Stopping pollution before it starts: A proactive win for South West Water
1. BACKGROUND
South West Water started a trial with StormHarvester in 2023 for Blockage Detection, monitoring 300 sites initially. South West Water made the conscious decision to end the blockage detection trial early due to the StormHarvester platform demonstrating benefits to the business. South West Water subsequently expanded the visualised estate quickly going from 300 sites to approximately 1,500 overflow points. South West Water continues to monitor its sewer levels through Detectronic. StormHarvester continues to help South West Water have valuable insight to what happens across their network.
2. Example
SEPTEMBER 24 – STORMHARVESTER ALERT: ‘RUN TIME LONGER’
Wet well levels at the SPS displayed insufficient operation as shown in the screenshots. Further investigation showed dramatically reduced flows into the SPS which indicated a network blockage. South West Water team were immediately notified with a quick response, which was promptly
escalated to the Networks team for urgent attendance. The Proactive Team at SWW acted quickly. A work order was issued immediately and the Operational Team found a mass rag blockage leading in to the SPS. Operations successfully jetted the downstream line which in turn cleared the blockage and the SPS returned to normal operation.
