United Utilities is the largest operator of water and wastewater networks in the UK. It supplies 2,000 million litres of water every day via a network of around 40,000 kilometres of water mains, 1,444 kilometres of aqueduct and over 100 water treatment works, serving 2.9 million households and businesses. Problem
Plagued by concerns about water conservation in the wake of climate change, leakage legislation and operation costs, United Utilities had identified problems with their paper-based leak reporting system. It was simply taking too long to report leaks and deploy field engineers to fix the them. eSAY’s Solution eSAY’s solution became the first mobile technology solution to specifically address the issue of water leakage. Initially, a 35 device pilot was carried out with United Utilities cooperation. eSAY’s “PinPoint” enabled workers in the field to file real-time reports of leaks and defects, in a tick box format on their PDA device. United Utilities’ headquarters could then act quickly on the information, which contains a 12-digit grid reference for the site of the leak. This is automatically generated by the software, using GPS technology built into the hand-held. The pilot was a great success and test results showed the system delivered quicker and more accurate reporting of leaks and saved water by reducing leakage run-times. Benefits Time savings were very significant; by allowing engineers to log on and off for work remotely and cutting out the need to deliver paper forms to head office, around five hours a week were saved per engineer. The proven technology was issued to 90 leak detection engineers, including contractors, covering all four United Utilities regions and plans for expansion are underway. United Utilities continues to experience the benefits of “Pinpoint”. Since adopting “Pinpoint”, United Utilities has reduced leak reporting by 2.5 days, saved 100 tonnes CO2, revenues have risen 17 percent to £475 million and underlying operating profit has increased by seven percent to £677m. “We’ve been very impressed with the bespoke nature of the device and the fact that it’s positively impacted our business virtually from day one. RPS Water and eSAY are working together to deliver us with not just results on the ground, but more accountability through real-time data and management reports.” Paul Parr, Leakage Planner |
