Largest digital twin for water given go-ahead

The largest digital twin in the water utility sector has been given the green light by Anglian Water to be part of its innovation hub in Newmarket in Suffolk.

The digital twin has been designed and will be created by Black & Veatch as a digital representation of the region’s water treatment and distribution infrastructure.

It will be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and Hybrid Adaptive Real-time Virtual Intelligence (HARVI), which are unique elements to the system.

This will give the twin the ability to detect, locate and solve problems in the network. Black & Veatch said its system takes AI a step forward from making observations to being able to make judgements and decisions based on its observations.

Mark Kaney, director of asset management at Black & Veatch Europe said: “What separates the digital twin from a conventional model is that the twin is in constant dialogue with its physical counterpart, enabling Anglian Water to simulate and scenario test options before actioning them in the real world.”

The digital twin will be incorporated into Anglian’s network in Newmarket which it already describes as a “shop window” for the innovation it wants to implement across the network.

Anglian has set seven targets for Newmarket including zero leakage and bursts; 100 per cent customer satisfaction; reduce water consumption to 80 litres per person per day; zero pollution and flooding; 100 per cent compliant and chemical-free drinking water; carbon neutrality; and building a circular economy that eliminates the concept of waste from the processes.

Anglian’s PR19 Draft Determination included significant expenditure for investing in resilience, which Ofwat decreed was too high but Anglian defended as necessary to meet the needs of the region.

In its re-submission Anglian insisted the level of expenditure was appropriate and invited Ofwat to fully consider its previous application to allow it to face the challenges of climate change.