BT has secured a deal with Northumbrian Water to deliver an IoT pilot project in the North East of England.
The UK operator is providing the low power network and data to enable the water company to better understand how its water network is performing.
The Smart Water project, which will be deployed over three areas of the City of Sunderland, aims to provide Northumbrian Water with a range of insights to help it address issues such as water leakage, as well as enhancing water quality. Around 150 sensors will be installed across the network to capture data on a range of factors, including water flow, pressure and quality.
LoRaWAN connectivity
The data collected by the sensors will be connected to the BT’s LoRaWAN (Low Power, Long Range, Wide Area Network), which is designed to support long-life, battery-powered IoT devices over a large distance.
BT’s IoT platform will be used to capture, process and visualise the data received from the sensors. The platform will help to provide Northumbrian Water with the data insights it needs to understand how the water network is functioning so that it can take proactive steps to reduce water leakage, speed up operational processes and lower its total running and maintenance costs.
Chris Sims, Managing Director, Strategy, Marketing and Digital at BT, said, “We are really excited to be deploying our IoT platform and LoRaWAN to provide the connectivity and insight needed to deliver a truly integrated Smart Water network for Northumbrian Water.
“It’s a great example of how the Internet of Things can be used to deliver a better experience to customers. And with 5G on the horizon, which will provide benefits such as lower latency, higher speeds and greater reliability, we’re thrilled to work with one of the most innovative water companies in the UK to fully realise the transformational benefits of IoT.”
Smart Water network of the future
Nigel Watson, Group Information Services Director for Northumbrian Water, said, “[This project] represents a real step forwards towards the Smart Water network of the future transforming the level of insight we have into our network’s operations and driving improvements for customers.
“The idea first came out of our Innovation Festival and the innovative technology that BT uses made them a great choice of partner for developing and delivering our Smart Water pilot project. We’re keen to understand whether it can be rolled out across our entire North East network to deliver benefits for all of our customers.”