Anglian Water is today celebrating after being recognised for its industry leading approach to innovation and tackling leakage, at this year’s prestigious International Water Association Awards (IWA), held in Tokyo, Japan.

 

The IWA Awards recognise the broad range of excellence, leadership and innovation, from IWA members, their wider network, and the industry at large. The awards aim is to encourage the continued role of innovation in contributing to the sustainable management of water.

 

After fierce competition of 160 entries from 45 countries, an expert panel of judges presented Anglian Water’s Innovation Shop Window Project with a Gold award, winning the ‘Performance Improvement and Operational Solutions’ category. The company’s Integrated Leakage and Pressure Management solution also took second place in the ‘Smart Systems and the Digital Water Economy’ field.

 

The Shop Window is central to Anglian Water’s Innovation Strategy and a unique initiative which drives innovation through collaboration across the business, supply chain, and the entire man-made water cycle. Based in Newmarket, the Shop Window is a real-world location which concentrates innovation in one physical place and by doing so unlocks synergies between new technologies and different ways of working; essentially building and trialling the water company of the future, today.

 

Leakage management is also core to Anglian Water’s success. The company has the best leakage record in the UK water industry at around half the national average and also recently announced plans to slash the figure by a further 22% by 2025, which will take them to world leading levels of low leakage.

 

Their Integrated Leakage and Pressure Management (ILPM) system brings together over 30 data sources, allowing 38,000km of water network to be visualised and managed via a simple platform in near real-time meaning work can be targeted, planned and managed more effectively. The system has seen a reduction of 10Ml/day in the first year following its implementation.