Yorkshire targets customer-side leaks

Yorkshire Water has set out plans to achieve its targets on per capita consumption (PCC) and leakage through advanced metering to locate household leaks as well as network bursts.

The company said almost one-third of leaks are understood to be on customer-side pipes, which water companies are not responsible for but can assist in finding.

The company must lower consumer usage by 9% by 2025 and, together with the wider industry, has ambitions to halve leakage rates by 2050.

Last year it exceeded its leakage target of 7.4 megalitre reduction and currently has the lowest PCC in the sector at 128 litres. To meet its target it will need to drive this down to 122 litres by the end of AMP7.

To manage this, it will roll out smart meters to give near real-time insights into usage and leaks. This will help the company find properties with continuous flow that may indicate a leak as well as offering customers insight into their usage to make informed decisions about how much water the home uses.

Yorkshire will work with Netmore to install smart meters on all new housing developments, and Connexin for wider meter exchange and installation programmes. The company will use LoRAWAN networks, which utilise internet of things (IoT) technology on radio networks to provide regular flow data to Yorkshire.

The company ran a smart meter trial at Sheffield as part of its efforts to drive down leakage in hotspots ahead of this roll-out.

Adam Smith, smart networks and metering transformation manager at Yorkshire, said: “We are thrilled to start the journey of Advanced Customer metering – a really strategic way to reduce leakage, improve our services, and help customers save money on their bills”

The partnerships with Netmore and Connexin will last for up to 20 years: five years to provide meters and 15 years for data collection services over the lifetime of the assets.