An ongoing venture with Yorkshire Water is taking a proactive strategy to mixed sewer overflow (CSO) administration, shifting from reactive responses to preventative measures – essential for each regulatory compliance and environmental safety.
New laws mandating close to real-time knowledge availability for CSOs, that got here into power for England and Wales in January 2025, has prompted Yorkshire Water (YW) to transition to a data-as-a-service (DaaS) mannequin, managed by Metasphere, the standalone knowledge and telemetry division of Grundfos.
This collaboration just isn’t solely guaranteeing compliance with evolving laws, but additionally unlocking vital long-term operational efficiencies, value financial savings and environmental advantages.
A race in opposition to time
Yorkshire Water serves 5 million households and 140,000 companies within the north of England. Managing such a posh community presents vital challenges, significantly regarding CSOs.
Traditionally, YW relied on a reactive upkeep mannequin for its telemetry community, the place points have been recognized and addressed after a delay. The introduction of the Water (Particular Measures) Invoice, efficient from January 2025, imposes stringent necessities for close to real-time publication of CSO discharge knowledge. Failure to conform and report inside one hour may lead to substantial fines, averaging round £360,000 per severe air pollution occasion.
Critically, the laws assumes any knowledge hole equates to a spill, putting immense strain on water firms to attain 100% knowledge availability. This regulatory shift necessitated a elementary change in YW’s strategy to CSO monitoring. The present reactive system was now not adequate and a extra proactive, data-driven strategy was important.
From reactive to proactive administration
Metasphere, a number one supplier of telemetry and analytics options for water networks, supplied the best answer. The corporate’s Level Blue RTUs – distant telemetry models mixed with clever sensors, present complete monitoring of CSO factors throughout YW’s community. These self-contained, low-cost units gather and transmit important degree info, enabling proactive identification of potential overflow occasions.
Crucially, Metasphere transitioned YW to a DaaS mannequin in October 2024. This complete, outsourced strategy encompasses tools set up, knowledge assortment, transmission, {hardware} operation and upkeep, and software program supply and licensing. By entrusting these obligations to Metasphere, the water utility can give attention to its core operations whereas benefiting from professional administration of its telemetry infrastructure.
The Metasphere answer includes:
- Level Blue RTUs: Intrinsically secure distant telemetry units compliant with ATEX and IECEx European and worldwide laws for harmful substances and explosive atmospheres. Powered by inside or exterior battery packs, these RTUs incorporate tri-band 4G modems and clever alarm reporting. They gather knowledge at 15-minute intervals (with some able to 1 min reporting), and monitor diagnostic info resembling temperature, ranges, battery voltage and sign energy.
- Clever sensors: Ultrasonic loop-powered transducers or strain transducers, relying on the particular monitoring level, present correct and dependable degree measurements.
- Grasp management system: Metasphere’s software program platform, deployed on YW’s servers, receives and processes knowledge from the Level Blue RTUs, offering real-time insights into community efficiency.
- Automated workflow integration: Metasphere’s system integrates with YW’s geographic info system (GIS), enabling automated work ticket technology for upkeep crews. This streamlined course of ensures a fast response to potential points.
- Predictive upkeep: By analysing diagnostic knowledge from the RTUs, Metasphere can proactively determine potential tools failures, resembling low battery life, and schedule upkeep earlier than issues happen, guaranteeing uninterrupted dataflow and avoiding fines.
- Synthetic intelligence with machine studying: Superior analytics are employed to interrogate the info, determine anomalies and flag potential points, enabling proactive intervention and stopping expensive overflows.
Devoted venture supervisor: Metasphere specialist manages set up and upkeep scheduling, together with entry to web site.
Cleaner water, smarter financial savings
Implementation of Metasphere’s CSO monitoring system has already delivered vital advantages to Yorkshire Water, and the transfer to a DaaS mannequin, coupled with proactive upkeep, ensures 100% knowledge availability. This steady knowledge assortment is essential for assembly stringent regulatory necessities.
Proactive identification and mitigation of CSOs considerably reduces the chance of air pollution occasions, defending the setting and native ecosystems. This preventative strategy additionally interprets to value financial savings by minimising clean-up bills and the chance of fines related to knowledge gaps and spills.
“Information-as-a-service is the way in which ahead for water firms,” explains Simon Dawe, gross sales supervisor, Metasphere. “It turns reactive operations into proactive options, ensures regulatory compliance and helps shield the environment – in the end delivering a extra environment friendly and cost-effective service for patrons.”
Past regulatory compliance and environmental safety, the answer gives operational efficiencies via automated workflows and predictive upkeep. These options streamline operations, cut back response occasions, and optimise useful resource allocation. Actual-time knowledge and superior analytics improve community visibility, offering helpful insights into community efficiency for higher decision-making and proactive administration within the long-term.
The advantages prolong past expertise, due to the supply of a devoted venture supervisor. For instance, Metasphere’s Faye McHarg has labored with Yorkshire Water for the previous 5 years. She is liable for managing buyer scheduling for upkeep crews, coordinating site visitors administration and web site entry, serving as the first level of contact between YW and set up crews, guaranteeing clear communication and suggestions, and offering direct buyer care and help.
Lastly, the agnostic nature of Metasphere’s analytics software program permits for the combination of information from numerous units and methods, enabling complete community evaluation and knowledgeable strategic planning primarily based on data-driven insights. With regulators urging water firms to share knowledge throughout areas, this might facilitate higher sharing of information and perception throughout the entire of the UK water sector – selling collaborative options.
“Proactive administration of CSOs is already proving extremely useful to Yorkshire Water: the info and occasions generated by the CSO Monitoring System has allowed early detection of incidents and their location, leading to earlier, more practical, corrective motion when crucial.” Adam Thompson, Operational Supervisor, Yorkshire Water.
Undertaking milestones
- October 2024: DaaS venture formally commenced.
- Ongoing: Steady growth and refinement of the system via AI and operations groups.
- Ongoing: Growth and high quality checking of software program for knowledge evaluation and automatic flagging of underperforming websites.
- Ongoing: Implementation of predictive upkeep capabilities.
A mannequin for the longer term
The partnership between Yorkshire Water and Metasphere, which is because of run for at least 5 years, exemplifies the transformative energy of expertise in addressing important challenges within the water sector.
By embracing revolutionary options and adopting a data-driven strategy, YW just isn’t solely assembly stringent regulatory necessities, but additionally unlocking vital operational efficiencies and price financial savings. That is delivering environmental advantages – highlighting the significance of proactive CSO administration and the worth of data-as-a-service in guaranteeing a resilient and sustainable water community.
Metasphere good water sensors can be found now from Grundfos worldwide.
