Global water tech firm Xylem says that new approaches are needed to create a step change improvement in water system performance as global water challenges intensify.

Xylem is advocating data driven solutions for proactive asset management which harness the power of digital technologies to transform utility economics and operations.

The new approach is aimed at leveraging the importance of data to inform better system-level choices while understanding and considering future outcomes for operations, maintenance and capital planning.

Xylem says its portfolio of “decision intelligence” tools and solutions scan, predict, recommend and prioritize actions and help utilities make progress on the problems that matter most to the communities they serve, namely:

• water accessibility
• environmental sustainability
• resilience
• affordability

In 2018, Xylem launched its Advanced Infrastructure Analytics platform focused on leveraging digital technologies to help transform the economics of managing water and solve critical water challenges for our customers and the communities they serve.

The platform brings together a portfolio of advanced technologies to help customers better understand the state of their network infrastructure through condition assessments, identify and prioritize problem areas early in the cycle, and allocate resources accordingly to improve their return on investment and extend the life of their assets.

According to the water tech firm, the leading-edge digital solutions are driving compelling water, energy and cost efficiencies.

Pedro Pina, Regional Director, Europe, at Xylem commented:

“Decision intelligence solutions use information to support dramatically better capital and operational decision-making, save money, reduce risk, protect the environment, and improve revenue recovery, driving real value for utilities and their customers.

“It’s still early days, but more and more utilities around the world are harnessing data to deliver unprecedented value to their communities. Ultimately, our approach supports our clients’ commitment to public service – solving problems at scale using best-in-class technology – and affording us the opportunity of a lifetime to ‘solve water’ in communities around the world.”

Andrew Welsh, General Manager, Water Utilities, at Xylem will be speaking at next week’s Global Leakage Summit in London on how collecting data can enable utility managers to make intelligent decisions, which in turn helps to manage risks and investments. Key issues his presentation will address include:

• Leakage from various perspectives
• How to identify and manage different sources of data to achieve leak detection precision
• How data can be used to make leakage investment decisions for the future

Andrew Welsh commented:

“Knowing where to invest in leakage monitoring to make the best return on your investment is a difficult decision, given the many complexities involved in detecting potential leaks in transmission mains versus distribution network.

“Therefore, identifying the correct process and tools to provide data that you are sure will deliver precise leak detection information is an imperative. The data you use to decide on your leakage investment decisions for the future will come from many data sources, so understanding the data and ensuring its quality is an important step before any machine learning and intelligent decision making process takes place.”

Click here to view the full conference agenda for next week's Summit which takes place on 25th-26th June 2019 in London

Waterbriefing is media partner with the Global Leakage Summit - look forward to seeing you there