A project to install fibre optic telecommunication cables within a section of the potable water pipe network has been discontinued due to ongoing regulatory hurdles primarily related to the requirement for Regulation 31 (Reg 31) approval from the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

The Fibre in Water Telecoms and Water Combined Operations (TAWCO) project was delivered by a consortium of four organisations: Yorkshire Water, Arcadis Consulting, University of Strathclyde and CommsWorld.

The delivery of Phase 1 was completed as planned to carry out research and investigations to de-risk and inform the detailed scope, costs, and benefits for a Fibre in Water installation. However, the work culminated in a gateway decision point where the success criteria were not sufficiently met to allow the project to continue into the Phase 2 build.

The original project budget for all three phases was £5.4 million, with a grant contribution of £3.2 million from DSIT. The project expenditure at the end of an extended Phase 1 was £2.3 million, with grant contribution of £1.6 million, and the £700k balance coming from in-kind contributions from the consortium partners.

Diagram: fibre cable being fed into a water pipe via a valve fitting

The ambition of the TAWCO project was to install fibre optic telecommunication cables within a section of the potable water pipe network to serve a twofold purpose:

1. To take advantage of the wide coverage of the drinking water network to supply high speed internet cabling to remote locations without having to have a separate telecommunication ducting system.

2. To use some of the strands of the fibre optic cables to detect and locate leaks within the drinking water network.

Installing the two systems in situ would significantly improve the ability to detect leaks in the water supply, thus reducing water consumption, whilst telecoms operators could decrease their cost of installation by taking advantage of a readily available duct.

The publicly funded nature of the project, combined with the complexity of the problem meant there were a high number of stakeholders from different industries and organisations including:

• Water companies
• Telecommunications operators
• Technology startups
• Universities
• Multiple Government departments and inspectors
• Regulation authorities

The technology has been developed to be able to draw telecom cables through a live water main, as a further innovative step from the techniques used to successfully install fibre cables in the wastewater network.

A trial route was selected to install a Fibre in Water system on the drinking water network as there is increased coverage to consumers compared with wastewater. More importantly the distribution layout of the clean water network mimics more closely how the telecom cables need to be installed i.e., via trunk mains interconnecting towns and cities with smaller diameter pipe networks reaching out to populations such as villages and towns, and down to individual property level.

Lack of clarity around industry approved standards meant certification became a challenge

However, combining two industries meant there was a lack of clarity when it came to industry approved standards which meant certification became a challenge. A key aspect of using the clean water network is that anything installed within the network first needs Regulation 31 (Reg 31) approval from the DWI. For this project, approvals were needed for both the installation method and the finished installed product.

Almost 2 years after the TAWCO project was awarded funding, approval for the finished product remains outstanding and subsequently there is a barrier to adoption until this issue is resolved.

In addition to the enabling technology, alignment of the operational processes of two very disparate industries – from design and construction to ownership and operation, including ‘break-fix’ – presented a significant challenge.

The decision was made to stop the live build trial for project TAWCO. Despite the obvious benefits to interested parties, there remains uncertainty around the best commercial model to adopt to make a viable solution.

There is also a financial risk that only one small start-up has the capability of installing the cables using their yet to be approved technology. When combined with the lack of Reg 31 approval, the project was unable to continue under the originally agreed scope, timescales, and financing.

Should the Fibre in Water technology receive Reg 31 approval, the commercial models, business processes and detailed designs produced by project TAWCO could still be used to implement the Fibre in Water solution at either the planned location, or elsewhere with some additional effort to translate the designs.

Yorkshire Water remains in contact with other members of the consortium and will consider the opportunity for Fibre in Water implementation in the event that the regulatory barrier is overcome.

Options for next steps

The final report says abandoned water company assets are plentiful and avoid the operational considerations and route sharing restrictions that come with using live mains.

TAWCO identified a significant number of disused water mains in the proposed pilot area. Abandoned routes do not carry water so whilst FiW technology itself is not suitable and there is no operational leak detection upside for the water company, an abandoned route has value in its wayleaves and landowner agreements, so could be a viable option for telecoms operators.

The report also suggest that FiW might not be the first choice solution, but wastewater assets like sewers could potentially offer better economics for Fibre in Sewers (FiS). There is also no need for Reg 31 approval.

The Future for Fibre in Water

From a pragmatic perspective, the final TAWCO project report says abandoned pipe routes are plentiful and come without the baggage of operational risk and approvals that working in live potable water mains entails.

Combining FiW and FiS into a ‘Fibre in Pipes’ (FiP) proposition is another natural progression. All the benefits and opportunities that the relevant organisations derive from one of the applications exist in the other. FiP has the potential to improve the overall economics and open wider commercial opportunities for a water/telco partnership e.g., the densification of fibre for Smart Cities initiatives.

FiW (and FiS) development work to date has mainly involved water and sewerage companies and technology providers. The report says that other potential stakeholders such as local authorities, and the MoD, should not be overlooked and may open other potential opportunities for deployment, such as all-encompassing Smart Cities or dedicated fibre for military uses.

The report also points out that while the Access to Infrastructure (ATI) Regulations under which a network provider can request information about another operator's physical infrastructure and can submit requests are written with an emphasis on intra-sector asset sharing, little attention is afforded to cross-sector collaboration.

The TAWCO project team believes that reasonable volumes of cross sector asset sharing will only be achieved if interested parties have a real aspiration to drive a mutually acceptable solution.

The4 report suggests that to encourage collaboration and to incentivise the evolution of shared asset development and smart infrastructure, a greater collaboration between relevant regulatory bodies as well as with telcos and water companies is required. The aim would be to remove barriers and establish a broadly recognised business model upon which mutually beneficial smart infrastructure projects could be delivered with less complexity and more clearly defined responsibilities.

Click here to download the final TAWCO report in full