A smarter way to protect the environment

Wastewater pipes…

Not the kind of thing the average person tends to think about every day, and hardly a modern-day Roman Empire.

However, scratch beneath the surface of the North East, and there are 18,600 miles of sewage pipes under your feet.

For context, that is the distance from Newcastle to Papua New Guinea and back, with some more to spare. It would be easy to conjure up thoughts of spider-filled tunnels and gigantic old clay pipes filled with all sorts of unmentionables – including a dilute mix of sewage, rainwater, runoff from roads and fields, and water from sinks, showers and appliances.

However, in our region, that isn’t necessarily the case.

Northumbrian Water Group has supercharged its network into the 21st century, using a combination of highly advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence and digital twins.

As part of its continued commitment to reducing storm overflow spills across the region, it is pioneering an innovative technology known as smart sewers. Launched in July 2024, the ground-breaking project uses artificial intelligence and sensors to help move wastewater around miles of pipes in real-time to balance the network – making them smart.

Here in the UK, storm overflows are used by all water companies during times of heavy rainfall to prevent sewer flooding in customers’ homes.

They act as a relief valve on the wastewater network, and are used with Environment Agency consent.

The trials, which have initially taken place in the Tyneside area, have shown it is possible to use technology to predict where in the region it is going to rain, and then move flows around the network to maximise capacity.

This is a UK-first project, the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, and it comes from right here in the North East. It is based on incredible research and proven techniques used in the US.

In South Bend, Indiana, smart sewer technology was installed in a section of a wastewater network with the aim of reducing the number of spills from storm overflows.

Over a ten year period, spills were reduced by 80 per cent. That’s why Northumbrian Water Group partnered with a team of tech experts at American company HydroDigital to make the concept a reality in the UK.

Despite already having some of the lowest levels of spills in the country, the water company has invested £20 million to set up and trial the project, connecting more than 800 sensors and sections of network to smart sewers.

And since February, the technology has been used against actual everyday conditions. The clever tech operated on 15 separate occasions during rainfall over the course of that month, and every single one showed positive results in terms of stopping storm overflows that would have ordinarily spilled because of the weather conditions.

Due to the success of the trials, the company has spent a further £5 million to expand the project to Marske and Saltburn, in east Cleveland, and one day hopes to deploy the technology across the entire North East. Director Richard Warneford, who leads the water company’s wastewater team, says the trials represent the start of what can be achieved with innovation in the sector.

He says: “This is an exciting and innovative project, which is set to completely revolutionise the way our network operates, and maybe even how our industry works as a whole. “We are determined to be at the forefront of using clever and new technology to protect our rivers and coasts as much as possible.

“The fact we are seeing such positive results so early on is a great sign, and hopefully means we can deploy this further across the North East in the near future.

“Reducing the reliance on storm overflows is important to everyone who cares about our region, and we are proud to be leading the way.

“We look forward to seeing how the trials continue over the next few months as we expand into Teesside and east Cleveland.”

In March, Environment Agency data showed the number of storm overflows discharging in the region had reduced by 13 per cent in 2024. The Event Duration Monitoring report, published by the Environment Agency, also showed the average number of spills per overflow has dropped from 30 to 26 in the last year, with a 12 per cent reduction in the total duration of spills.

In the future, the water company says it will invest £80 million to reduce the use of storm overflows and to upgrade the wastewater network between 2020 and 2025 – with a further £1.7 billion to be invested in a massive environmental programme between 2025 and 2030. But smart sewers are not the only innovation project being worked on by Northumbrian Water Group.

It has many different ideas in the pipeline, from artificial intelligence water quality monitoring to using poo to fuel aircrafts. A lot of these revolutionary ideas come from the water company’s Innovation Festival, which will return on July 7 at Newcastle Racecourse for its ninth year.

Northumbrian Water Group
www.nwl.co.uk/
@nwater_care