A North East water company has been leading the way in the global battle against leakage.
Innovation and leakage experts from Northumbrian Water chaired a pre-event workshop ahead of the 2019 World Water-Tech Innovation Summit, held in London on 26 and 27 February.
The summit saw water utility leaders, start-ups, technology giants, engineers and investors from all over the world, come together to find solutions to the challenges facing the global water industry.
Attracting more than 250 water leaders, some of the key speakers included water regulators Ofwat, Oxford University, Lagos Water Corporation and Danone.
Leading the way, Northumbrian Water delivered a half day workshop, developed in partnership with the UK Department for International Trade, to explore the question ‘How can the global water industry realistically achieve the ambitious target of zero leakage?’
They shared some of the innovative approaches the North East based company is currently pioneering, including harnessing the power of space satellites to help spots leaks here on earth and using sensors and data to monitor the performance of the water network and address leakage.
More than 80 people took part in the pre-summit workshop, which discussed unique ideas such as better collaboration to share best practice, particularly around collection of leakage data, as well as a water efficiency rating system for properties, similar to the energy rating system applied when buying houses, and up-skilling of the workforce – implementing the water-equivalent of Gas-safe certification.
Information Services Director for Northumbrian Water, Nigel Watson, said: “We live and breathe innovation here at Northumbrian Water, so it’s been fantastic to host a workshop at this event which is dedicated to innovation.
“Together with some of the most innovative minds from all around the globe, we’ve been discussing ways that we can hit our ambitious zero leakage target. It’s all about keeping the ideas flowing, experimenting and looking for game-changers in the water industry that will help us transform the world.”
For more information on Innovative leakage techniques etc., see www.innovationfestival.org.