As a country famous for its wet weather, the UK may seem an unlikely victim of an urgent water crisis. But while people pour their cups of tea or turn on their bathroom taps, many consumers remain unaware that the country’s water supply is struggling to keep up with demand.
In recent years, the UK has been caught off guard by unexpected patterns of extreme “hydrological volatility”. Environmental challenges have exposed our unpreparedness and the need for proactive, innovative change. Traditional water storage and processing methods are no longer sufficient.
What’s more, we must also deal with the increasing levels of pollution and sewage spills that reduce the amount of clean, usable water in our infrastructure. Record high levels of sewage spills have led to a surge in waterway pollution, affecting both wildlife and human health. While 60% of households already have a smart water meter, which at least encourages conservation, there is even more we can do to address this escalating issue.
So, with scientists forecasting a summer of water shortages, extreme droughts, and hosepipe bans, we need to find more technologically driven tools to meet the wastewater and water scarcity challenges that the UK is currently facing. Otherwise we risk suffering devastating disruptions to public supply, affecting millions of households nationwide.
Proposed by UK Water earlier this year, a £96 billion investment in our water and sewage infrastructure would be a welcome step in the right direction. If approved, it could mark a turning point in the country’s fight against water scarcity. But we must not stop looking for opportunities to improve our situation in the meantime.
Cutting-edge, data-driven sewer management technology, for instance, can generate highly accurate predictions to detect and therefore help mitigate blockages. These predictive tools, such as Metasphere’s ART technology, use IoT sensor devices to collect data and feed it into a powerful analytics platform. Thus they empower wastewater utilities to prevent spills and reduce pollution, protecting the natural environment and alleviating pressure on our precious clean water supplies.
Another area worth exploring is Demand-Driven Distribution (DDD) technology. Our research suggests that this technology can result in energy savings of up to 30% as well as a significant reduction in water loss.
This works thanks to a sensor-equipped controller, which can adapt pump performance automatically to guarantee optimal pressure at the most critical points. When demand for water is low, the controller lowers the discharge pressure of the pump, saving energy and reducing the chances of leakage. This also limits wear and tear on the pipes.
Smart yet relatively easy-to-implement solutions such as those described above will be crucial for driving improvements in energy efficiency and reductions in wastewater levels. Unlocking the benefits of these technologies would deliver significant returns on the investment required to achieve this.
As well as identifying where we can scale up infrastructure improvements that are already advantageous to parts of the UK, we can benefit from thinking globally. Learning from successful models implemented in other countries, we can adapt these intelligent, technologically advanced solutions to meet our demands here at home.
In Finland, for instance, energy efficient sewage pumps eliminate wastewater clogging and subsequent water pollution. These pumps are playing a key role in the efforts of Turku, the country’s oldest city, to become one of the world’s first carbon neutral cities by 2029. In the past two years, the city has increased its water efficiency and had zero incidents of sewage clogging thanks to Grundfos’ wastewater pumps. What could city authorities in the UK gain from implementing smart solutions such as this?
This is the kind of question that the industry should be asking both ourselves and our public sector partners. We should be proactive, inquisitive, and optimistic. Despite the threat of water scarcity issues in the UK this summer, there is reason to believe the country can overcome these challenges.
By investing in innovative and future-proof technology, the UK can unlock long-term solutions to its water shortage problems. Harnessing these tools in a culture of innovation will help ensure a sustainable future for the country when it comes to water resources.
