WIPAC Monthly March 2020

WIPAC MONTHLYThe Monthly Update from Water Industry Process Automation & Control
www.wipac.org.uk Issue 1/2020- January 2020

In this Issue
WIPAC Monthly is a publication of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group. It is produced by the group
manager and WIPAC Monthly Editor, Oliver Grievson. This is a free publication for the benefit of the Water Industry and please
feel free to distribute to any who you may feel benefit. However due to the ongoing costs of WIPAC Monthly a donation website
has been set up to allow readers to contribute to the running of WIPAC & WIPAC Monthly, For those wishing to donate then
please visit https://www.patreon.com/Wipac all donations will be used solely for the benefit and development of WIPAC.
All enquires about WIPAC Monthly, including those who want to publish news or articles within these pages, should be directed
to the publications editor, Oliver Grievson at olivergrievson@hotmail.com
The picture on the front cover is from a presentation given by Hach at the Sensors for Water Interest Group Workshop on Real
Time Control Systems
From the editor............................................................................................................. 3
Industry news..............................................................................................................
Highlights of the news of the month from the global water industry centred around the successes of a few
of the companies in the global market.
4 - 12
Discussion of “Using Complex Permittivity and Artificial Neural Networks for
Contaminant Prediction................................................................................................
In this month’s feature article John Cook and Ed Roehl we discuss the use of the concept of Artificial Neural
Networks, a part of artificial intelligence, in the prediction of contaminants.
13-15
Digital Transformation and the customer......................................................................
In the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry it is very easy to forget about the people who are served by
the industry. In this article by Oliver Grievson we discuss what contributions the Digital Transformation of the
industry will bring to the customer from everything for PCC and leakage reduction to protecting the environment
and people’s houses from sewer flooding.
16-17
Combining CFD and physical modelling to evaluate Water Treatment Plant
performance.......................................................................................
In this article by Stuart Cain, first published in Water Online we discuss the use of both CFD and physical modelling
and how the approaches complement each other when using them to evaluate water treatment plant performance.
18-20
Workshops, conferences & seminars............................................................................
The highlights of the conferences and workshops in the coming months. 21-22

From the Editor
With the current troubles that the world is having it is very easy to forget that work for some has to be somewhat
business (un)usual. These are the industries that provide critical services to all. The obvious one’s are the people
on the front line of our hospitals including Doctors, Nurses, Ambulance Drivers and a whole industry of people who keep
things going. These are the obvious industries but behind all of these more visual industries are the industries like the
water industry these are the areas of the world that I personally call “the great hidden industries.” In the water industry
it has always been the fact that the customer opens the tap and flushes the toilet and doesn’t’ think of anything more.
With the current situation these industries are more important, we are being told to stay at home and wash our hands
more and more often which is sage advice to keep everyone healthy and hopefully free of any ill health.
Despite all of this the water industry is under a huge stress. Through climate change and water resource amongst a host
of issues there are ever increasing problems in the way the industry operates. On top of this a number of countries now
realise that they have an asset base that is ever increasing in age and a gross shortage of people are technically skilled
as the average age of the workforce grows and a large proportion of the industry is reaching retirement age. There are
thoughts that technology will mitigate this in someway by providing support to those that are managing the day to day
operation of the industry and it is true in someways and is a complete misnomer in another. Technology will not take the place of people in this “brave new
world,” of Digital Transformation of the Water Industry and its dangerous to think that it will. I’ve certainly seen articles in the trade press recently suggesting
that this is the case but in reality it isn’t
This month, before all of the international restrictions on people’s movement rightly came into force I went to the WEX Global Conference and as per usual
chatted to a number of people, recorded a few podcasts and interviewed a few people in front of a camera (I hate this last bit, I’ve certainly got a face for
radio). One of the people I spoke to was Jim Southworth who was telling me how the industry has developed over the years (the podcast is available here)
who talked about how the industry used to be and how the warnings of when a customer’s tap was going to be switched off was done by megaphone. If we
move forward a decade or few then we have a potential situation today when there is nothing stopping water companies do exactly the same but targeting
customer’s by their geographical location and sending them a message by text or instant message. Give it a few years and the customer will probably be able
to fill up a sink or bath via their mobile phone. Is this any better or is it just something different considering the change in the way that we all live.
Whilst out in Valencia I also visited the Global Ominium Digital Twin that had produced a hydraulic version of their water distribution system. In visiting it I
finally saw what a Digital Twin should be. In Valencia it is not a current fad of what seems to be the technology of the day but is a true rendition of what a
Digital Twin for water should be using a network model representation coupled with a detailed and accurate sensor network and all of the hydraulic models
behind it doing the bulk of the work that allowed them to not only understand what has happened but to also understand what is happening and what will
happen in the future. Just the hydraulic version of this Digital Twin has taken the best part of 15 years to develop (and yes the original concept is always going
to take longer) but it is a true rendition of a “Digital Twin,” but the thing that came across just as much as the Digital Twin concept was the assistance that it
gave to the technical experts and the operators who are charged in doing the day to day job. The technical experts before the Digital Twin concepts were of
course fire fighting on a day to day basis and afterwards had the time to breathe and look at the strategic approach. The key to it all at the base was the quality
of the data and knowing how much you can trust that data (the uncertainty)
The morals of the story is that of course we must have good quality data, we must have a system in order to use that data and we must have enough technical
experts who understand what the data is telling us.
Have a good month and most importantly stay safe in these troubling times,
Oliver

WIPAC Podcasts launch this month as the 3rd
WIPAC Webinar on
Serious Gaming is broadcast
The beginning of March, before the unprecedented global shutdown was an interesting month with the
recording of the WIPAC Podcasts live at the Water & Energy Exchange Conference in Valencia, Spain and
the broadcast of the 3rd
WIPAC Webinar, this one on Serious Gaming in the Water Industry on the last day
of the conference.
The main themes of the podcasts which are available on the WIPAC YouTube Channel covers everything
from how the industry used to be and how technology has helped the industry move forward leaps and
bounds to the concepts of Digital Twins, Decision Support Systems and of course Digital Transformation.
The 3rd
WIPAC Webinar was also recorded from the conference with the webinar host, Oliver Grievson,
in Valencia and the presenter Dr Mehdi Khoury of the University of Exeter in the UK. The webinar was
a fascinating reflection on how Serious Gaming can be used for customer engagement. This was also
presented at the WEX Global Innovations Competition and got a special mention for its innovation.
All of the WIPAC Podcasts and Webinars are freely available on the WIPAC YouTube Channel and members
can reach it by clicking here and subscribing to the channel to receive notifications on any new additions.
Further podcasts and webinars will of course be being produced and will be update there, on LinkedIn and
of course on the WIPAC Website.
Preparations for WWEM going full steam ahead
The Water. Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring Conference & Exhibition is the UK’s
largest conference in monitoring and control in the Water Industry and preparations
for November’s conference are continuing to be developed despite the fact that many
conferences and exhibitions are on a current hiatus due to the current international crisis.
There are truly ground-breaking events that are happening at this November’s WWEM
which the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group are involved in bringing
together for the industry.
Firstly is a development of the WIPAC Learning Zone that was launched at WWEM 2018. In
that event the industry supply chain came together to deliver a series of highly successful
training seminars on instrumentation and communication technologies that were free to
attend throughout the event. This will be repeated at this year’s WWEM as part of the
Learning & Development Zone which aims to bring together the industry’s Professional
Institutions, supply chain and of course the students, apprentices and junior engineers
within the industry and give them the opportunity to talk to people about their career
development in instrumentation and the wider industry. Leading professional institutes
andorganisationssuchastheCharteredInstituteofWater&EnvironmentalManagement,
Institute of Measurement & Control, the Future Water Association and British Water are
working in the background to bring a huge opportunity to those in the industry to gather
together and discuss both Learning & Development in the Water Industry.
With all of the initiatives such as the Learning & Development Zone, and the conference programme such as the WIPAC Flow Forum and the WIPAC/SWAN Forum
Digital Transformation conference there is over 120 sessions for visitors to WWEM to learn about current developments in the Water Industry all for free.
Secondly is of course the WWEM Instrumentation Apprentice Competition that will be returning to this year’s WWEM which is open to all NVQ Level 3 Apprentices
from not only the Water Companies but the supply chain too. Returning for it’s 4th
outing of the competition will see the industry’s apprentices taking part in a
number of tasks to win the title which is currently held by Yorkshire Water. There are talks in the background that this will be the UK version of the Instrumentation
Apprentice Competition and there is the possibility that the 2021 version will see an International Instrumentation Apprentice Competition which the winners
of the 2020 WWEM competition will be put forward to compete in. The winners, in the past, of each competition have been taken under the wing of the supply
chain and trained in advanced instrumentation techniques. The winners of the 2018 competition even acted as judges at the University of Sheffield judging the
engineering course projects on the development of novel sensor platforms.
Thirdly is the announcement that this year’s WWEM will see a new initiative in the form of the “WWEMies” a competition to highlight the successes of both
people and companies within the UK Water Industry celebrating their achievements in instrumentation & control schemes. This will also feature the existing
competitions such as the SWIG Early Career Research Competition that has recently launched. Categories such as Best Instrumentation & Control Project,
Best Instrumentation & Control Engineer as well as Best Instrumentation & Control Technician are being discussed. Keep an eye on the WWEM Website for
announcements about how to enter into the WWEM Awards.
Dragan Savic, Pablo Alcoriza & Gigi Karmous Edwards
recording their podcasts
Competitors from United Utilities at the original 2014 Instrumentation Appren-
tice Competition
Page 4
Industry News

WEX Global awards for innovation in water & energy announced
in Valencia
Inspirational human innovation was the overall winner at the WEX Global
Awards 2020 for water and energy innovation, announced at a ceremony
at Valencia’s Oceanogràfic on 4 March, which toasted the success of water
companies across the world for their efforts in facilitating urgent circular
economy measures to protect the planet.
The lucky victors on the night – which formed part of the three-day WEX
Global 2020 conference at the Oceanogràfic aquarium complex in Valencia,
Spain – included companies active in Dubai, the USA, the UK, Ireland,
Jamaica, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Portugal. Their award-winning
work spanned areas ranging from solar desalination, to wastewater
reclamation, non-revenue water reduction, and the transformation of
seawater into valuable resources. John Z. Bentley, Executive Partner & Water
Sector Leader at IBM Services gave the keynote speech, on the connected
future.
There were eight awards categories in total, and the winners were chosen from short-lists by the event’s seven judges: Oliver Grievson (Z-Tech), Gaëtane Suzenet
(International Impact Partners), Miguel Angel Ayllon (Idrica), Lila Thompson (British Water), Frank Rogalla (FCC Aqualia), Ryan Welsh (City of Cincinnati) and Leon
Awerbuch (International Desalination Association). An additional award for Circular Economy was selected by WEX Global and Idrica, the main sponsor. One
more award was presented to the winner of the Innovations Forum sponsored by Aqualia, this having a different panel of judges presided over by Frank Rogalla,
Director of Innovation & Technology at Aqualia.
The winners on the night, for innovation in each of the following categories were as follows:
Process Technology: Desolenator for Solar Desalination project in Dubai
Water & Energy: APG-Neuros for the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District Denver, Colorado, USA
Water and/or Wastewater Management: CAMBI for the Basingstoke (UK) Sewage Treatment Works
Operations: SCUBIC Technology in Aveiro, Portugal
Infrastructure: Miya & Jamaica National Water Commission, KSA NRW Reduction Co-Management Program
Technology: DuPont OxyMem Drop-in MABR Modules Enhance Wastewater Treatment Plant Capacity - global applications
Finance/Partnerships: Saudi Water Partnership for the Dammam Independent SewageTreatment Project, Dammam, KSA
Desalination: Acciona for DREAMER: Environmentally-friendly Desalination System Concept; Transforming Seawater into Valuable
Resources, Spain
The WEX Global & IDRICA Circular Economy Water Award 2020 went to Uganda‘s National Water & Sewage Corporation, and the Aqualia Award for Innovations
2020 went to Desolenator for Desolenator Solar Desalination, Dubai.
Other companies shortlisted for the awards included Perceptive Engineering, Drylet, SUEZ, MobyGIS, Utico, INLOC Robotics, Vienna Water Monitoring Solutions,
Deer Technology, and the Centre for Water Systems at the University of Exeter.
William Janssen, CEO of Desolenator, winner both of the Process Technology and Innovations awards , said Team Desolenator was “overjoyed” about the award
of two prizes for their work on sustainable seawater desalination. “We want to share our continued commitment to WEX as the leading platform within the
Water and Energy nexus. See you at WEX 2021!”
Bruno Abreu, Executive Director, SCUBIC - Winner of the WEX Award for Innovation in
Operations: “Winning the WEX Award for ‘Innovation in Operations’ was very important
for SCUBIC: we are still a young company, trying to enter one of the most closed and
innovation adverse markets in the world. Exposure and this prize helps water utilities
to recognise our value and see that advanced, innovative solutions can be applied
to water management to reduce costs and carbon emissions, and manage our water
sources more sustainably. An international prize shows that we are solving a worldwide
problem that needs to be addressed, and that we have the knowledge and the tools to
do it.”
Judge Oliver Grievson of Z-Tech Control Systems and the Water Industry Process
Automation & Control Group commented that “Given a future in which water
resources become a global problem, especially considering the need to deliver the 6th
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) which concentrates on water and sanitation for
all, desalination is part of the solution to the world’s problems and projects such as
DREAMER project by Acciona, which makes desalination more
sustainable by lowering energy costs and recovering products, are surely part of the
world’s future.” Bruno Abreu of Scubic who won the innovation in operations award at WEX Glob-
al 2020 in Valencia
Page 5

Idrica collaborates with Telefónica in the field of IoT solutions
for the water sector
Idrica has started to collaborate with Telefónica, a global partner in the provision of IoT solutions, in order to offer innovative services to companies in the water
sector. The agreement between the two companies includes the development of technological solutions based on NB-IoT, LTE-M and the future 5G Massive
IoT, allowing billions of machines and devices to be connected to the Internet. The commercialization of GoAigua, Idrica’s technological solution for the digital
transformation of processes in the water sector, is a key aspect of the collaboration. GoAigua was launched as a result of the successful digitalization of Global
Omnium, a Spanish utility with over 130 years of experience in water management.
GoAiguahelpsutilitiestobreakinformationalsilosandunlockvalueoutofdata,providingaholisticandreal-timeviewofthestateofprocessesandinfrastructures.
For this purpose, the solution collects information from all distributed data sources in the utility, allowing for a continuous integration of SCADAs, GIS, ERP,
AMI, CMMS, IoT sensors, and other legacy systems. At present, this technology is being leveraged by more than 400 utilities globally to improve operation &
maintenance, asset management, customer experience and resilience. Its modular, scalable and vendor-agnostic design implies that GoAigua can be adapted
to each client and its technological maturity in the areas of drinking water, wastewater and irrigation.
This alliance is an important milestone for Idrica in its internationalization process. It also highlights GoAigua’s interoperability with other platforms and
technologies
Syrinix has carried out a programme of pressure monitoring on behalf of
Anglian Water, giving the water company the capability to identify which
of its existing assets were failing.
Data outcomes from the monitoring of rising mains allowed Anglian to
identify failing assets. As a result of the findings savings have been made
in various areas across the business.
For example, in May 2019 early detection of a burst rising main meant
a repair bill of £1,100 as opposed to the £25,000 repair bill received in
December 2018, prior to the introduction of a ‘burst alert’ detection
alarm.
Early detection meant Anglian Water could minimise the impact on
the environment, whilst lessening any customer impact and company
reputation.
Overall, a richer data set and the information provided to Anglian has
helped the company to make smarter investment decisions on assets
with the potential to reduce need to deliver huge capital solutions, (like
mains replacement, etc).
Rebecca Harrison, optimisation strategy manager at Anglian Water, said: “This new level of monitoring has allowed Anglian Water to deploy strategies aimed
at extending the life of the rising main (such as soft starts on pumps and improved air valve maintenance) of which early results have suggested it will allow for
deferral of capital investment by extending asset life. This enhanced understanding of performance also provides an essential targeting tool for the optimisation
team.”
Mark Hendy – VP sales EMEA at Syrinix, added: “This collaboration project has delivered real insight into how rising mains operate and defined the typical failures
that occur. The data collected led to newly developed analysis methods which deliver both maintenance alerts and early warning of asset failures. The automated
insights made viable savings for utility companies whilst also benefiting the environment.”
Rising main monitoring programme leads to savings for Anglian
Page 6

Essex & Suffolk Water and MGISS Pioneer 3D asset data technology
Northumbrian Water - innovative sensor technology pilot proves
value of real-time dam monitoring
Sensor technology used in conjunction with satellites is being used to enhance monitoring of a North East reservoir dam, following a successful pilot project.
Northumbrian Water hosted the innovative pilot for Amey Consulting, at Burnhope Reservoir in Weardale, County Durham, to explore how real-time measuring
of dam movements could benefit the water industry and other operators.
All dams are built to move, and shift by small amounts as the reservoir levels rise and fall during the course of the year. Monitoring of movement is checked
as part of regular inspections carried out in line with the Reservoirs Act 1975. However, the pilot has shown how measurements taken in real-time can be
transmitted via the cloud to Northumbrian Water’s control room, so that, in the unlikely event of movement exceeding agreed thresholds, remedial actions
can be taken to avoid a safety issue from arising. A series of 84 sensors were placed on the dam wall, transmitting multidimentional measurements to a cloud
server to establish sub-millimetre movements in the structure. This precise movement was verified using the latest scientific GPS methods, to give reassurance
of vertical settlement. The pilot was implemented thanks to Government funding through InnovateUK, awarded to Amey Consulting for the monitoring of critical
infrastructure. Kevin Miller, Northumbrian Water’s Reservoir Safety Manager, said:
“Just like aeroplane wings move to provide stability and safety in-flight, dam walls shift to a varying degree, depending upon the size and scale of the structure.
However, it is important to know how much they are moving, to make sure they are operating correctly and that there are no safety issues.
“This pilot, which ran over the course of a year, showed that this can be done by the minute. This means we have access to real time data which will inform when
maintenance is required. Using the sensors, we were able to measure sub-millimetre movements, in line with what we expect to see. With the reservoir full,
there was a 50mm shift and we saw that return to its original position as levels lowered again.
“We have no cause for concern over the safety of any of our reservoirs, but this technology is capable of adding an even greater level of reassurance in real-time.
We are considering the potential for other sites as a result of this trial.”
Matthew Watt, Amey Consulting’s Innovation Manager, commented:
“Stepping from a more traditional monitoring approach, towards one which is essentially gathering data 24/7 significantly enhances understanding of dam
movement. People tend not to realise how much these assets can move all year round, night and day. “Working with Northumbrian Water through this project,
we have learnt a great deal of the behaviour of embankment dams, whilst verifying the accuracy and reliability of our hybrid data-source. Using the system
installed at Northumbrian Water’s Burnhope Reservoir, we intend to tailor the outputs of this project towards the exact requirements of the UK water sector.
The appetite for innovation is clearly healthy in the water sector and that is a very encouraging message to the UK’s service provider in these fields.”
Essex & Suffolk Water is working with technology company MGISS to improve the accuracy and currency of asset data while future proofing corporate systems.
This is to support investment in augmented virtual reality visualisations and digital twin projects for creating digital replicas of physical infrastructure.
Working alongside the design and construction team, MGISS has successfully introduced new satellite positioning equipment together with techniques to
enhance the positional accuracy of captured data.
Field operatives armed with smartphones running a mobile data collector app can now accurately record the real world location, and depth, of new and existing
assets. MGISS is also helping Essex & Suffolk Water process the asset data for onward use in its corporate Geographical Information System (GIS).
“One of the key issues we face as both a design and construction team is the limited accuracy of some of our historic asset data,“ commented Jake Day, Designer
at Essex & Suffolk Water. “This inaccuracy can translate into lost time, and therefore a significant increase in costs. We believe this advancement will help us
locate buried services more quickly in the future, which will help us to respond faster to customers.”
Part of the Northumbrian Water Group, Essex & Suffolk Water is a water only supplier serving around 1.8 million people in the south-east.
Following an initial trial period, supported from concept to field testing by MGISS, Essex & Suffolk is now successfully deploying an Arrow Gold GNSS complete
with RTK (Real Time Kinematic) subscription.
Construction teams record the exact position, to an accuracy of better than 2cm, and depth of assets on their iPhones which are loaded with Esri Collector
for ArcGIS. This process has already been used on a variety of projects including large distance strategic pipelines, mains diversions and new build housing
developments.
“This technology allows us to record the location and depth of new and existing mains along with any additional apparatus and fittings,” continued Day. “We can
also capture the specification and properties of each item which, together with the geospatial data, will prove invaluable to inform future works. This process
has allowed us to relay quality information to developers and stakeholders, adding value throughout the design and construction process.”
Andrew Hopkins, GIS & Positioning Technical Consultant at Northumbrian Water Group, added:
“We are also working, with the support of MGISS, on simplified workflows to create a digital process whereby this high precision data will be presented directly
for acceptance into the corporate GIS as validated data. It is hoped that these streamline processes will put us in a leading position when it comes to the
visualisation of assets in 3D an integral step for research into virtual and augmented reality experiences and digital twin modelling.”
Page 7

Affinity Water deploy Step Testing technique for faster leak
detection
Affinity Water has deployed a Step Testing technique to locate leaks in its network of pipes faster to reduce the amount of water lost through leakage.
Step Testing will allow Affinity Water engineers to systematically “step by step” work through district areas, opening and closing valves to isolate parts of the
network to narrow down areas suffering from loss of water due to leakage. By breaking down selected districts into smaller areas experienced teams will be
better able to monitor the flow of water and pinpoint leaks by a process of elimination.
The Step Testing method is not yet widely used in the water industry, but Affinity Water has historically kept thorough records including maps and drawings of
its network of pipes that enable this activity to be possible.
Jake Rigg the Director of Corporate Affairs and Communities for Affinity Water said:
“We welcome the use of Step Testing at Affinity Water which by narrowing down the possibility of where a leak might be will both allow us to prevent leaks from
occurring and to locate leaks faster when they do happen. Affinity Water is certainly at the forefront of the use of Step Testing in the UK and it will begin to be
rolled out during 2020 in the areas most likely to benefit from it.
“The introduction of Step Testing represents an important milestone for Affinity Water and visibly shows to our customers the high priority we are placing on
leak detection work and the importance we place on meeting our leakage targets in the future. We can do this work without adding extra costs to customers’
bills, so it is a win, win, for Affinity Water and a win, win for our customers.“
Tom Aspinall Head of Leakage Operations for Affinity Water said:
“The ‘make up’ of our network and knowledge of it including our historical understanding of where the pipes and valves are has enabled us to use this Step
Testing method. Many other water companies do not have accurate mapping of their network or the infrastructure to enable them to do so. I think it is great
that we know our network so well and have the right infrastructure in place which has enabled us to use this method to narrow down large geographic areas
and find leaks. We will be doing this work at night to minimise any potential inconvenience.”
Severn Trent Water looks to supply chain for solutions to monitor
structural health of wastewater assets
Severn Trent Water are looking to find suppliers which have the technical capabilities to help improve its ability to monitor structural health of its wastewater
assets to identify and address potential problems within its wastewater network.
Failure to do this could result in asset failure and lead to further problems including pollution and sewer flooding.
The water company believes that part of the solution to achieving this goal is to measure the stress on the asset to accurately ascertain its useful remaining life.
Via measuring structural fatigue, Severn Trent would like to move into a proactive space for asset repair/replacement without causing disruption through asset
failure.
The utility is now seeking to engage with multiple industries to identify potential suppliers who can provide technology that can digitise the surface fatigue of
existing rising mains in order to transmit real time asset condition report and predict potential failure using modelling and AI software.
Currently Severn Trent does not have a similar solution within the business and is looking to trial solutions that will deliver the above outcomes.
Key requirements include:
• The solution must be strictly non-intrusive and easy to install, i.e. digitise the mains by retrofitting, non-invasively.
• A device that is capable of being rolled out with relative ease across STW’s prioritised sites — high risk associated for permanent monitoring
— within the network and can work in conjunction with loggers to create a holistic landscape of asset health.
• Severn Trent will look to run a proof of concept (PoC) trial for a minimum of at least 3 months by deploying ‘fit for purpose’ devices into its
operational waste rising waste mains,.
The water company has pointed out that deployment of monitors in sewer environments brings its own challenges, including:
• potential for explosive atmospheres
• poor signal connectivity, being remote, highly dependent on battery technology
• need for devices to be maintenance free with straightforward installation procedures.
• The successful solution will need to meet the technical challenges of producing a sensor with the necessary capabilities at a price point that
justifies the business case for a potential large scale deployment.
According to Severn Trent, finding an appropriate solution will enable it to better understand the operational condition of its assets and to take necessary action
proactively.
Page 8

Water firms set up Technical User Group to agree standards for
fibres in sewers
Five of the UK’s leading water companies have joined forces to create an independently chaired Technical User Group (TUG) to develop consistent guidelines for
installing fibre in the sewers. The new initiative has been launched by SSE Enterprise Telecoms, one of the UK’s leading connectivity providers. SSE Enterprise
Telecoms’ Fibre in the Sewers (FiS) programme runs fibre through existing infrastructure in dense metro cities to improve connectivity, while avoiding costly and
disruptive dig sites. It includes the development of pioneering technology which has the capability to transform passive sewerage systems into smart wastewater
networks. The technology will enable water companies to identify problems earlier in order to reduce the potential for flooding and pollution.
The news comes at a time when there is currently no existing agreed-upon standard for deploying fibre in the sewers that ensures minimal disruption to the
sewer infrastructure, the water company’s customers and the public.
The UK contains hundreds of thousands of miles of sewers across the country, some dating back to the Victorian era, their performance is vulnerable to external
threats like heavy rainfall and blockages. Real-time data on wastewater flows will help to improve services to customers and protect the environment.
SSE Enterprise Telecoms is now working with major water utility companies to agree a common set of standards that will improve the connectivity ambitions of
both businesses and consumers, as well as enabling the water utilities to further improve services to their customers.
The TUG will regularly convene to enable water companies to exchange technical information for the purpose of creating specifications and codes of practice
relating to the deployment of telecommunications ducts and fibre optical cables within sewer pipes.
By major water utility companies agreeing on consistent standards, fibre can be laid more quickly across the country and cutting-edge network monitoring
technology can be installed at the same time.
The set of standards will help Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to deploy 5G services (supported by SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ infrastructure) quicker, more
efficiently and potentially at a lower cost which ultimately helps facilitate and accelerate the wider roll out of 5G across the country. SSE Enterprise Telecoms will
also be able to monitor its network in real-time, meaning technical teams can respond to issues faster, resulting in more reliable networks.
Sector Director for Energy and Utilities at SSE Enterprise Telecoms, Paul Clark said:
“To advance the UK’s digital ambitions and drive forward the smart cities of the future, we are rolling out a number of large infrastructure projects to improve
nationwide connectivity. We understand that it’s a critical requirement to keep disruption to a minimum when working on such projects, so we are maximising
the use of existing assets including the sewer network to lay fibre. This has helped keep costs down and eventually will enable the real-time monitoring of water
flow activity, ensuring strong, lasting relationships with some of the UK’s leading water and sewerage companies.”
“By establishing the TUG we have brought some of the key players into one room to agree a common set of standards, that not only enable us to further develop
our connectivity offerings via the sewer, but also deploy cutting edge monitoring technology. This technology will help these providers monitor the flow of
sewage, and better manage their infrastructure, which will future-proof them for years to come.”
Paul Kerr, Managing Director of Scottish Water Horizons, a member of the TUG, added:
“Scottish Water has 32,000 miles of wastewater pipes throughout Scotland. It makes perfect sense to utilise this vast infrastructure in order to help enable
telecommunications, reduce disruption to our customers and the environment, and support smart networks to provide real-time monitoring.
“Withmostofususingtheinternetandourmobilephonesonadailybasis,thereisaconstantdemandforincreasedandimprovedcommunicationsinfrastructure.
By using the existing sewer network, we can support SSE Enterprise Telecoms in their development of a set of standard specifications to support the deployment
of fibre in the sewer network, whilst ensuring that the Scottish Water network is protected.”
Wayne Earp, Independent Trustee and Consultant of WFE Consulting, Chair of the TUG, said that working closely with connectivity providers such as SSE
Enterprise Telecoms to turn passive sewerage systems into intuitive wastewater networks, has become a key requirement.
He explained:
“Although fibre in the sewers is no new concept, the TUG was established to bring key stakeholders from across the industry together to agree on consistent
standards for this process, and share knowledge. This will make laying fibre quicker, while also enabling the deployment of cutting-edge network monitoring
technology, helping to reduce wastage, flooding and driving forward a better customer experience.”
Page 9

The Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) is pleased to announce the second cohort of its Utility Advisory Group (UAG) featuring five, global SWAN utility experts
from Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Chile. UAG Members will work together to address concrete utility challenges, explore regional trends,
and identify research needs. Selected based on their extensive industry knowledge and utility leadership experience, this cohort will also collaborate to support
global SWAN activities and help guide strategic planning.
The SWAN Utility Advisory Group Members include:
• Javier Fernández Delgado, Deputy Director - Canal De Isabel II (Spain)
• Joone Lopez, General Manager - Moulton Niguel Water District (US)
• Dale Walker, Head of Smart/OT Programme - Welsh Water (UK)
• Rita Narangala, Manager, Improvement Design & Delivery - Yarra Valley Water (Australia)
• Sebastian Otero, Network Manager - Essbio (Chile)
“We’re thrilled to share the announcement of this new SWAN UAG within the global water community. After ten years of dedication to the smart water sector,
we are looking forward to tapping into their vast utility experience to further promote smart water and wastewater activity in this coming decade,” stated SWAN
Executive Director, Amir Cahn.
Commenting on the significance of joining the group, Rita Narangala of Yarra Valley Water remarked: “I’m grateful to be invited onto the SWAN UAG – I see the
important role SWAN is playing to foster collaboration. Through strategic partnerships, we can better harness technology to deliver the services our customers
expect.”
Sebastian Otero of Essbio added: “I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this global group of utility leaders. I look forward to representing South
American utilities and sharing our experiences and challenges to help accelerate the smart water and wastewater sectors.”
The SWAN UAG was instrumental in determining the agenda for the SWAN 10th Annual Conference to be held 22nd
-23rd
July 2020 in Glasgow. The event will
feature over 30 global utility speakers to discuss the theme, “Moving Beyond Data to Value Creation.”
SWAN Forum announce its second utility advisory group
UK Government confirms £1.2 bn funding for weather and climate
supercomputer
The UK Government has today confirmed that £1.2 billion of funding will be made available to develop a state-of-the-art supercomputer, meaning that predicting
severe weather and the impacts of climate change will be faster and more accurate than ever before. A Government statement said the latest supercomputing
technology would unlease the full potential of weather and climate data for the UK and improve severe weather and climate forecasting,
Data from the supercomputer, which will be managed by the UK Met Office, will be used to inform Government policy as part of the fight against climate change
and meeting net zero emission targets. Data from the new supercomputer – expected to be the world’s most advanced dedicated to weather and climate – will
be used to help more accurately predict storms, select the most suitable locations for flood defences and predict changes to the global climate.
Professor Penny Endersby, Met Office Chief Executive commented:
“This investment will ultimately provide earlier more accurate warning of severe weather, the information needed to build a more resilient world in a changing
climate and help support the transition to a low carbon economy across the UK.
“It will help the UK to continue to lead the field in weather and climate science and services, working collaboratively to ensure that the benefits of our work help
government, the public and industry make better decisions to stay safe and thrive.
“We welcome this planned investment from UK Government.”
The new supercomputer will also be used to help ensure communities can be better prepared for weather disruption, including through:
More sophisticated rainfall predictions, helping the Environment Agency rapidly deploy mobile flood defences
Better forecasting at airports so they can plan for potential disruption
More detailed information for the energy sector to help them mitigate against potential energy blackouts and surges
The new supercomputer will also strengthen the UK’s supercomputing and data technology capabilities, driving forward innovation and growing world-class
skills across supercomputing, data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The Met Office is at the forefront of supercomputing, using its current technology to drive advances in environmental forecasting.
Chair of the Science Review Group Professor Ted Shepherd added:
“The agreement to upgrade the Met Office high performance computer is welcome news. The improved processing power will deliver a step-change in weather
forecasting and climate modelling capability for the UK, such as the further development of the Earth Systems Model, which involves collaboration with the
many UKRI-NERC funded research centres.
“Improved daily to seasonal forecasts and longer-term climate projections will equip society with a greater ability to proactively protect itself against the adverse
impacts of climate change.”
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Submersible Sensors Rapidly Detect Bacterial Pollution In Water
When it rains in San Diego, waterways such as the San Diego River and its Alvarado Creek tributary often experience bacterial pollution that is ultimately carried
to the ocean. This is a public health threat for swimmers, surfers and aquatic life, and it can stem from sewer line breaks during storms, illegal discharging of
wastewater into rivers, or leaky septic tanks.
Typically, coastal cities that experience frequent contamination will collect water samples and test the quality if they suspect bacterial contamination, before
issuing warnings to the public and closing access to beaches. But this reactionary method involves wait times of to 18 to 24 hours, a potentially hazardous delay
for the public.
Environmental engineers from San Diego State University have adapted existing sensor technology that can detect fluorescence and tweaked it to enable rapid
detection of bacteria in the water. They plan to combine this technology with telemetry to transmit contamination alerts in real time, an advance with useful
implications for water monitoring agencies and government authorities.
From the enamel on our teeth, to material in the clothes we wear, every object has fluorescence that is invisible to the naked eye, but can be detected by special
sensors. Bacteria also have similar fluorescence these sensors can detect, which helped the researchers quickly identify contamination.
“We wanted to rapidly identify bacterial contamination, literally in seconds, and be able to watch the intensity increase in real time, using it much like a hand-
held instrument,” said Natalie Mladenov, water quality researcher and associate professor. “One problem many water managers are aware of is the need to have
real time data, and this could be the answer.”
She has long been interested in evaluating sensors as early warning alert systems for unanticipated pollution events, both in surface water and at water
treatment and reuse facilities. She has previously shown how fluorescence-based sensors can indicate the presence of pollutants in treatment facilities, and this
time she set out to explore whether they could be adapted for sewage pollution incidents in surface water.
In addition, “source waters for drinking water treatment plants, like lakes or reservoirs, would also be an excellent place to deploy such a sensor to warn of
sewage spills or other bacterial contamination,” Mladenov said.
Most sampling devices being used for this purpose have an incubation period before results are available, but the fluorescence-based sensors she tested can
distinguish between bacteria in the water and organic material and plant waste, and relay that data immediately. The study will be published March 11 in the
Science of the Total Environment.
Mladenov and former undergraduate engineering student Lorelay Mendoza used a portable submersible fluorometer, which comes with a choice of sensors.
For bacterial wastewater tracking, they chose a sensor for tryptophan--the same amino acid that makes you sleepy after a turkey dinner--and a humic sensor for
background fluorescence tracking.
Mladenov’s previous research indicated the tryptophan sensor would be the most useful. For proof her team tested it both in the lab and in Alvarado Creek
where they had observed the presence of faecal bacteria concentrations during storms.
Mendoza would track weather events and the night before a storm was predicted, she would place the fluorometer in the creek, tracking bacterial contamination
during the storm in real time.
“The findings suggest that wastewater was discharged into Alvarado Creek because of a sanitary sewer overflow or some kind of leakage in sewer infrastructure
during a storm,” Mladenov said. “Sewer lines are old and many are reaching the end of their useful life.”
Mendoza said the high readings were supported by high E. coli counts, and human-derived pollution was confirmed by measuring caffeine concentrations.
“We hope this research propels the deployment of fluorescence sensors to water bodies for long-term monitoring, because having data is power,” Mendoza
said. “I would like to see cities and water managers deploy sensors along water streams to detect vulnerabilities in water quality and to reduce the impacts of
pollution events when they happen. Without early warning signals, the time between initial contamination and awareness and reaction is longer and will have
negative consequences for the environment and aquatic life.”
Collecting samples during storms can be challenging. That’s where graduate student Federick Pinongcos and colleague Alicia Kinoshita came in, to ensure that
samples were collected intact and quickly brought to the laboratory. Then each sample was analysed for markers of wastewater contamination.
“This type of multiple lines of evidence-study had previously not been undertaken,” Mladenov said. “It indicates that the optical, fluorescence based approach
is an effective way for future detection of sewage leaks and other spills in surface waters.”
To obtain supporting biological and chemical data, Mladenov collaborated with SDSU professors Matthew Verbyla and Rick Gersberg. Next, she and geography
professor Trent Biggs, are teaming up to deploy the fluorescence-based sensor together with a telemetry system to ensure the alert can be received in real time,
and will conduct studies in larger water bodies including the San Diego River.
Funding for the field deployments comes from the San Diego River Conservancy. The lab research and Mendoza’s stipend were covered by grants from the
National Institutes of Health and SDSU’s Maximizing Access to Research Careers program.
Page 11

Electro Scan Completes Trial Project For Sydney Water Using Its
Advanced Machine-Intelligent Leak Detection Technology
New Technology Assessed Clay, Plastic, and Trenchless Pipes, including Cured-In-Place (CIPP) and Spiral Wound Lined Pipes, Compared to Traditional CCTV
Results
Electro Scan Inc., a leading provider of machine-intelligent pipeline assessment products and services announced today that it has completed a trial project of
its technology with Sydney Water, Australia’s largest water utility.
Traditionally, water utilities have relied on high resolution cameras and visual inspection to manually assess defects inside of sewer pipes having low flows or
restricted flows. Pressure tests of existing and new pipe installations are also common but, when located in close proximity to shorelines, may falsely measure
water tightness based on groundwater conditions.
“We will use the findings from this trial to see if we can improve the way we test our new and rehabilitated pipelines and prioritise our repair strategies for
existing wastewater pipelines,” stated Jerry Sunarho, BEng MBus, Senior Engineer, Sydney Water, responsible for coordinating the project trial.
“We were delighted to be invited Down Under to demonstrate the features & benefits of our patented low voltage conductivity,” stated Chuck Hansen, CEO
and Founder, Electro Scan Inc.
Sydney Water is a statutory state-owned corporation wholly owned by the New South Wales Government managing an area of 12,870 sq km (5,969 sq mi),
including the management and operation of 22,342km (13,883 miles) of drinking water mains and 26,169km (16,261 miles) of sewer mains serving an estimated
population of 5.14 million people.
Electro Scan’s Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) technology evaluated sewer mains ranging from 150mm to 400mm (6 inch to 16 inch) diameters, including
clay, cured-in-place lined pipe (CIPP), earthenware, plastic, and Rib-Loc spiral wound lined pipes.
Data was automatically processed in the field with results on Electro Scan’s cloud-based Critical Sewers® application, available in minutes.
Electro Scan also partnered with Innovyze Inc., a leading risk modelling and decision support developer, that used its co-developed Electro Scan-Innovyze
Application Programming Interface (API) to seamlessly integrate FELL data to the Innovyze InfoAsset Planner solution.
Similar to holiday testing used to evaluate protective coatings for defects and pinholes, Electro Scan uses a low voltage high frequency current that is able to
create an electric circuit between the inside of pipes and surface.
If a pipe has a leak, for instance from a crack in the pipe wall, at a joint, junction, customer’s connection, or through a lining or coating material, the circuit is
temporarily completed and a measurable leak size & location is automatically recorded.
Defect locations, including pinhole leaks in trenchless rehabilitation materials are precisely located within 1cm (3/8 of an inch) and estimated in litres per second
or gallons per minute.
Electro Scan’s Amazon Web Service cloud applications provides 365x7x24 support to water companies, worldwide.
All work for Sydney Water was completed in accordance with ASTM F2550-13 (2018), ‘Standard Practice for Locating Leaks in Sewer Pipes By Measuring the
Variation of Electric Current Flow Through the Pipe Wall.’
Electro Scan field support, traffic control, and advisory services were provided by locally-based Aqua Assets Pty Ltd, led by Warwick DaVanzo and Holly Tonner.
Separately, Electro Scan’s FELL technology has been evaluated in other worldwide benchmark studies, including projects sponsored by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Water Works Association (AWWA), The Water Research Foundation (WRF).
German institute of Underground Infrastructure (IKT), UK-based Water Research Centre (WRc. plc), and Japan Sewer Collection System Maintenance Association
(JASCOMA).
Electro Scan’s low voltage technology is also used for pressurized water pipes, in accordance with the AWWA M77 Manual of Water Supply Practices for
Condition Assessment of Water Mains.
Page 12

Feature Article:
Discussion of “Using Complex
Permittivity and Artificial Neural
Networks for Contaminant Prediction”
The use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are a technique that has been around for many years, it is a technique that has more recently got much more
attention surrouding its use within the water industry. The technology, which has been widely used in many other fields for decades, is a powerful analytical
tool that has great potential for addressing complex environmental issues. As with any analytical tool, the users have a responsibility to make sure that the
application is technically sound and defensible. The authors are to be commended in applying ANNs to assist in decision-making by revealing the potential
correlations between variables when their interrelationships are practically unknown. This discussion responds to several points made in the paper and focuses
more on the application and appropriateness of using ANNs than the physics of relating complex permittivity to aqueous salt concentrations. Because the
authors anticipate that the majority of the readers may not be familiar with ANNs, some background information is included where appropriate.
The Application and Novelty of ANNs
The authors state, “a novel artificial neural network (ANN) approach is applied because of the potential non-linearity and complexity of the problem.” The
respondents note applications of “novel” ANNs to environmental systems has been a recent development with references occurring over the last five to ten
years. Artificial neural networks have been applied in other fields for decades. Research in machine intelligence, which incorporates ANNs, was a prime mover
of the earliest developments in electronic computing. Seminal mathematical descriptions of artificial neurons date from the late 1800s (http://neurocomputing.
org/history/body_history.html), and the perceptions still in use today date from the 1950s (Rosenblatt, 1958). ANNs became a practical engineering tool in the
mid 1980’s with the advent of the backpropagation learning algorithm for computing weights for multi-layer perceptron feedforward ANNs (Rumelhart, et al.,
1986). Since that time, numerous commercial products and patents that incorporate ANNs have appeared. The number of published research and production
ANN-based prediction, control, and optimization applications is now countless. The authors state “…the potential non-linearity and complexity of the problem”,
but do not substantiate whether the problem is linear or non-linear or discuss the implications of non-linearity and complexity of the problem as they relate to
the selection of ANNs and the architecture of the network.
ANN Sensitivity to Correlated Inputs (Multicollinearity)
The authors state, “neural networks are inherently insensitive to multicollinearity…because numerous parameters called weights are typically used.” This
statement ignores the fact that feedforward ANNs have no notion of process physics, nor the nature of interrelationships between input variables. Further,
weights are randomized prior to training and training proceeds from the ANN’s initial state; therefore, the final values of weights depend on their initial
values. The respondents suggest that using correlated inputs in combination with the inherent randomness of training ANNs leads to ambiguity when trying to
synthesize models whose sensitivities match actual process physics.
Consider a model with two input variables x and y, and one output variable z. Assume that the Pearson coefficient R for the two inputs is 0.7, so R2 = 0.5 (50%
of the variability in x is explainable by variability in y). We can be sure that the two inputs share “mutual information.” The two inputs must also share mutual
information with z for a legitimate correlation function to be created. The term “correlation” connotes a quantification of the relationship of one variable to
another, which depends on the type of function, “prescribed” or “synthesized”, that is used. Examples of functions whose form is prescribed are ordinary
least squares (OLS), splines, polynomials, and deterministic models. Other methods such as ANNs and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) can
synthesize functions of greater complexity.
Assuming that process knowledge indicates y is partially dependent on x (the correlation is not coincidental), when we create an ANN that maps x and y to z, the
50% mutual information is twice represented in the inputs. When setting weights, the training algorithm has no way to distinguish which of the two identical
pieces of mutual information is to be used to minimize the difference between predicted and actual values. Experimentation shows that the sensitivities of z to
x and to y can vary considerably with different randomization and training histories. This problem becomes more severe when multiple inputs sharing mutual
information are used. For a process control application (Conrads and Roehl, 1999a; Conrads and Roehl, 2000) where x is manipulated to control z, the sensitivity
of z to x cannot be left to chance. Obtaining correct sensitivities requires a mechanism that explicitly defines how independent and dependent inputs move
together, which in turn requires that input variables be carefully decorrelated in order of physical dependency (Conrads, et al., 2002a; Conrads, et al., 2002b).
Proper Interpretation of ANN Results
The authors state, “Because little knowledge of the process driving the system and the interrelationships between variables is required, ANNs have been widely
criticized for being a form of black box modeling. Furthermore, it is often difficult to interpret the interactions between variables using an ANN because of the
very large number of parameters involved.” The respondents accept that this view is widely held, but believe it to be incorrect. Visualization techniques are
available to look at the interaction of two explanatory variables on a response variable. Figure 1 shows that ANNs, like all other calibrated models, are merely
functions that fit surfaces through measured data lying in a space of n dimensions, where n = #inputs + #outputsc. One can obtain an accurate
model (does not mean high R2) if:
Page 13

• The data are well distributed throughout the space of interest;
• The input variables selected by the modeler share a lot of “mutual information” about the output variables;
• The form “prescribed” or “synthesized” for the function used to “map” (correlate) input variables to output variables is a good one.
Measured data for up to three variables can be shown (plotted) together in up to three dimensions (x,y,z). Ranging a fourth, “unshown” variable, without having
interrelationships defined by a model, leaves the 3D plot unchanged. Alternatively, Figure 2 shows that the response surface of a model fitted to the data will
change as unshown variables (which have interrelationships defined by the model) are ranged. A response surface defines the sensitivities of an output variable
to changes in the values of input variables, and these sensitivities change as inputs are ranged and the response surface’s geometry is subsequently altered.
Thus, for a model of a given process, synthesized from measured data, the response surface incarnates the model’s representation of the processes’ physics.
For models that accurately represent the data and for inputs variables that have been decorrelated (as discussed previously), visualization with the ability to
interrogate individual model variables can provide a comprehensive accounting of not only a model’s behavior, but also of the process physics it represents.
Figure 1: 3D visualization of ANN response surface fitted to measured data. Horizontal plane x and y axes denote model inputs; vertical axis z denotes an output. Visualizing the data and
response surface together provides an understanding of the quality of the model’s fit, non-linearities, conditions where the model is interpolating and extrapolating, and the presence of
anomalies. If inputs to the ANN other than those shown (unshown inputs) on the x and y axes are ranged, then the response surface would be seen to change shape and move, generally
in the vertical direction.
Figure 2: ANN response surface with unshown inputs at different settings. The surface resides in n-space but is visualized in 3-space. A specific location on the response surface, such as
the white dots, corresponds to a specific set of input values.
Page 14

Limitations in Applying ANNs to Certain Situations
The authors stated that they used 208 records of laboratory data for developing their models, and that polyelectrolyte solutions were not examined. The
respondents suggest that a reliable groundwater monitoring program would have to accommodate a myriad of polyelectrolyte solutions and characteristics
that are specific to each deployment site. For an application based on feedforward ANNs, this implies the need for much larger data sets for training models.
The respondants have found that large amounts of data are required to characterize and accurately simulate the behaviours of overlapping man-made and
natural systems. Past work using feedforward ANNs to model several surface-water systems has involved the use of millions of measurements collected by
the U.S. Geological Survey and others (for example, Risley and Roehl, 2002). Although millions of measurements are not necessary for successful ANN model
applications, some generalized findings from these projects are:
• The natural environment is exceedingly complex, often with each natural system significantly different from the next, so that even large
databases can be inadequate for modelling processes whose dynamics evolve over weeks, months, or years.
• Textbook descriptions of process physics and their implementation in state-of-the-art numerical modelling codes, or those derived
in laboratory settings, often do not capture the complexities of the process physics discovered through data mining, of which ANN
modelling can be a part (Conrads and Roehl, 1999b).
The implication for pursuing a general solution to the groundwater monitoring problem by extrapolating from this early research is this – site-to-site variability,
the time and cost of adequately collecting data and engineering custom ANNs for each site, and the potential criticality of protecting water sources could make
the proposed path practically untenable. The respondents suggest consideration of alternative “novel” approaches that offer greater robustness and lower risk.
They can be found in other problem domains where matters of security are also important, such as monitoring financial transactions for fraud and detecting
computer network intruders.
In summary, ANN models and other data mining techniques are powerful analytical tools that have great potential for addressing complex environmental
issues. Although relatively new in the environmental field, ANNs have a long history of application in other fields. As with the application of any model, an
understanding of the linearity or non-linearity of the problem needs to be understood to guide the selection and application of an appropriate ANN model to
simulate the system. Using advanced visualization techniques, the results of ANN models can be interpolated and the interaction of multiple variables can be
interrogated by evaluating the system response through the entire range of data.
References
a. Conrads, P. and E. Roehl, (1999a), “Real-Time Control for Matching Wastewater Discharges to the Assimilative Capacity of a Complex, Tidally Affected
River Basin,” 1999 South Carolina Environmental Conference, Myrtle Beach, March 15-16, 1999.
b. Conrads, P. and E. Roehl, (2000), “Real-Time Control of the Salt Front in a Complex, Tidally Affected River Basin,” Artificial Neural Networks in
Engineering Conference, St. Louis, Nov. 2000.
c. Conrads, P. and E. Roehl, and W. Martello, (2002a), “Estimating Point-Source Impacts on the Beaufort River Using Neural Network Models,” American
Water Resources Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, May 2002.
d. Conrads, P. and J. Cook, and E. Roehl, (2002b), “Estimation of Tidal Marsh Loading Effects in a Complex Estuary,” American Water Resources
Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, May 2002.
e. Conrads, P. and E. Roehl, (1999b), “Comparing Physics-Based and Neural Network Models for Simulating Salinity, Temperature, and Dissolved Oxygen
in a Complex, Tidally Affected River Basin,” 1999 South Carolina Environmental Conference, Myrtle Beach, March 15-16, 1999.
f. Risley, J. and E. Roehl, (2002), “Using Artificial Neural Network Models to Estimate Water Temperatures in Small Streams in Western Oregon,”
Proceedings of the Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modelling Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 2002.
g. Rosenblatt, F., (1958), “The perceptron: A probabilistic model for information storage and organization in the brain,” Psychological Review, 65, 386-408.
h. Rumelhart, D.E., G.E. Hinton, and R.J. Williams, (1986), “Learning internal representations by error propagation,” in Rumelhart, D.E. and McClelland,
J.L., eds. (1986), Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition, Volume 1, 318-362, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
About the Authors
John Cook is the CEO at ADMi a company that uses advanced data analysis techniques and sophisticated research, software and
engineering to develop decision support systems and process models. This is done in order to optimize water utility infrastructure
and surface and groundwater and other natural resource systems, hydrology, water quality and climate effects. We have been highly
successful in solving complex water treatment problems related to disinfection by-products and distribution system water quality and
event detection.
Ed Roehl is the CTO at ADMi and is a specialist in Artificial Intelligence, data mining, modelling, predictive analytics, process economics,
event detection, event prediction, forecasting, multivariate analysis, process control, real-time systems, dynamics, chaos, decision
support systems, environmental, oil & gas, manufacturing, water.
Page 15

Introduction
For those people in the water industry, in the last few years, you can’t have escaped people talking about the “Smart” Water Industry or even the “Digital
Transformation” of the Water Industry. It is touted to be a revolution for the water industry but what impact and benefit will have to the people who are at the
heart of the industry, the customer?
Over the past few years there are a few issues that have cropped up in the Water Industry where the customer and customer engagement are absolutely
essential and these things are set to continue in the industry moving forward. These issues include:
• Per Capita Consumption & Leakage - or to put it another way the actual water that we all consume everyday
• Sewer Misuse - or blockages caused by fats, oils, greases and everybody’s favourite subject at the moment, wet wipes
• Customer service & billing- how the water company supports its customers and of course gets paid for the service it provides
• Customer engagement & planning - how a water company works with their customers in the plans for the future
These are just a handful of the areas that a water company and its customers interact with each other and in reality its not possible to cover everything here.
You can argue that all of these factors are “business as usual” but the advent of the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry is changing the way that the
water industry in interacting with their customers. Let’s have a look at some examples of the way that this is happening.
Per Capita Consumption & Leakage
There has always been the argument that in times of drought and the press starts to talk about the water companies applying hose-pipe bans and other water
restrictions that the water companies are wasting vast amounts of water in leakage. In part this is true especially when you consider that the water companies
lose something like 3.1 GL/day or 1,132 GL per year (Consumer Council for Water, 2017). However in this one does have to consider that the water companies
maintain approximately 215,000 miles of distribution mains (Water UK, 2019). Within this the case has to be looked at as to how much leakage is actually worth
addressing from an economic point of view. This has always been considered within the water industry as the economic level of leakage. The water resources
issue of course shifts this economic level of leakage as it becomes more and more expensive to produce water. So what does this mean for the customer and
how is the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry changing things.
The Water Companies have been given targets for both per capita consumption and leakage with the average target around 7% reduction in per capita
consumption (equating to about 10 litres per person per day) and 15% reduction in leakage from the baseline levels. These are within the Outcome Delivery
Incentives for the water companies to deliver against with around with an average of £168,000 per litre saved in per capita consumption ranging between
some companies only accepting penalties if they don’t perform to £760,00 per litre capped at a total benefit of £4 million. This equates to a decent budget for
improvements to be made for the Water Companies that have included a reward in their ODI’s. So how can we use Digital Transformation to improve things for
the customer in the Water Industry?
The first thing is that there is a lot of public outreach that can be done and this is an area that the water companies do specialise in. A recent podcast with
one of the member’s of the more senior members of the industry remembered times when public outreach pre-privatisation consisted of a megaphone
system telling local residents that there water was going off in half an hour’s time. This is a long way away from the call centres, social media approach and
customer service teams that are now “business as usual” within
the water companies now. It is these teams that are vital in the
public outreach to customers that is going to be part of the
drive towards per capita consumption reduction. On top of all
of this is the move towards smart metering which is starting to
become commonplace within the modern water industry.
The dumb meter approach meant that the water meter was
used for billing only and the actual meter readings weren’t
used for anymore than revenue collection from the customer.
After all this was all that water meters were for. In reality it is in
the modern era with smart water meters and the ability to get
data back from a flow meter at hourly (or quicker) rates that the
pattern of water consumption can be seen and as a result of this
if a domestic household is using infeasible amounts of water
then a query can be raised. As customer side leakage from
leaking toilets are actually a big consumer of water this can help
the water company reduce unnecessary water consumption
but also help the customer pay less in their water bill. This may
Article:
Digital Transformation
& the customer
Figure 1: Typical Dumb Water Meters in a boundary box
Page 16

seem a counter-intuitive approach for a water company to actually accept a situation where they are going to pay less but in reality the amount of water saved
is almost more valuable as water resources become a major problem across the industry.
This is not the only area that the “Digital Transformation” of the Water Industry is set to help customers as with the advent of smart meters techniques such
as behavioural analysis and data analytics. The next asset management period in the UK is set to see millions of smart water meters support customers and of
course help the water industry in a number of different ways.
All of this helps in the hunt for leaky pipes too as the water companies have long since used the DMA approach to look for leaks and the development of this
approach using data analytics has had a huge impact in the water industry in reducing non-revenue water (or leakage) and there are numerous case studies with
companies such as EPAL in Portugal, Yarra Valley Water and UnityWater in Australia
amongst many others that have seen the amount of leakage reduce relatively
rapidly over the past ten years.
Sewer Misuse
The public outreach approach to working with the customers is also very relevant
at the other end of the industry when talking about the impact of fatbergs, FOG
and wetwipes on the sewer environment. This all fits in under the general category
of sewer misuse and customers putting anything but the “three Ps” down the
sewer. To the customer this can be seen as the face of the water industry, it can
be seen as all that the water industry are doing to prevent sewer blockages from
ever happening and kicking in the reactive approach of tankers driving around to
unblock the sewers. In reality it isn’t and there is a huge amount going on to protect
both the customer and the environment. There are targets on the water companies
on Internal Sewer Flooding (houses being flooded with sewage), sewer collapses,
pollution incidents and external sewer flooding with large penalties outweighing a
lot of the benefits that could be realised. The message is quite clear that this is an
area that needs to be addressed, both the customer and the environment has to
be protected.
In AMP 6 (2015-2020) the water industry saw huge amounts of event duration monitors being installed on combined sewer overflows in order to detect events
of when the sewer was overflowing to the environment and seeing if these were genuine or not. This also covered some instances of storm tank overflows to
the environment. In AMP 7 this approach is set to be extended to cover the pass forward flows on a wastewater treatment works and compliance with the flow
to full treatment setting. This will not only protect the environment preventing instances of where storm tanks can be overwhelmed but also the monitoring can
be used for a number of other purposes as in reality a wastewater collection system in dry weather is basically a single effluent point that will be monitored to
see that all flows are passing forward to treatment. Even in wet weather the effluent points from the system will be monitored to check for performance of the
system. As everything is being monitored there is alot that the industry can do with the data including highlighting when the expected amount of flow is not
getting to the treatment works. This is ultimately very useful to detect when there is an obstruction in the sewer that is affecting the typical behaviour of the
wastewater treatment works and in reality is an unintended tool in tracking sewer misuse that can inform operations where the issues within the wastewater
collection network are.
Couple all of the innovation on the wastewater network with the innovations that happening at wastewater treatment centres to reduce both the environmental
impact and the cost of wastewater treatment the Digital Transformation has the potential to help the customer, the water company and the wider environment.
The Digital Transformation of the Water Industry is something that will, over the next decade and more, change the way that the industry operates in the impact
that it has on the environment, the cost & efficiency of operation and most importantly in the service that it provides to the customer.
Conclusions
There is a lot of talk about Digital Transformation and its benefits to the water industry. With an understanding of the data and the monitoring potential there is
a huge amount that can be done for the water company, the environment and the people who are at the centre of the water industry as a whole, the customer.
There is some concern within the industry that the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry is using technology for the sake of using technology when in
reality it should in fact be a blend of yes, technology, but also people and processes. In this way by using the tools that the industry has, i.e. data there is a
number of different ways that it can be used to give valuable insight into the state of the industry and how the customer can be best supported.
Figure 2: An overflow at a sewage treatment works complete with storm overflow
monitoring
Page 17

Article:
Combining CFD And Physical
Modelling To Evaluate Water
Treatment Plant Performance
Hydraulic modelling has no doubt benefited greatly from computational fluid dynamics (CFD), but physical modelling retains importance and even outperforms
CFD in certain aspects. So which method should be relied upon? The answer is both.
Physical Models: The Gold Standard
For years, physical hydraulic modelling of water treatment flow system components was the gold standard for assuring expected performance after installation.
The design process for flow splitters, contact tanks, settling tanks, reactors, etc. all benefited from performing scale modelling to study flow distribution, velocity
distribution, sediment behavior, and mixing dynamics. These models are not only scientifically useful, but provide a strikingly visual tool that allows engineers
to assess their design. Oftentimes, the flow field can be rapidly altered by the insertion of baffles and head loss devices to the model to see, in real time, their
impact on the system performance.
The science behind physical hydraulic modelling requires engineering judgment to be used in the modelling process. Consequently, there are inherent advantages
and disadvantages associated with this approach. Advantages include:
• generally accurate reproduction of model-to-prototype performance;
• geometric and operational modifications to the model can be quickly implemented and evaluated; and
• the physical model can be very useful in guiding the civil construction process by providing a tactile representation of the final product.
On the flip side, not all physical processes can be scaled simultaneously in a physical model, and they generally require large spaces and skilled craftsmen to
construct accurately. Further, laboratory size limitations can be the deciding factor in how large a model can be built; upstream and downstream boundaries
are limited by available space.
CFD: The New Kid On The Block (Relatively Speaking)
Recentandcontinuingadvancesinnumericmodelling—notablythree-dimensionalCFD—havereducedtheneedforphysicalmodellingincertaincircumstances.
In civil engineering, however, there still remain several classes of complex flow problems that cannot be accurately simulated using CFD alone. In particular,
the water treatment industry relies on physical models to simulate the behaviour of grit in some complex flow processes, model the operation of pump intake
structures, simulate the fate of floatables, and study the complexities of some intricate mixing processes — areas that pose challenges for CFD models. Continuing
advancements are enabling large eddy simulations (LES) and direct numerical simulation (DNS) to be more applicable to real-world problems, enhancing the
ability of these numeric models to inform the design process.
More often than not, engineers are discovering that a combination of physical modelling and CFD can be very beneficial during the design process and provide
needed assurance that the prototype treatment system components operate as intended over the desired range of operating conditions.
Better Together...
Over the past several decades, a symbiotic relationship has developed between numeric and physical modelling in the water treatment industry, and it continues
to evolve. Specifically, the two approaches are more often used in tandem to model complex flow processes. The combined approach provides designers and
stakeholders the most complete picture of the flow problem of interest by drawing on the strengths of each modelling technique. Further, it is not uncommon
Figure 1: Headworks plan and elevation
Page 18

for numeric modelling to be used to help set the boundary conditions for the physical modelling domain and reduce the overall footprint (and ultimately, the
cost) of the physical model.
As an example, consider the design and evaluation of a water
treatmentplantpumpingstationheadworksusingacombination
of both a CFD model and a physical model. The subject station
had a nominal flow of 330 MGD, which was desired to be
increased to 628 MGD following a plant upgrade.
The existing headworks structure consisted of two interceptor
sewer lines (North and South) which fed two 14-foot-wide inflow
channels. The inflow channels conveyed sewage into the North
and South forebays, each of which expanded from 14 feet to 49
feet wide. Flow from the forebays then passed through three or
four of the six parallel grit-collection channels, depending upon
total flow volume. The grit channels were operated at various
combinations, depending on plant maintenance. Flow from
the grit channels was discharged into the effluent channel and
the diversion chamber, and finally pumped out through either
the influent pump station, wet weather pump station, or some
combination of both.
The objective of the study was to: 1) evaluate the flow patterns
in the present configuration of the forebay area that may
contribute to grit deposition; 2) examine the flow distribution
among the operating grit channels for the existing design, and to
identify flow patterns that may contribute to any unequal flow
distribution among the grit channels; and 3) derive and evaluate
design modifications that would significantly reduce grit
deposition and improve flow distribution among the channels.
Initially, CFD was used to provide a comparative evaluation of flow patterns and resulting likely grit deposition patterns in the forebays for the existing and two
modified forebay designs. The best design was one that reduced the size of the forebays and eliminated areas of low velocity and recirculation. To achieve these
goals, “islands” were placed within the existing forebays (to reduce the size of the forebays) and located in such a way as to eliminate areas of low velocity.
The final concept, as identified by CFD modelling, is referred to as the “Modified Alternative B Design” and was recommended for further testing with a scaled
physical model.
A physical hydraulic model of the existing
headworks facility was built to a geometric scale
of 1:9. The physical model simulated the entire
headworks structure from inlet interceptors to
the diversion chamber. Flow distribution data
collected on the model indicated that the flow
distribution among operating grit channels
was more even than originally anticipated and
considered acceptable. The uneven grit loading
between the North and South forebays was
dictated by the skewed flow patterns at the
entrance to the forebays. Also, the forebays in
the existing facility configuration were too wide,
resulting in low velocities and significant flow
separations and recirculating flows, allowing
the grit to deposit within the forebay region.
Modifications to reduce grit deposition within
the forebay region were developed and testing
was conducted to confirm the performance.
Through a combined CFD/physical modelling
approach, a modified design was developed and
tested. The modifications included: 1) islands to
fillinportionsofforebaytoformnarrowchannels
to increase velocities; 2) changes to the control
structures at the end of grit channels; and 3)
introduction of underflow/ overflow baffles in
the forebay channels. With these modifications,
significant reductions in grit deposition were
obtained. Further flushing of grit deposited
between the upstream grit channel gates and
the bar screens is possible by closing the gates
halfway through.
Figure 2: CFD Simulation results
Figure 4: Physical model overview and potential modifications
Page 19

About the Author
Stuart Cain, PhD, is the president of Alden Research Laboratory. He joined the company in 1996 to establish the Numeric Modelling Group
and has over 25 years of experience in CFD modelling of complex water flow processes, including chemically reacting flows and particulate
transport. As part of his technical responsibilities at Alden, he oversees projects involving both physical and CFD modelling of hydraulic
processes in water treatment, distribution, and storage systems.
The Future …
As computational technology advances, numeric modelling will continue to play a greater role in supporting the design process. However, as long as there are
physical processes that cannot be accurately modelled using numeric techniques, physical modelling will have its place at the table. Knowing when to use either
modelling technique individually, or when to combine the tools, is critical in both accurate prediction of prototype performance as well as meeting project
schedule and minimizing modelling costs.
In general, it is advantageous to consult experts in the field of modelling who have knowledge of both CFD and physical modelling prior to deciding which
technique, or combination of techniques, to use in evaluating the performance of the components included in the design process. A well-devised hybrid
modelling approach to evaluating a water treatment system’s component hydraulics can reliably inform the design process, ensure prototype performance, and
minimize schedule delays and project costs.
Modernizing Monitoring And Manual Data Entry For Water And
Wastewater
Advancements in security and technology help bring confidence — and a multitude of benefits — to remote, cloud-based utility monitoring. The water industry
has been restricted in its ability to modernize. But as we’ve seen in so many other mission-critical industries, new technologies can and are changing this for
the better when they’re incorporated on a wide scale into everyday operations. The creation of the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), through cloud-based
technologies, has given remote access and real-time insights into an industry where a number of tight regulations and premiums have made utilities question
whether significant modernization can be made while achieving compliance. This process is complex, and there is no single solution that can fix that, but the
addition of cloud-based platforms that offer remote visibility and real-time manual data entry can simplify and streamline a portion of the process that has
been time-consuming and prone to errors. While many utilities question the risk of incorporating cloud-based monitoring and manual data entry platforms, the
results have shown that not using them could actually put you at greater risk for quality and operational issues.
Part of the mission-critical nature of water utilities is ensuring water quality, mitigating issues as soon as possible, and proving due diligence to show that the
utility has taken the necessary action to preserve quality for the consumer. A portion of the monitoring process, limited solely to the control room in a water
treatment plant, can be automated, but just because it’s automated doesn’t mean it’s the most effective.
Take, for example, the use of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). SCADA is the lifeblood of all automated water operations, acting as an information
gateway with all data being sent through and pulled down from these systems. Millions of data points are sent through these systems daily, pulling from sensors
that monitor water temperature, turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and more. SCADA is great in a control room within a treatment plant where you have direct and
constant access to the system, but to maintain constant visibility outside of these areas, a person must be logged into the control network via a virtual private
network (VPN).
Issues can occur at any time, so having constant access is a must to stay in compliance. This is why remote visibility is so valuable and why more cloud-based
monitoring technologies are now offering ways to gain visibility to select information without going through SCADA systems. Cloud-based monitoring platforms
now offer what historically only a VPN could provide — secure access to critical data. Without it, the team won’t know what or where issues are coming from.
Because it works around the SCADA system, cloud-based monitoring platforms can be customized to monitor, analyze, and organize the data so that it gives
clear directives to team members on what issues may exist and what they need to take care of. Quick identification and preventative action can be prioritized
and taken before issues escalate to a point where they need to be reported.
This remote access to the data extends its benefits beyond the water treatment plant into efforts for manual data entry and intelligent alarming. Manual chemical
testing and reporting remain a part of the compliance process, and the process of testing multiple remote sites — with limited or no internet connectivity — and
reporting this data manually are inefficient but necessary evils.
Cloud technology is transforming the manual data entry process, eliminating unnecessary steps that can delay access to data. The first area of transformation is
in the devices and tools that can be used. In place of paper reports, phones and tablets can now be used to record all chemical level tests. Even without internet
connectivity, data can be stored until there is a connection to send information through to the system. This is useful for many reasons, the first being minimized
human error when copying reports, the second being the amount of time saved not duplicating data, and the third being the ability to immediately receive alert
notifications when issues occur without waiting for further analysis.
The second area of transformation is the ability to provide intelligent alerts that flag complex conditions and compliance issues. In some cases, these are typos
that can be easily resolved, but for others it could indicate that certain chemicals are too high or low. These alerts can now be sent immediately and directly to
the people or team that needs to resolve it, helping them prioritize and focus on what the issue is and where it exists. Remote visibility through these platforms
comes with a bonus benefit — easy and fast visibility for government agencies. Allowing government agencies direct access to the necessary information,
without any additional effort, provides critical information to everyone who requires it — on water quality, drought conditions, and environmental concerns.
The water industry has started to make use of these IoT cloud-based approaches without compromising security or changing its standard operating procedures.
Transforming these procedures to advanced remote visibility, integrated data entry, and intelligent notifications to meet compliance and regulatory requirements
is driving higher levels of both operational performance and quality assurance. The adoption of IoT is now transforming your work with the tools you use every
day. The impact is higher quality, operational efficiency, and, most importantly, the health and safety of everyone.
Page 20

Water, Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring Conference & Exhibition
11th
- 12th
November 2020 - Telford International Exhibition Centre, Telford, United Kingdom
The biennial WWEM conference & exhibition is the premium instrumentation & monitoring conference in the UK Calendar and is an
event that WIPAC gets heavily involved in. This year there will be the WIPAC Flow Forum, a joint Digital Transformation Conference
with the SWAN Forum as well as a the Instrumentation Apprentice Competition and a new and improved Learning & Development
Zone with some of the UK’s leading professional institutes including CIWEM, the Institute of Measurement & Control, the Future
Water Association and British Water.
International Water Association Digital Water Summit
30th
November - 3rd
December 2020 -Euskalduna Conference Centre, Bilbao, Spain
In 2020, the first edition of the IWA Digital Water Summit will take place under the tag-line “Join the transformation journey”
designed to be the reference in digitalisation for the global water sector. The Summit has a focus on business and industry, while
technology providers and water utilities will be some of the key participants that will discuss and shape the agenda of the Summit.
The programme includes plenary sessions, interactive discussions, side events, exhibition, technical visits, and social events
SWAN Forum Conference
22nd
- 23rd
July 2020 - Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow,United Kingdom
The SWAN 10th Annual Conference taking place 22-23 July 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland! This year’s theme, “Moving Beyond Data
to Value Creation” will showcase smart water/wastewater solutions that demonstrate societal, environmental, and financial value
benefits for utilities, customers, and other key stakeholders. The Conference will feature over 30 leading, global utility speakers and
diverse industry leaders. There will also be a Digital Twin pre-conference workshop on 21st July 2020
Sensor for Water Interest Group Workshops
1st
April - Leakage - Interactive Webinar
20th
May - Migration to Smarter Communications - Interactive Webinar
10th
June - Odour Measurement & Control - Interactive Webinar
The Sensors for Water Interest Group has moved their workshops for the foreseeable future online. The next workshop on 1st April
is free for SWIG Members to try out the concept.
Future of Utilities Summit
Dates to be confirmed - Bishopsgate, London, United Kingdom
Future of Utilities Summit brings top-level energy and water executives together to transform business models and adapt to the
disruption in the market. Learn from board-level executives from EDF Energy, Thames Water and SP Energy Networks, and join
senior representatives from every important industry player to exchange ideas, raise your profile, unlock solutions and accelerate
industry change.
Page 21
Conferences, Events,
Seminars & Studies
Conferences, Seminars & Events
2020 Conference Calendar
Due to the current international crisis there has been a large amount of disruption in the conference calendar. A lot of workshops have
moved online at least in the interim and a lot of organisations are using alternative means of getting the knowledge out there such as
webinars popping up at short notice. Do check your regular channels about information and events that are going on. Also do check on
the dates provided here as they are the best at the time of publishing but as normal things are subject to change.

WIPAC Monthly March 2020

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WIPAC Monthly March 2020