Yorkshire Water partners BT for smart water trial in Sheffield

Yorkshire Water and partners are nearing completion of the deployment of almost 4,000 acoustic, flow, pressure, and water quality monitors in what it is describing as the “UK's largest smart water network pilot”.

The water firm is working with BT and Stantec to install the latest NB-IoT (narrow band internet of things) pilot technology. BT switched on its first upgraded masts in the UK, as part of the project.

If the pilot is successful, the smart water network will revolutionise the way leaks and interruptions to supply are managed in the future.

The Smart Water Network Pilot will integrate the rich data from multiple new and existing sources and present it in a single visualisation platform which will include a digital twin of the water network. The platform will use AI to cluster data sets, and remove false positives, to accurately inform asset and operational decision making.

As part of the Smart Water Network Pilot, Gutermann acoustic loggers, Technolog pressure loggers and Honeywell flow meters will utilise the NB-IoT network to transmit their data.

Yorkshire Water chief strategy and regulation officer Nevil Muncaster said: “We recognise that on top of our commitments to our customers and the environment, we need to play our part in regional development where we can – perhaps even more so than ever in these challenging times.

“It’s great that through this innovative pilot we’ve been able to accelerate the introduction of NB-IoT to the area in Sheffield. NB-IoT has the potential to provide greater access for local businesses to take advantage of the advancement in IoT technology, which can only be a good thing for economic growth within the region.”

Sarah Walker, director for BT’s Enterprise business in the North of England, said the partnership marked an “exciting milestone” for the company. “The pilot deployment of NB-IoT signals a move to a more data driven world enabling millions of connected devices to send and receive data, transforming the way we live and work in the future.”

She added: “We are continually looking at how we deliver innovative and next generation connectivity for our customers. We already offer our customers UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, and we were first to the market with 5G in the UK.

“Partnering with Yorkshire Water on the Smart Water Network Pilot and enabling our NB-IoT network for the first time reinforces our commitment to lean into and embrace all network technologies to support these exciting trials with data driven outcomes.”

Yorkshire Water’s multi-stakeholder collaboration includes Itron, Sensus, Arqiva, HWM, ATi, Inflowmatix, Syrinix, Invenio, Ovarro (formerly Primayer & Servelec Technologies), Temetra, Technolog, Gutermann, Elster (Honeywell), BT, Stantec and Xylem.