity grid regulation services and can be met through demand response (DR) services. The firm is balancing its services with energy demand response through pump scheduling.

Other initiatives under consideration include:

• Customer in-house leak and usage monitoring.
• Use of a water efficiency trading platform
• Use of connected homes technology
• Better use of consumer technology, apps, intelligent systems
• Data sharing – contributing to the Bristol Smart City operations centre
• Technology to monitor and predict failures
• Pipes that monitor themselves and can be fixed automatically.
• Use of robotics and intelligent systems.
• New ways of communicating information
• Building joint ventures and partnership working to get wider benefits to business and local community resilience
• Participation in and encouragement of further use of competitive markets e.g. water resources and demand management
• Reduced leakage and consumption
• Active promotion of metering

One of Bristol Water’s key goals is to improve the use of data. The paper says data analytics and intelligence about customers’ needs will drive the utility to organise its data so that it links to customers, rather than properties and assets. This will be enabled by organisational and technology innovations that enable systems thinking and performance visualisation.

The firm is currently exploring wider sharing of data, including innovations that link connected homes to its connected networks, and smart city networks for Bristol.

The water company also expects to use artificial intelligence to support better and quicker decision making, building on its current robotics pilot. Technologies such as improved battery storage could also help to maintain supplies.

In April 2018 Bristol Water will publish its draft business plan for 2020-25 – the utility currently invests around £50 million per annum.

Introducing the consultation paper, Mel Karam, CEO of Bristol Water commented:

“Companies that want to be around for the decades to come must ensure that society and the environment are at the heart of everything they do. Over our long history, we have gained the trust of our customers as we have remained true to our original roots; to break new ground, and to be ambitious, in finding better ways to plan for future and to respond to our customers’ expectations, changing societal and environmental needs, and the needs of future generations.”

Click here to access the consultation paper Bristol Water…Clearly