Monitoring & metering
THE VALUE OF MONITORING DATA Alongside pump deployment, the EA continued to operate its network of telemetered sensors and remote cameras across the region to help provide level and flow data. During the event, funding from the Somerset Rivers Authority also supported the establishment of a Community Flood Hub, providing public access to live operational data. The provision of transparent, real-time data delivers a number of important benefits. For example, in an age when Social Media can
rapidly disperse both accurate and inaccurate information, there is a risk that a lack of information can induce a sense of panic. So, access to live data, particularly where accompanied by live imagery, can provide high levels of reassurance. The Nivus clamp on flow meters were used to monitor transportable pumping operations and contributed to the EA’s operational updates throughout the event. For example, on Thursday 29 January 2026, the EA published a Briefing assuring local residents that “Pumps can now remove water from the moors quicker than the system takes to fill the moors with water from further up the catchment.”
WHY NIVUS?
Pump health and status in the EA’s stationary pumps are continuously monitored and connected to the Agency’s telemetry system. However, transportable pumps needed to be monitored as soon as they were installed, so the requirement for flowmeters was extremely urgent.
“Conscious of the need to respond very quickly, we immediately dispatched every portable flowmeter in our UK stock,” explains Nivus UK managing director Alistair MacKinnon. “The remainder were rushed to the UK from Germany, in time to meet the EA’s requirements. Given the operational pressures during the flooding event, rapid deployment was an important consideration. As an existing Framework Supplier to the EA, Nivus was able to provide NivuFlow Mobile 600
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portable flowmeters to support temporary pumping operations during the flood event.” The flowmeters were connected to the Nivus Web Portal allowing data to be directly provided to the Community Flood Hub website via an API. This also provided Nivus support engineers with remote access for configuration and performance checks. Consequently, it was not necessary for Nivus engineers to undertake site visits, which reduced risk in a busy active flood zone and also helped to reduce the carbon footprint of operations.
SUMMARY
In the days before Storm Chandra, advance weather information allowed the EA to prepare for its arrival. This included, for example, draining the Moors to increase capacity. However, increased flood resilience had already been established in the area, and a key feature of the plan was the provision of measurement data – to inform flood management operations, and to provide reassurance. Climate change has resulted in more extreme weather in the UK. For example, six of the 10 wettest years on record (since 1862) have occurred since 1998. It is likely therefore, that events currently regarded as exceptional may not be regarded as such in the future, so the EA and its partners in the Somerset Rivers Authority are planning accordingly.
NIVUS U.K.
www.nivus.com
August 2026 Instrumentation Monthly
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