Intervene with insight
How might we use data and intelligent tooling to better predict and manage the consequences of network interventions; reducing bursts, leaks, and supply interruptions
Operational interventions across the water network (e.g. valve operations, pump changes, planned and reactive works) can create unintended pressure changes, leading to bursts, leaks and customer supply interruptions. Currently, these impacts are not well predicted in advance, resulting in a heavy reliance on reactive fixes, increased operational costs and customer disruption resulting in repeated failures in known “at-risk” areas. We know that actions in one part of the network can affect conditions elsewhere, but the exact relationship between intervention and impact is rarely visible – making it difficult to anticipate consequences or learn from them systematically.
The challenge is compounded by fragmented data and systems, with no single view of network behaviour, inconsistent logging of interventions and outcomes, critical knowledge held in people’s experience rather than data as well as limited forward-looking capability to understand how interventions affect pressure across the network. These challenges are further compounded in rural networks, where long pipe runs, aging infrastructure and limited system flexibility make it harder to manage pressure and respond to incidents—often amplifying the impact of operational interventions.
With over 3,000 bursts per year, and evidence suggesting a large number of these may be preventable, there is a significant opportunity to improve outcomes through better insight and decision-making.
This sprint will explore how we can move from a reactive to proactive approach, by equipping teams with the insight, tools, and data needed to allow them to:
- predict the impact of interventions before they happen,
- understand how pressure propagates across the network,
- identify high-risk activities and vulnerable assets
- and enable faster, more confident operational decisions.
We will take a data-driven and user-centred approach, combining operational expertise with analytics, modelling, and digital tools to co-create practical solutions.
During the sprint, we will:
- Build a shared understanding of current challenges, interventions, and failure modes
- Hear from engineers and operators on real-world experiences and pain points
- Explore existing data, tools, and approaches
- Identify key gaps in data, visibility, and predictive capability
- Ideate and design solutions across key areas, such as:
- Predictive modelling of network behaviour
- Scenario testing (“what happens if…”)
- Integrated views of network activity and pressure
- Improved logging and capture of operational interventions
- Investigate the opportunities provided by new tooling and ideas e.g. predictive models trained on historic data, better integration of siloed data sources, graph-based representations of asset relationships
- Clear articulation of the problem space and priority opportunities
- Concepts and/or early prototypes for:
- Predictive or simulation tools
- Integrated operational dashboards
- Improved data capture approaches
- A set of practical recommendations to reduce preventable failures
- A roadmap for taking forward pilot solutions or trials
We're looking to bring together a diverse audience for this sprint, combining the water industry experience of domain experts with the expertise of data specialists - and more!
This audience might include:
- Water network operators and engineers
- Control room and asset management teams
- Field teams with hands-on operational knowledge
- Data engineers, machine learning engineers, and software engineers
- Innovation, strategy, and transformation leads
As well as anyone else who wants to explore how data and technology can be used to understand system connectivity and drive proactive responses.
Improving how we manage network interventions could:
- Significantly reduce bursts and supply interruptions
- Lower operational and reactive maintenance costs
- Improve customer outcomes and resilience
- Enable a shift toward proactive, insight-led operations