THE MAGAZINE FOR THE DRAINAGE, WATER & WASTEWATER INDUSTRIES
EDITORS CHOICE
I’m lucky that Metasphere champions this approach - recognising the importance of guidance and support for early-career professionals.
I've seen firsthand how crucial mentoring and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support can be in tackling our recruitment challenges. We are facing a skills gap, and we need to attract and retain diverse talent to ensure the sector's future.
Making the water sector more inclusive for individuals is not just ethically right, it is strategically smart. We are missing out on a huge pool of potential talent if we don't create accessible and supportive workplaces.
What other key strategies can help tackle the recruitment shortage?
Paid internships are incredibly important for providing real- world experience, and we need tailored graduate programmes with competitive compensation to attract top talent.
Continuous development is key too. Offering opportunities for certification, professional accreditation and awards, conference attendance, and ongoing training improves job performance and satisfaction, and also demonstrates investment in water workers – whether they are new to the sector or seasoned professionals.
Thames Water’s Smart Sewers
prevent flooding and pollution 20,000 monitors across the region have helped identify and remove 11,500 blockages between March 2021 – March 2024
The UK’s largest water company has invested £20 million over the last three years to make its sewers smart by installing over 20,000 monitors that provide real-time data on the health of the network. These devices alert its teams to blockages that could turn into pollutions and flooding.
Thames Water is improving how it manages the wastewater network, enabling its teams of engineers, analysts, and data experts to identify problems earlier and take faster action. This means blockages can be tackled before they cause issues for customers or the environment.
As part of a pilot scheme along Wealdstone Brook in London in 2023, the water company installed over 1000 monitors to gain greater insights into the patterns of blockages around the critical water course. This insight has led to over 100 blockages being cleared so far along the brook and the success of the scheme has paved the way for future installation strategies.
Between March 2021- 2024 Thames Water monitoring network has located and removed over 11,500 blockages across the entire region identified by these monitors. In our Mogden catchment, which covers the North West, West and majority of South West, London, we have 4964 monitors contributing to the smart sewer system. Since January 2023, these have helped identify and remove 2240 blockages across the west of London.
Thames Water is expected to install a further 31,000 monitors by 2030, to continue making its sewers smarter. By using the data retrieved from the monitors, Thames Water is also able to decipher which areas of its network needs urgent upgrades and where improvements will be required in the future.
linkedin.com/company/draintrader April 2025 | 13
Anna Boyles, Head of Environmental Performance at Thames Water, said: "At Thames Water, we are always looking at how we can use data and digital technology to improve the way we work and reduce the impact on our customers and the environment. Our smart sewer network is a major step forward in preventing blockages before they happen, and we are committed to expanding this work over the coming years.
"With 20,000 monitors already installed, we are excited to build on this progress. Our ambitious five-year business plan will help us deliver key improvements for our customers, including the installation of 31,000 additional monitors by 2030.”
Thames Water cleared around 52,000 blockages caused by sewer abuse in 2024. These are caused by items such as wet wipes, sanitary items and cotton pads that can't break down. This can force raw sewage to back up drains, manholes and spill into watercourses. The water company continues to encourage members of the public to only flush the three p’s: pee, poo and toilet paper.
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