Optimising Ion Exchange July 4th, 2022 by Wessex Water A post by Martin WoodTechnical Manager We launched the ion exchange brine challenge to try to find a more sustainable approach to deal with the brine waste from the ion exchange plants at one of our water treatment works. One of the solutions we shortlisted for further exploration was a software monitoring tool proposed by…
Plastic bead media challenge – what’s next? March 23rd, 2022 by Wessex Water A post by Will WormaldPrincipal Planning Engineer We launched this challenge in September 2021 looking for alternative approaches to facilitate replacing buoyant plastic bead media used at some of our water recycling centres. You can read more about the challenge here. Sadly, we didn’t have any formal submissions, which highlights that this is an emerging…
An update on our foam production challenge March 17th, 2022 by Wessex Water A post by Eleanor PorterLead Area Scientist Last Autumn we launched a challenge looking at foaming at water recycling centre outfalls. Although the foam causes no environmental damage, there would be lots of benefits of resolving the issue, including improving the amenity value of watercourses for members of the public. You can read more on…
Anti-fouling paint challenge: Tiles appear promising March 17th, 2022 by Wessex Water A post by Jack CrasswellerScience and Trade Effluent Manager We launched this particular challenge to explore the possibility of coating some of the chambers and channels at our water recycling centres with an anti-fouling paint – the idea was that this could reduce the build-up of dirt and debris and further improve our compliance record.…
Looking back at 2021 November 29th, 2021 by Wessex Water A post by Katherine MiningPR24 and Open Systems Co-ordinator As 2021 draws to a close we’re looking back at some of our news and achievements. We incorporated one of the ideas from our sewer misuse marketing challenge into our Autumn 2021 sewer misuse campaign. The suggestion was the idea of rallying people to protect their…
AI product to be rolled out at scale following Intelligent Sewers challenge September 28th, 2021 by Wessex Water A post by Jody KnightAsset Technology Manager There’s lots to update you on since previous blog posts on the Intelligent Sewers challenge. The three month proof-of-concept trial ran last summer as planned and we had enough rainfall to give the systems a proper test. We’d like to thank all three companies that participated in the…
Reflecting on 2020 and looking ahead to 2021 March 11th, 2021 by Wessex Water A post by Katherine MiningOpen Systems Co-ordinator As we plan ahead to see what Marketplace challenges are on the horizon this year, it feels a good time to reflect on 2020 and look at how we collaborated with many to share some great ideas during what was a very challenging year for everyone. The Marketplace…
The South West Leakage Hub – a collaborative approach to leakage December 18th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Andrew ChatterleyHead of Leakage Reducing leakage rates is a huge challenge faced by all water companies. The possibility of further target reductions beyond the current AMP means now is absolutely the right time to share information on a variety of topics. Taking a collaborative approach in this way will help ensure we…
An update on our CCTV AI Trial December 1st, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Federica VillaAssistant Engineer It’s fair to say it has taken a tremendous amount of work to review the AI CCTV scanning files. With fantastic engagement from the supply chain and a desire in the business to review each file manually, our thanks go not only to those who submitted files, but also…
UK 2050 Water Innovation Strategy October 26th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Dan GreenHead of Sustainability and Innovation This month has seen the publication of the UK 2050 water innovation strategy. This has been produced by a coalition of the UK’s water companies with input from a wide range of consultees from across the wider water sector and research and innovation bodies. Its purpose…
Participation in the intelligent sewers trial – StormHarvester August 28th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by StormHarvester StormHarvester is now coming to the end of our three-month intelligent sewer challenge currently being run by Wessex Water in the Bath catchment. As part of this challenge we are monitoring all combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and pumping stations in the Bath catchment in real time and alerting operational staff to…
Participating in the intelligent sewers trial – Meniscus August 28th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Meniscus Systems Ltd For Meniscus, being involved in the Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) proof-of-concept trial has provided us with an opportunity to test and enhance our MAP Rain service in a collaborative and solutions-focused environment. MAP Rain is our cloud-based service combining radar and forecast rainfall with operational data. Using machine learning,…
Participating in the intelligent sewers trial – Detectronic August 28th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Detectronic Water pollution monitoring is something we’re pretty good at here at Detectronic. In fact, we (and our clients!) see ourselves as experts on the topic. So, when we found out about Wessex Water’s intelligent wastewater networks Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) trial via the Marketplace, we jumped at the chance to participate.…
Auctions, nature-based solutions and offsetting in the Hampshire Avon August 19th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Ruth BardenDirector of Catchments & Environment The Chalk Streams of the Hampshire Avon catchment are world renowned for their beauty and the unique wildlife. Unsurprisingly, these watercourses are designated as a Special Area of Conservation. However, there is a conflict here. The need for housing development places pressure on the natural environment,…
Students pitch ideas for sewer misuse campaigns July 31st, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Katherine MiningOpen Systems Co-ordinator, Risk and Investment During the Covid-19 lockdown, we launched a Marketplace challenge asking university students to design marketing materials for our sewer misuse campaigns, specifically targeting one of three personas that represented some of our target customer groups. We hoped that the challenge would offer an interesting project…
Intelligent Sewers challenge enters its next stage April 17th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Jody KnightStrategic Technology Planning Manager So here we are 6 months after the Intelligent Sewers challenge went live on the Marketplace website and in the midst of a global pandemic! The importance of gaining better understanding from the data we collect in wastewater networks has never been more relevant. We need the…
Marketplace – Spreading the word March 16th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Katherine MiningOpen Systems Co-ordinator, Risk and Investment The Wessex Water Marketplace was delighted to be part of the Smart Water 2020 conference held in Birmingham last week. It was a great opportunity to spread the word about how our Marketplace platform is helping us find new and innovative solutions to the challenges…
Trials planned following anti-fouling paint challenge February 12th, 2020 by Wessex Water A post by Carla ReeveDevelopment Scientist, Operations In September we launched a challenge to identify an anti-fouling paint, which would inhibit the growth and build-up of slime, algae and aquatic plants on some of our final effluent humus tank channels at our water recycling centres. We received responses from a range of sources – individuals,…
Hacking about – how did our water efficiency hackathon go? October 16th, 2019 by Wessex Water A post by Philippa BondParticipation Strategy Manager, Customer Insight and Participation July and August saw four companies analyse our historical water efficiency data (you can still see it here and here) to help us answer the question How can we improve the efficiency of our in-house visits – can we improve the estimated savings or…
Wessex Water’s bustling marketplace, three months on August 13th, 2019 by Wessex Water As published in Water & Wastewater Treatment A post by Neil Wilson, Director of Risk and Investment When Ofwat announced its requirements for all water companies to include a bid assessment framework in their 2020-25 business plans, we welcomed the idea with open arms, confirming our beliefs that our open systems approach, and the Wessex…
Working in partnership to support customers in vulnerable circumstances June 18th, 2019 by Wessex Water A post by Kate Robbins – Head of Customer Policy On 9 May 2019 we held our first shared partnership event with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN). We have been working in partnership with SSEN since May 2016 to support our customers in vulnerable circumstances. Customers are our priority, and we are committed to…
Where Wessex Water meets Apple! April 9th, 2019 by Wessex Water A post by David Elliott – Group chief innovation officer “The key to dominating the 20th century economy was to own the means of production. The secret of our own times is to create the means of connection.” Financial Times 2018 When we were privatised in 1989, the critical need at that time was to…
Our Marketplace hackathon event April 8th, 2019 by Wessex Water A post by Laura Mann – Head of open systems In autumn 2018 we ran a series of ‘data hackathons’, inviting internal and external staff to explore a data set detailing customer blockages over the past six years. We posed the question, ‘What can you tell us about sewerage incidents that might help us…
What’s in a name? April 2nd, 2019 by Wessex Water Open system, system coordinator – what do they mean? To those who talk a lot about catchments, regulations, and industry, possibly a bit. But to the wider market – very little. We realised we needed a better title for the ‘Open system’ approach in our business plan and set about trying to find one. We…
