Syrinix Shortlisted For Water Industry Achievement Awards: 'Most Innovative New Technology Of The Year'

Syrinix has been shortlisted for the Water Industry Achievement Awards (WIAA) in partnership with Thames Water. The companies are championing Syrinix’s TrunkMinder system in the category of Most Innovative New Technology of the Year.

The WIAA, organised by WET News and Water & Wastewater Treatment, were founded in 2005 to celebrate and reward outstanding innovation in the UK water industry -- and 2013 has seen more than double the entries for 2012, as a result of a wave of new innovation in the water industry, driven by new technologies, such as Syrinix’s TrunkMinder, and a new recognition of the part these technologies can play in utility management.

Syrinix’s TrunkMinder technology is at the forefront of this innovation movement. The technology was developed when Thames Water approached the University of East Anglia to design a system for detecting leaks in trunk mains before they deteriorate into catastrophic bursts. The project eventually grew into a company, Syrinix, and TrunkMinder devices have been commercially deployed in a major rollout by Thames Water and the Crossrail project in London and the SE of England.

TrunkMinder’s major innovation is an automated, continuous and intelligent 24-7, 365 days per year data capture system, using web-based graphical user interfaces to provide immediate information, and automated burst and leak alerts, without the delays involved in physical surveys and “walking the line”. Additionally, the TrunkMinder system has a significantly higher level of sensitivity than existing pressure/flow technologies, which, although effective on smaller pipes, are rendered insensitive by the volumes and turbulent conditions within larger diameter (225mm/9”+) pipelines.

TrunkMinder achieves sensitive readings on these pipes by focusing on vibro-acoustic data aggregation, to which bespoke algorithms and sophisticated models are then applied, allowing anomalies to be flagged up to the user. As one of the only physical systems to use a big-data backend model, TrunkMinder’s proven capabilities in a commercial environment positions Syrinix as a market leader in utility management innovation, and a strong contender in its WIAA category of Most Innovative New Technology of The Year. The data and intelligence provided by the technology will be a major contributor to water companies drive towards smart network management and operation.

The WIAA awards judging panel will select a winner in each of the 14 categories, as well as an outright winner of the entire awards. The winners will be kept secret until the awards ceremony takes place, at a gala dinner on Thursday March 21, 2013, at The Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

About Syrinix
Syrinix is a British company that is a leader in developing smart pipeline monitoring technology.  Its products are building a growing reputation among water companies, infrastructure managers, major water-consuming businesses and industry regulators for their ability to improve the management of water pipelines.

Syrinix, based at the Hethel engineering centre in Norwich, was spun out from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 2004. The company’s focus is developing world-leading water infrastructure monitoring technology. Investors in Syrinix include Iceni Seedcorn Fund, Carbon Connections, UEA, the London Business Angels EIS Fund and the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.  In 2011 the company won the clean tech investment of the year award from the British Business Angels Association, the government-backed trade association which promotes and supports early stage industries and investment in the UK. The award recognises innovative and successful new businesses in the environmental sector. For more information, visit www.syrinix.com.

By monitoring with Syrinix:

• pipe networks can be managed better with asset life extended
• water losses, and the resulting environmental damage, can be substantially reduced
• data critical to compliance and regulatory submissions can be gathered in real time
• cost increases from emergency responses and rising insurance premia can be cut
• preventative, and often unnecessary, pipeline maintenance and repair costs can be reduced