Key project stats
Provided
efficiencies in program delivery for mains condition, age of mains and burst frequency, as well as reducing the risk of water quality and customer supply complaints.
Developed
a flexible package of outputs, analysing whole corporate data sets to deliver efficient, cost effective and innovative solutions.
Secured
our delivery of the following AMP renewal program for the remainder of the client distribution network, following success of our project outputs.
The challenge
Water companies are committed to delivering performance against Ofwat Operational Delivery Incentive (ODI), which includes reporting the number of bursts per thousand kilometres of total length of main to maintain customer satisfaction and support.
The client had previously been unable to assess the full range of criteria in order to identify and measure the poorest performing mains, due to the time and resource requirements caused by a manual approach. WRc data analysis and management capability meant that we were ideally suited to help improve this ODI measure for the client.
The solution
The goal was to identify the worst performing 50 km of mains within a region of the network. Following training and assistance in using WANDa software, works not already addressed were analysed to identify the poorest performing mains in terms of defined burst criteria, and measurement criteria was evaluated to define remaining replacements. WANDa enabled WRc to assess these criteria much more quickly and efficiently than previous methods.
The conclusions were presented via tabular data, shapefiles and GIS plots of each length of main to be promoted for capital works. This stage was achieved in half of the time and at half the cost level it would have taken the mains renewal team to do through business as usual methods without the benefit of WANDa.
One of the additional benefits was the ability to analyse the whole of the client distribution network collectively for the first time rather than picking individual control groups. This resulted in an outcome which was ‘best for the water company programmes’ rather than an even spread per region. WANDa was able to separate any superfluous information leaving only the data required to make informed decisions.
The outputs from the project were so successful that our team were immediately requested to produce the AMP 7-year mains renewal program for the worst preforming 350 km of mains within the remainder of the client distribution network. Once again this was achieved with substantial savings to the client by delivering the work in less time with less resources.
Client: Severn Trent Water
Globally one of the largest privately owned water companies, Severn Trent delivers clean water to 8 million customers via 534 service reservoirs, 20 treatment works and 45,674km of water mains.
