Halma company HWM is helping wastewater companies manage their networks to deal with increased rainfall.
An aging water network faces increased scrutiny
Since Victorian times, the sewer systems include overflows that act as a failsafe to avoid flooding. Initially intended for very limited use, today’s surges in demand due to population growth and climate change mean these overflows are now being used much more regularly. As such, the 18th century infrastructure is no longer fit-for-purpose.
Although the practice of using combined sewer overflows to alleviate flood risk (discharging sewer contents into rivers and waterways) during severe weather events has been happening for decades, it has made headline news in the UK recently.
The increasing number of pollution events occurring in UK waterways is causing harm to river and coastal ecosystems, drawing public anger and more robust regulatory scrutiny. With climate change likely to deliver a greater intensity of rain more frequently and UK water companies legally required to report overflow discharges, a real-time monitoring solution is key.
Precise, real-time sewer monitoring data
Working with UK water companies, HWM is deploying thousands of intelligent sensors to monitor and analyse sewer levels. Accurate sewer data can alert water companies to blockages in the network, meaning engineers can be dispatched to tackle network and treatment plant issues before overspills occur.
As water companies monitor their network more closely, they can also use their HWM devices to build a ‘smart model’, running simulations of extreme weather events and the impact on their system. This allows the water companies to predict potential overspill events as well as helping them to prioritise decisions about network investment.
Delivering climate change solutions
HWM is helping waste water operators adapt to climate change, providing real-time alerts and insight so they can proactively intervene to avoid pollutions and flooding. Their clean water leak detection solutions are reducing leakage, mitigating water loss. The result is reduced stress on the environment as less water is treated which means less carbon emissions related to water treatment.
While the work continues, these innovative technologies demonstrate how Halma companies like HWM are delivering safer, cleaner and healthier solutions to many of the key problems facing the world today.
