Martin Walder, Vice President for Industry at Schneider Electric, is warning of the potential havoc that floods could bring for the UK and the danger they pose for the water network.

Martin Walder was commenting in response to the flood warnings now in place in the UK - currently the Environment Agency has 28 in place where flooding is expected and immediate action is required, with a further 63 flood alerts in place where flooding is possible.

According to Walder, the climate trend towards more extreme weather conditions alongside rising sea levels is putting the UK water network in real danger.

“All it takes is a combination of heavy rain and high tides, and the UK’s water network is pushed to breaking point, with a threat of serious flooding and water contamination.” he said.

“This period of heavy rainfall could wreak havoc for the UK, particularly in the South West where 16 flood warnings are in place. All it takes is a combination of heavy rain and high tides, and the UK’s water network is pushed to breaking point, with a threat of serious flooding and water contamination.”

“There are ways and means to avoid disaster. Data is one of the best places to start. With average flood damage costing the UK £1.1 billion per year, the pressure is on for Environment Agencies and water authorities to make better use of the rich array of data at their fingertips.”

“In today’s increasingly connected world, the water industry is smarter than ever. Intelligent instrumentation and field devices can generate, capture and share real-time and predicted weather, rainfall, and tidal information. When this is fed into decision support systems it can be used to drastically minimise the damage caused by flooding.”

In his view, a collaborative approach is needed between water authorities and the Environment Agency with regard to their data assets. For example, the instruments that measure water flow and levels across the entire water network and the software models need to be designed with dynamic links to Environment Agency flood warning and prediction systems.

This would not only help with split-second decisions around how to act when floods hit, it would also enable investment in necessary water infrastructure to go to the right places at the right times.