Addressing the Leakage Imperative: Black & Veatch Responds With New Hire to Lead Digital Transformation of Leakage Management Services
Nov 08, 2019
Water companies in England and Wales have to deliver, on average, a 17 per cent cut in leakage by 2025. Current levels of leakage, 3.16 billion litres per day in 2018/19, are deemed unacceptable by Ofwat. Black & Veatch has created a new role: Leakage Services Manager, and appointed Stuart White, to help water companies meet the regulator’s expectations.
“For the companies meeting current leakage targets, a 15 per cent reduction by 2025 still represents a challenge; for those struggling with current targets, Ofwat’s new leakage figures will be daunting,” according to Mark Malcolm, Black & Veatch Europe’s director of delivery. “Across the board, success will require new approaches – driven by digital transformation; this is White’s forte,” he added.
White joins Black & Veatch from Severn Trent Water where he has served as the utility’s Transformation Leakage Project Manager, responsible for implementing a portfolio of efficiency initiatives using enhanced monitoring, analytics and prioritised-decision making tools. Prior to Severn Trent, White served with a number of technology companies developing monitoring, analytics and decision-making tools - and software as a service offerings - for water companies. He will be part of Black & Veatch’s newly formed Smart Maintenance team, based in the company’s Chester office.
“Leakage risks becoming a stick with which to beat our industry. To foster long-term sustainability and confidence it is increasingly important to be equipped to understand, then optimise, both current performance and future potential of water networks. New strategies underpinned by digital technologies will help us make the necessary strides,” said White.
To provide greater resilience and sustainability - in light of increasing demand, aging water distribution pipeline assets, changing patterns of rainfall and population density - previously acceptable levels of leakage are being reviewed.
To help water companies develop ‘healthy,’ resilient water networks, and reduce losses, White will be combining Black & Veatch’s programme management, logistics, delivery and analytics expertise with leading-edge tools such as SERENE – developed with technology partner Inflowmatix – to provide near time network insights through a district metered area (DMA) Health Index assessment.
The interface between clients’ asset monitoring and control networks, and tools like SERENE will be managed using Black & Veatch’s ECO-X digital ecosystem environment. ECO-X facilitates the seamless interaction of common water industry tools, utilities’ enterprise IT systems and Black & Veatch’s own AI-enabled data gathering, analytics and management tools.
Click here to download a photo of Stuart White.
- In February 2019 Black & Veatch teamed-up with EMAGIN to support UK water companies with advanced operational intelligence, allied to hands-on asset management and engineering expertise.
- In March 2019 Black & Veatch launched a Smart Maintenance business to combine established technology-driven maintenance methodologies and smarter instrumentation, control and automation technology.
- In June 2019 Black & Veatch announced a strategic partnership with Inflowmatix to enhance clients’ access to unique analytics, patented technologies and dynamic (near time) pressure sensing devices.
-
ECO-X is Black & Veatch’s digital performance intelligence ecosystem. It facilitates integration of the company’s digital technology products and services – including those below – with clients’ enterprise IT systems and third-party digital tools:
- HARVI, the artificial intelligence provided by Black & Veatch’s strategic partner EMAGIN, provides predictive asset performance and intelligent operational decision support.
- HELIX is Black & Veatch’s digital twin platform which is able to generate real-time visualisations and insight into asset cost, risk and performance across the asset base.
- Serene is our unique digitally enabled water supply network health check, monitoring and optimisation tool.
- Totex Efficiency Diagnostics (TED), supports effective application of a water company’s TOTEX solutions hierarchy.
- TRAC provides single use or dynamic assessment of asset data sets with targeted improvement analysis.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical human infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2018 were US$3.5 billion.
More News and Articles
Apr 24, 2024
News
Sustainable drainage solutions: German Start-up transforms urban water management.
Germany boasts a well-established infrastructure for managing rainwater and wastewater, yet many developing countries lack such systems. Addressing this gap, …
Apr 22, 2024
News
HDD tooling that gets the job done
Horizontal directional drilling is a dynamic process that constantly changes and adapts to suit a range of applications across utilities and infrastructure. Operators looking to get the most from their equipment …
Apr 19, 2024
News
WATCH: Overnight with SAERTEX-LINER H20 in São Paulo
Available through Pipe Core, high-quality liner SAERTEX-LINER H20 performed under pressure in São Paulo, Brazil.
Maintaining aging potable water pipe infrastructure is a constant challenge …
Apr 17, 2024
News
Immersive media provides wastewater experience in Denmark
An immersive media experience (IMX) may not be what most people want when they think about industrial wastewater, but that is exactly what visitors can expect when they visit a new installation …
Apr 15, 2024
News
Spotlight on gender diversity at Pipe Core
Since founding in 2008, Pipe Core’s team has grown across all areas of the business and is now in a position where there are more females than males across the organisation. Research published in Harvard …
Apr 12, 2024
News
New Wave of Startups Scale Innovation to Solve Global Water Challenges
Innovators from Around the World Join Xylem’s 2024 Accelerator Program to Deploy Breakthrough Innovations for Utilities and Industrial Users of Water
A new group of startups …
Apr 08, 2024
News
Integrated sustainable electricity and clean drinking water systems
Altitude Water and New Use Energy Solutions have partnered to create integrated, mobile solar-plus-water generation systems that produce sustainable electricity and clean drinking …
Apr 05, 2024
News
How to Evaluate Hydraulic Fracture Risk in HDD Design
The design of horizontal directional drill (HDD) installations often requires an evaluation of the potential for hydraulic fracture of the soil layers through which an HDD passes. Evaluating …
Apr 02, 2024
News
Historic Project Linking Rome and Vatican City Uses Advanced Technology and Local Knowledge to Keep Water Flowing
Relocation of Major Sewer Infrastructure Enables Construction of Pedestrian Link for 35 Million Visitors to the 2025 Jubilee
Water …
Mar 27, 2024
News
USU Study Looks at Water Main Break Rates in the U.S. and Canada
Report Highlights Correlation Between Material and Diameter
Utah State University (USU) has published new research on water main breaks in the United States and Canada, examining …
Mar 26, 2024
News
Update BE-21: New Material in Course and Modules on Trenchless Pipe Installation
Online training on the topic of pipeline installation in civil engineering: Trenchless technology for underground drainage construction can be a resource-efficient, …
Mar 25, 2024
Article
Bacteria as a new weapon in wastewater treatment
In early November, San Diego based startup Aquacycl officially opened its first European office and test center at the Water Campus in Leeuwarden. The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) …
Contact
Black & Veatch
Malcolm Hallsworth
11401 Lamar Avenue
KS 66211 Overland Park
United States
Phone:
+44 1737 856594