Water Industry Awards - Alliancing And Partnership Initiative Of The Year Submission

Brief outline of the initiative, how it originated and its objectives

As an innovation-driven leak detection specialist, Ovarro’s research and development team works closely with utilities to develop best-in-class technologies. The Sheffield-based global company partnered with Anglian Water to develop a revolutionary remote leak detection device, Enigma3hyQ and cloud-based data platform, PrimeWeb.

In collaborating, the teams wanted to develop technology to increase efficiency - when compared with traditional acoustic detection - save time, free-up staff and improve leak detection on plastic pipes.

The resulting Enigma3hyQ system has been called a game changer by Anglian Water’s smart water strategy manager Andy Smith, who said it would “revolutionise what we do in terms of leakage”, adding: “We very much created the technology together. We didn’t want to just accept what was on offer, we wanted to collaborate to drive for the best solution for the challenge we faced.”

The project’s success shows how much can be achieved when suppliers work in partnership with utilities, place high value on feedback and take their ideas forward to develop new solutions. Leakage remains one of the biggest concerns for the water industry and Ofwat is expecting companies to adopt new techniques to tackle it in AMP7.