UU to transform wastewater network monitoring

United Utilities (UU) has begun installing thousands of sensors to its wastewater network to transform how it monitors the 78,000km of pipes in its sewer systems.

The overhaul will use real-time data that allows the company to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to process the data to locate blockages before they lead to pollution incidents.

The company said its dynamic network management (DNM) approach will allow it to manage its networks in a proactive way rather than waiting for problems to occur within the vast system.

Mike Wood, water and wastewater network director at UU, said: “Our aim is to move away from the traditional reactive approach and to address problems proactively as much as possible, to ensure that we are managing the network, not the other way around!

“We want visibility as to what is happening on our wastewater network and when, so we can detect and prevent any unnecessary issues before they become a problem for customers or the environment.”

More than 19,000 sensors will be added to manholes across the region as well as enhancements to the monitoring at both powered and non-powered sites.

The data captured will be fed back to a platform that applies machine learning to process and identify patterns in the performance of the company’s drainage systems, helping to predict the future performance.

Wood said the company plans to install all the sensors by next year to respond to the alerts from the digital platform to improve how the company works.

For AMP7 the company has outcome delivery incentives (ODIs) related to sewer flooding including a 73 per cent reduction goal for internal incidents, 22 per cent reduction in external sewer flooding incidents, and 11 per cent cut to blockages by the end of the five-year period.