NEWSDESK
Access to technology is unlocking potential
Andy Carter
Director of IT, Innovation and Improvement, Morrison Water Services
Digital transformation in the water sector has been talked about for a very long time, but we have seen much greater use of new technology recently. It is being driven by consumer use of smartphones - nowadays nearly everyone knows how to use digital devices, which has made it much easier for companies like MWS (Morrison Water Services)to introduce new technology and drive automation.
view, showing the layout of pipes and cables under the footpath or the road. That is a huge advance.
Another technology we are making effective use of is Blicker, an intelligent meter reading system, which uses a smartphone camera and artificial intelligence (AI). Blicker first identifies the brand of water meter deployed, then captures the serial number and meter reading in a photograph. Those numbers are then transferred to the work management system for validation and passed on to the water utility for billing.
We are also making excellent use of a product called Matterport, which can also be used on a standard smartphone. It can take a very detailed 360-degree photograph of any site, whether for roadworks or at a pumping station or treatment works.
Andy Carter
Standardisation also helps - anyone who builds anything digital at the moment has to ensure it works on Android and Apple phones, devices you can buy on any high street. That is quite a change from companies having to provide a dedicated rugged tablet and train teams in their use.
The phone everyone already has in their pocket can be used for nearly everything they are expected to do on site or on the road. It has unlocked the ease with which technology like virtual reality (VR)can be introduced.
MWS teams dig a million holes a year, so they need to know where to dig safely, avoiding pipes and cables. This can now be done by a single operative using a regular smartphone and an augmented reality (AR)solution such as AVUS.
A global navigation satellite system (GNSS)antenna connected wirelessly to the phone pinpoints the location and a feed is sent to the phone which overlays a live virtual view onto the camera
Such accurate imagery has multiple uses, one application is to take very precise measurements to check whether there is space for a particular new piece of equipment, for example, or to record the exact position of pipework. It is also possible to move around the image and tag specific points with additional data and documentation.
Another technology we use is a video risk assessment tool, called FYLD, that captures footage on a standard phone to remotely interrogate health and safety measures and traffic management measures. In 20% of cases, supervisors have found something to either change, comment on or improve, which can be done much more efficiently now they can do it from their desks.
The cost of these technologies coming down and they are becoming more intuitive and easier and easier to use. Looking forward to the next water industry asset management period – AMP 8 - I think we will see more blending of these technologies.
We might use software robots to pull together drawings that we can then serve up to our teams, showing them an AR view of work that is planned. We can then use VR to capture images of the completed work, then maybe we will take a meter reading for the utility using artificial intelligence.
“ Nowadays nearly everyone knows how to use digital devices, which has made it much easier for companies like MorrisonWater Services to introduce new technology and drive automation.”
Morrison Water Services is trialling 3D and AR digital capture and recording as-built asset information to help make water engineering
works safer on site, intuitive, more sustainable, reliable and more cost-effective by providing a view of what assets lie underground.
6 | March 2022 |
www.draintraderltd.com
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