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Implementing Smart Metering: A Case Study of Anglian Water and Microsoft Azure
Technology Category
- Sensors - Level Sensors
- Sensors - Utility Meters
Applicable Industries
- Equipment & Machinery
Use Cases
- Intelligent Urban Water Supply Management
- Leakage & Flood Monitoring
The Challenge
Anglian Water, a company that supplies water and water recycling services to over six million customers across East Anglia and Hartlepool, was committed to efficiently managing and conserving water supplies. As part of its 'love every drop' commitment, the company aimed to raise customer awareness about the preciousness of water. A key part of their strategy was to implement a smart metering scheme across the entire region by 2030. However, the company faced the challenge of handling and securing the massive amount of customer data that would be generated. They needed a technology solution that could not only protect and secure customer data but also offer the compute and analytics capabilities to handle the huge quantity of data involved.
About The Customer
Anglian Water is a large organization based in the United Kingdom, serving more than six million customers across East Anglia and Hartlepool. The company provides water and water recycling services. As part of its commitment to water conservation, the company has a 'love every drop' initiative, which aims to manage water supplies efficiently and raise customer awareness about the value of water. A key part of this initiative is the implementation of a smart metering scheme across the entire region by 2030. The company is committed to using technology to protect and secure customer data, as well as to handle the large amount of data involved in their operations.
The Solution
Anglian Water turned to Microsoft Azure to address their challenges. They used tools like Microsoft Azure Data Lake and Azure Data Factory pipelines to create a more robust system. The smart metering trial, which has been underway since 2018, demonstrated early success, with an eleven percent reduction in demands across households. This was made possible by the ability to identify customer-side leaks and by customers adapting their own behaviours as they began to better understand their water usage. In addition to customer-side smart metering, Anglian Water also used the data lake for monitoring and analysis of its network. They used AI tools in Microsoft Azure to understand the behaviour of reservoirs under different conditions, including time of day, seasonality, and meteorological conditions.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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