Ovarro collaborates on major smart network trial

Advanced data-led technology from leakage specialist Ovarro is successfully feeding into the largest smart water network pilot in the UK.

Ten Ovarro Enigma3hyQ remote leak loggers have been deployed by Yorkshire Water as part of a multi-stakeholder collaboration to reduce leakage and burst levels in the pilot area of Hadfield, Sheffield.

Yorkshire Water’s Hadfield Smart Water Network Pilot will integrate the rich data from multiple new and existing sources, including the Enigma3hyQ loggers, as well as sensors, digital water meters, advanced analytics and telecommunications channels, and present it in a single visualisation platform.

Ovarro has worked in partnership with Yorkshire Water’s leakage reduction teams for more than 20 years, and is one of 18 companies in the digital water space taking part in the trial, which aims to revolutionise the way the company manages leaks and interruptions to supply.

The Enigma3hyQ is a correlating acoustic leak logger, which pinpoints leaks remotely in large diameter plastic or metal pipes, over long distances.

The acoustic loggers use a hydrophone sensor to record leak sound and data is fed into Ovarro’s cloud-based analytics platform, PrimeWeb. Having loggers distributed throughout the network and listening in at different points makes it possible to measure the time taken for noise to reach different loggers, making for greater accuracy in pinpointing leaks.

As part of the pilot, Enigma3hyQ loggers have been installed in 10 locations, monitoring an area of 6.2 kilometers. The initial results are encouraging, with data successfully integrating with the project’s single platform, already leading to several points of interest for leakage technicians to follow up on.

Ovarro’s regional manager Ian Greenwell said: “We have a long and successful partnership with Yorkshire Water and around 280 Enigma3hyQ loggers have been closely monitoring parts of its network since February 2020

“As such, we are proud to have been invited to be part of this ambitious pilot, alongside some of the biggest players in the digital water sector. As the UK water industry seeks to tackle water scarcity and deliver for customers and the environment, it is a fantastic example of an organisation embracing innovation to develop new ways of working.”

Yorkshire Water innovation programme manager Sam Bright said: “We’re really pleased to have the Enigma3hyQ acoustic leak loggers installed as part of this ambitious pilot. The information these generate already provide great insight on their own, so we are really excited to see the additional value we can leverage from the units once the data is combined with our other sensors within the area and monitored within our smart networks platform.”

The smart water network pilot is being project managed by Stantec. Launched in April 2020, outputs from the 12-month project will be used as part of Yorkshire Water’s wider digital strategy.