Portsmouth Water deploys arboricity™
Portsmouth Water partners with Inflowmatix to deploy arboricity™ at the core of its ‘Digital Twin’ strategy
Inflowmatix has worked collaboratively with Portsmouth Water to provide support throughout the Covid-19 crisis and to strategically develop and trial its new product and service offerings. Providing online, automated analytical tools to monitor critical assets such as pressure reducing valves (PRVs) which feed large pressure managed areas (PMAs) has enabled a substantial improvement in key customer metrics in the first year of the AMP7 period. Both Leakage at 23Ml/d and Interruptions to supply at 2 mins 49 seconds are at their lowest levels in recent history – this being achieved against a backdrop of some extremely challenging supply periods with both Covid and a cold winter.
The Inflowmatix high frequency technology not only captures and localises significant pressure events within a network using leading edge analytics but now enables calibrated, and near-real time maintained hydraulic models as a core element of its arboricity™ ‘service’ based offering. Such models allow higher level automated analytical services to be brought online which are cognisant of the hydraulics of the network and therefore not ignored, increasing confidence in operational decision making and providing actionable insight.
Integrating these models with the Innovyze WS Pro and IW Live core modelling platform has created the heart of a Digital Twin providing live network information at the point of need.
Working collaboratively with Inflowmatix to understand our network in more detail and to mitigate the effects of dynamic pressure variations has proved highly beneficial and has positively impacted our performance in the first year of a very challenging AMP7. We could not have delivered our historically low leakage performance in particular without the timely insight into network performance that working with Inflowmatix gave us. Our strategy to continue to improve this performance relies on harnessing this insight even further and we are doing this by putting a digital twin, using arboricity™, at the core of our operations. We are delighted to be taking this next step of the journey working closely with Inflowmatix
Jim Barker
Head of Water Resources, Leakage and Smart Networks – Portsmouth Water Ltd.
Throughout the Inflowmatix journey, working collaboratively on innovative solutions for our industry has been key. Our arboricity™ offering was conceived from our understanding of customer pains and the value associated with such relief of those pains. Portsmouth Water have collaborated closely in this journey and this announcement is testimony to the innovation of approach, the teams and the technologies.
Mike Williams
CEO, Inflowmatix Ltd.
You can find more details here:
Inflowmatix is delighted to announce their collaboration with Bristol Water for network optimisation across the asset management period 7 (AMP7) Programme. Inflowmatix designs, builds and consults on the implementation of solutions that enable water utilities to monitor, understand and optimise the performance of their networks.
We’re delighted to be working closely with Frank and the team at Bristol Water to help achieve their performance commitments. Via strategic InflowSense™ ‘Edge’ deployments in challenging DMA’s and regular data reviews we continue to identify and localise segments of the network that are affected by enhanced pressure induced stress and recurring transient behaviour. These valuable outcomes are enabling Bristol Water to take the necessary remedial interventions for network calming.
We believe that building on the collaboration with Imperial College London (ICL) and the research work led by Dr. Ivan Stoianov will position Bristol Water as a ‘frontier company’ within the sector
Dr. Mike Williams
CEO Inflowmatix Limited
Using the high frequency (128 S/s) InflowSense™ ‘Edge’devices and InflowSys™ advanced analytics algorithms of Cumulative Pressure Induced Stress (CPIS™) and event source localisation will assist Bristol Water towards delivering a number of key performance commitments such as customer interruptions and leakage.
Additionally, Inflowmatix has enabled direct access from our hydraulic models to 15 minute data through collaborative working with Innovyze. From this, we will be able to move beyond the collection of 15 minute average data in order to fully understand the dynamic behaviour within the network. Using the high frequency InflowSense™ Edge devices along with this collaborative approach is enabling us to apply optimal network monitoring and control.
We believe that working with progressive, solution focused and agile partners such as Inflowmatix really positions us well for meeting the challenges of AMP7 and beyond.
Frank Van Der Kleij
Head of Asset Risk and Planning
SUEZ Group announces the acquisition of Inflowmatix Ltd. This acquisition will enrich the Group’s range of digital solutions with a unique offering to ensure the performance and resilience of water distribution networks. It will reinforce SUEZ’s position as a leading technology provider for water utilities worldwide through its Smart & Environmental Solutions Business Unit.
Founded in 2015 as a spin-out from Imperial College London, Inflowmatix is the leader in the acquisition of high-frequency pressure data and associated edge analytics to support near real-time operational and asset management decisions for water utilities worldwide. The company has deep expertise and R&D capabilities in mathematical optimization, data science and hydraulic engineering applied to complex water supply networks. It offers the InflowSysTM suite, a combination of high frequency pressure monitoring devices and an enhanced data management platform, to enable water utilities to continuously monitor, analyze and optimize the performance of their water distribution networks and critical assets. Inflowmatix also developed arboricityTM, an integrated real-time network modelling and monitoring service to help water operators secure the management of their distribution systems while reducing leakage and disruptive pipeline bursts.
Inflowmatix has a broad and engaged customer base in the UK, France, Italy and Australia/NZ. The SUEZ Group’s channels to market will accelerate growth. Inflowmatix’s offerings complement and are already integrated with key SUEZ offerings such as Calm NetworkTM and AquadvancedTM suite. SUEZ became an Inflowmatix shareholder through a SUEZ Ventures investment in 2019. Parkwalk, the specialist investor in UK university spin-outs, and IP Group plc provided initial seed and follow-on funding. “This deal is an excellent example of how value can be created out of commercialising university IP”, said Alun Williams, Investment Director at Parkwalk. “I am convinced that this partnership with SUEZ will drive continued success”. Kelsey Lynn Skinner, Partner at IP Group, agrees: “This is a world-class innovative team driving change in a key industry, and we welcome this next chapter – to global scale.”
After several years of collaboration, Inflowmatix and SUEZ have been able to offer innovative solutions to our clients thanks to their complementary expertise. This acquisition, announced a few weeks after the creation of a joint venture with Schneider Electric to support the digital transformation of water operators, will allow us to offer a greater range of smart water solutions and to reinforce our position as a leading player in the fast-growing water pressure management market.”
Diane Galbe
Group SEVP – Smart & Environmental Solutions BU and Strategy
Remote Working Means Business As Usual
Inflowmatix recently completed their ISO9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015 re-certification audit ‘on-line’ and achieved zero nonconformities.
Paul Harley, Area Manager at Lloyd’s Register stated: “Inflowmatix had already established a strong commitment to remote working given the geographical diversity of their workforce. As a consequence there has been no impact to business continuity as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic helping them maximise the opportunity to strengthen their engagement with customers during a time where network resilience is vitally important.”
Robin Bell, Inflowmatix COO said: “We are all delighted with the outcome of this most recent, re-certification audit. As a business it is important for us to maintain our customer relationships and we have been pro-actively working closely with partners during the pandemic lock down period. Remote working is a daily part of our agile business model and our continued success over the past few months is testament to our ability to adapt.”
Inflowmatix appoint a new distributor for Australia and New Zealand
Inflowmatix is delighted to announce their new partnership with Detection Services Ltd as sole distributor of the InflowSys™ Edge product range covering both Australia and New Zealand.
As demand for greater network insight, integration and network optimisation continues to increase, so does the need for effective technologies and advanced analytics solutions that provide unique insights into network dynamics. Inflowmatix, through the use of the InflowSys™ analytics platform combined with high frequency InflowSense™ Edge pressure measurement devices enables this journey through a scalable, secure and accurate set of solutions.
The platform provides water utilities with deeper insights to better understand the dynamic behaviour and the performance of their water networks in order to enhance asset life, mitigate supply interruptions and thus provide confidence in a client’s network.
Detection Services, General Manager, Chris Evans said: “This partnership not only increases the Detection Services offering, by adding the Inflowmatix expertise for data and insight driven strategy, it extends the commitment to our customers to deliver them the latest innovative solutions and technologies.”
Robin Bell, COO at Inflowmatix said: “We are excited to be working with Detection Services to introduce the InflowSys™ Edge technology throughout the regions of Australia and New Zealand. The Team at Detection Services have a deep understanding of the effects of dynamic pressure behaviour on critical network assets and their added value approaches combined with the Inflowmatix product range are already helping customers implement proactive solutions.
UK’s largest smart water network pilot could revolutionise service in Yorkshire
Yorkshire Water is starting the largest and most extensive smart water network pilot in the UK, collaborating with 15 companies in the digital water space to further improve the essential water supply service it provides to customers.
The ambitious multi-stakeholder collaboration combines data from its acoustic, flow, pressure and water quality monitors and aims to reduce leakage and burst levels in the pilot area in West Sheffield. Fifteen companies in total will be involved on the collaboration, including: Stantec, BT, Xylem, Itron, ATi, Inflowmatix, HWM, Gutermann, Technolog, Servelec/Primayer, Connexin, Arqiva, MUS and Syrinix.
The scope of the industry-wide collaboration is to test the latest cutting-edge digital water meters, sensors, advanced analytics and telecommunications channels.
Yorkshire Water is hoping that the pilot, which will use data received at near real time from across its network, will revolutionise the way it manages leaks and interruptions to supply in the future and therefore reduce the amount of water taken from the environment.
Yorkshire Water Innovation Programme Manager, Sam Bright said: “Technology has progressed so much over the past few years that we are now able to combine more data streams than ever before and push the boundaries of what is possible using artificial intelligence. It really is an exciting time to be at the forefront of translating these advances into real value for our customers.”
The smart water network pilot will integrate the rich data from multiple new and existing sources and present it in a single visualisation platform. This will provide a virtual model of the physical assets across the network referred to as a digital twin. Through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, clustering data sets and removing false positives, this will inform asset and operational decision making. Analysts in Yorkshire Water will be able to prioritise repairs instantly, enabling leaks to be repaired quicker and reducing water lost. The digital twin will have live hydraulic modelling capability integrated to sensor data in the field which will be used in real-time to assess the impact of an incident or network anomaly and to provide an informed operational decision support tool.
Damian Crawford, Head of Smart Networks and Leakage at Stantec said: “We are very excited about partnering with Yorkshire Water in delivering this innovative pilot and developing the five layers of smart architecture all the way from designing the physical asset layer through to developing data analytics to support the desired business outcomes.”
The 12-month pilot and the outputs will be used as part of the wider Yorkshire Water’s digital strategy to determine future dynamic control and system optimisation capabilities.
Yorkshire Water to deploy 650 InflowSense™ high frequency pressure measurement devices as part of an extended trial of the InflowSys™ Edge platform.
Inflowmatix is delighted to be working collaboratively with Yorkshire Water to help deliver their Ofwat leakage commitments as they transition from AMP6 to AMP7 and look to maintain upper quartile performance.
Inflowmatix has developed InflowSys™ Edge which combines high frequency pressure sensors with local analytics capability alongside enhanced data platforms. This system provides water utilities with the insights to better understand the behaviour and the performance of their water distribution networks. As a consequence, utilities can improve their actions on asset management and mitigate the likelihood of failure of critical parts of the network by optimising the overall pressure in their network.
Deployment of 650 InflowSense™ high frequency pressure measurement devices will be rolled out as part of Yorkshire Water’s Intervention Enabling Networks (IEN) project across a significant number of DMA’s (District Metered Areas). The InflowSys™ Edge technology which uses high accuracy time stamped pressure data from the InflowSense™ device not only delivers burst/leak localisation but is critical to accelerate and understand the root cause of high frequency dynamic pressure variations (including but not limited to, transients) in order to fundamentally “calm” the network behaviour.
Yorkshire Water Innovation Programme Manager, Sam Bright, said: “Reducing leakage is a key priority for us at Yorkshire Water and we are excited by the potential of the InflowSense™ devices and the benefits they will bring to the network and our customers.”
Robin Bell, COO at Inflowmatix said: “From the first interactions with Yorkshire Water we could see there was a close match between their aspirations and our unique capabilities. We’ve enjoyed the first stage of our collaboration and look forward to close working with Sam and the team at Yorkshire Water in achieving their challenging objectives for AMP7 and beyond.”
Press Release – October 2019
SUEZ takes a minority share in Inflowmatix, further enhancing its range of digital solutions for the performance and resilience of water networks
SUEZ Ventures, the SUEZ Corporate Venture Capital fund, is supporting Inflowmatix’s growth through a 2.8M£ investment, joining existing shareholders IP Group Plc, Parkwalk Advisors and the founders.
Founded in 2015 as a spin out from Imperial College London, Inflowmatix is the technology leader in high frequency pressure data, analytics, management and related services for water utilities worldwide. The InflowSysTM suite1 allows network operators to continuously monitor, diagnose and manage hydraulic instabilities, leading to a reduction of bursts, leakage, operating costs and enabling the prioritisation of network maintenance operations. Inflowmatix has been successfully commercialising InflowSysTM since 2017 to more than 40 customers globally.
IMPROVING THE RESILIENCE OF WATER INFRASTRUCTURES: A CONCERN FOR MUNICIPALITIES WORLDWIDE
The urgent need for the preservation of the water resource globally, the ageing of water networks and the increasing financial constraints, prompt municipalities worldwide to always improve the operational efficiency of their water infrastructures. Networks must be efficient and resilient, replaced only as and when necessary, and managed in order to guarantee the operational and economic performance of the services delivered to the citizens.
Inflowmatix has developed InflowSys™, a combination of high frequency pressure sensors and enhanced data platforms, for water utilities to provide them with the insights to better understand the behaviour and the performance of their water distribution networks. As a consequence, utilities can improve their actions on asset management and mitigate the likelihood of failure of critical parts of the network by optimising the overall pressure in their network.
SUEZ ACCELERATES THE DEPLOYMENT OF DIGITAL SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE NETWORKS PERFORMANCE
The Inflowmatix and SUEZ teams have been working together for months in several countries to support their clients. “The uniqueness of the Inflowmatix solutions combined with SUEZ water management expertise has already enabled us to provide a disruptive range of digital solutions to meet our clients’ targets for network performance and asset management” declared Jean-Marc Boursier, COO of SUEZ. He added that “this partnership will be the cornerstone of the Calm NetworksTM new offering as part of our newly released performance plan aiming at reducing burst and related opex by 30m€ by 2023.” SUEZ manages a network of 300,000 km of drinkable water pipes long all around the world.
“Inflowmatix is excited to receive this endorsement by SUEZ of the innovative solutions we have brought to the market. We are confident that with the continued joint efforts of our two teams, the Calm Networks™ offering will be a major contributor in saving water, preserving vital assets and reducing TOTEX for water utilities” said Dr. Mike Williams, CEO of Inflowmatix.
Inflowmatix Limited is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Collins as Chairman to further strengthen the growing management team.
Peter holds a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics from Imperial College London, a BE (Mech) from University College Dublin, and an MBA from INSEAD. He has held board-level technical and operational roles in public and private companies with $100m+ revenues.
As CEO he led Permasense, a developer and manufacturer of sensor systems for oil and gas facility integrity management, from the laboratory at Imperial College London to the #1 market position in over 30 countries worldwide, including the US, China, Germany and Korea. Permasense is now part of Emerson. He was Operations Director at Sondex, who specialise in the engineering and manufacture of sensor and drilling systems for oilfield services, now part of GE. He was earlier Technical Director at PII, the Oil & Gas pipeline inspection provider, which is similarly now part of GE.
Dr Mike Williams, CEO at Inflowmatix states “Peter brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience, his contribution to the management team will provide another level of commercial acumen to take the company to the next phase of evolution. There are exciting times ahead and we are all looking forward to working with Peter to grow the business.”
Inflowmatix were delighted to present the NOST (Network Optimisation Support Technician) team at Severn Trent Water with a cake to celebrate the achievement of over 1,000 deployments of InflowSense™ high frequency pressure monitoring devices which form a primary infeed into the InflowSys™ analytics platform.
Following the event, Tom Swain, Network Optimisation Lead for Nottingham and Derbyshire said: “Over the past months, we have forged a great relationship with Inflowmatix, using the InflowSense™ device across our region to identify more pressure surges than ever before, and in incredible detail. This data & visibility has been vital in allowing us to better understand our asset base, and to create a calm and stable network. We are really looking forward to working with Inflowmatix to continue development in this area, and help make a step change in pressure surge and monitoring across the water industry.”
Robin Bell, COO at Inflowmatix said: “Working with the NOST team has been a great experience for us. This close collaboration has given Inflowmatix tremendous insights into the critical part our InflowSys™ solution can play in enabling water network operators to obtain actionable insights that directly contribute to achieving critical objectives inherent in their PR19 submissions.”