Water down the pan

Billions of litres of water are being wasted because dual-flush toilets leak.

Must do more

Water companies around the world are being asked to do more.

Central Device Management

Connecting all of your logging devices from anywhere in your network and providing detailed feedback - all from one portal

Pressure logging or acoustic logging?

Stuart Mawditt asks a great question: what delivers the best benefits acoustic or pressure logging?

i2O one of the 10 GreenTech companies to watch

i2O has been named one of the Top 10 Sunday Times Tech Track BGF Green Tech to Watch.

Leak detection – chasing your tail

£30m is a lot of money. For 100,000 listening devices. That cover just 20% of the network. Will they deliver the leakage reduction anticipated?

Artesia Consulting and i2O Water announce client for SIDS

Following last month’s announcement of the first product resulting from their partnership, Artesia Consulting and i2O Water are delighted to announce Yorkshire Water as a client for the Supply Interruption Detection Services SIDS.

England will run out of water within 20 years

Foreigners think it always rains in the UK and they know it’s a group of islands surrounded by water, so this news may come as a surprise.

Artesia Consulting & i2O Water strategic partnership

Artesia Consulting and i2O Water are delighted to announce a global strategic partnership that will make Artesia’s Data Analytics software available to i2O’s clients as part of the iNet advanced analytics solution.

Lessons From Lockdown

Not a school curriculum for remote learning but two observations.

Black Swan Events

Wave for water

World Water Day

The UN News says that water resources are often overlooked, but are an essential part of the solution to climate change.

Coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus is impacting most things. First the good news.

It's alarming

The cost to instrument a network has fallen dramatically. You can get a pressure/flow logger for less than £200, US$260, EUR230 at today’s exchange rates. But what’s not so easy is to make use of the information that’s derived from those devices. Today we want to highlight just one function: alarms.

Regulators get tough

The UK’s regulator is seen as having been tough on UK water companies in its recent price determination. Headlines such as “It's about time Ofwat got tougher on 'game-playing' water companies” suggest that there isn’t much public sympathy. But Northumbrian Water, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Bristol Water are all appealing. Thames Water, who had been thought likely to appeal, accepted the determination because fighting it would be a “significant management distraction.” And they lost a CEO candidate in the process.

Save water, drink beer

Glasgow, Scotland craft beer brand Brewgooder has come up with a cunning plan.

Early detection

3 customer calls from the same area and you know you’ve got an incident so you’re out in the vans. Trouble is, that incident is already well underway by the time 3 different customers have decided that they need to call you. So here’s a different way of doing it: triangulation.

Poisoned water chalice?

Sky News reports that Basil Scarsella, CEO of UK Power Networks, has withdrawn his application for the role of Chief Executive at Thames Water, just as an official announcement confirming his appointment was expected.

The climate crisis is a water crisis

Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive of WaterAid UK, writes that throughout the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2020 he had one consistent message: for the world’s poorest, the climate crisis is a water crisis.

Dani's dying to drink tap water

British actress Dani Dyer won’t drink tap water. She apparently thinks it’s poisoned deliberately by the Government and will eventually be used as a tool to cull the population.

Nile dam deal nearly done

Reports have emerged of a deal between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in relation to the Grand Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia’s flagship dam on the Nile will power the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa at 6,450 MW, making it the 7th largest in the world. This will solve Ethopia’s energy challenges in one go and enable it to export energy to neighbouring countries. Currently 65% of its population are not connected to the grid.

Liquid gold

Most people take water for granted. It’s only when it’s not available that we realise just how precious it is. The New York Times describes how private tanker operators in Kathmandu profit when water is scarce. “This is like liquid gold,” says a tanker driver, “maybe more than gold.”

All eyes on Iran

Countdown to a crisis Iran is facing a water crisis. The World Resources Institute says it’s number 4 on the crisis list after Israel, Lebanon, and Qatar. Water consumption is increasing, aquafers have been drunk dry, and investment is inadequate.

The USA isn’t facing up to the full extent of its water crisis

The problem is quantity as well as quality. Over the last decade, the USA has been rocked by, and focused on, what happened in Flint. This isn’t the place to retell Flint’s story, the facts of which CNN has kindly set out for us all. But Flint is a water quality issue. When it comes to water quantity, or scarcity, then most Americans think first of Africa, India, the Middle East, or of Asia. They don’t in general think about their own country.

Water will shape the world in the next 50 years

Along with AI, Algae, Implantable Tech, Climate Change, Cryptocurrency, Empathy, Genetics, Lab-grown meat, Surveillance, Universal basic income, and Virtual Reality. Experts’ predictions seem to be more heavily discounted than they used to be, but here’s a group of experts who answered a lot of questions, the answers to which were synthesized into 12 themes. One of those themes is Water.

Cut leakage and bills says UK regulator

£50 off the average bill and 16% reduction in leakage over the next 5 years. The UK water industry may have breathed a sigh of relief on Friday after the UK general election because it no longer faced being re-nationalised.

Past the point of no return

It’s an inexorability.

We’re sleepwalking into a global water crisis

The warnings are there but no one's acting on them.

Foreigners drink New South Wales dry

Claims the "Uncoventional Economist"

Limpopo

Just another South African water crisis?

What's a horrendous level of leakage?

16%?

Desiccated dichotomy or trifecta?

Look it up...

What will happen when water runs out?

Civil unrest...

Chile drought: 34,000 animals dead so far

790,000 more in poor condition...

How do you assess the security of SaaS?

Use two padlocks...

Another teenager with an important message

Dilutes the message...

Day Zero for the World

Are you ready?

Pumping Lake Cowichan

Boaters told to exercise caution when out on the water...

SADA embrace IR 4.0 with further investment in i2O's technology

Like large utilities around the world, SADA faces a multitude of challenges in providing a consistent and uninterrupted water supply to more than 2 million people in Kedah, Malaysia.

DIY Disasters

And how to avoid them...

Too little too late

There isn't time to build our way out of trouble. BNAmericas reports from Chile on the challenges the country faces with water supply.

Awash with puns

Unity set to splash into the data lake... Amazon couldn’t have coined a happier name for its centralized data repository than Data Lake as far as the water industry is concerned.

Rising stress levels

And near misses... The New York Times reports that a quarter of the world’s population faces looming water crises.

Resilience. Are you prepared?

For terrible headlines and a massive fine... On Saturday nearly 1 million homes in the UK lost power. But it wasn’t just homes. It was airports and hospitals.

Toilet-to-tap

Are you ready… Bangalore is India’s Silicon Valley. It was once full of pristine lakes and lush gardens. Now it’s a parched city of concrete.

2 layers missing

Missing layers are starting to cause problems..

Water needs a Greta Thunberg

Not a great iceberg…

The future of software

SCADA, Billing, and NEMWACOR…

Megacity runs dry

Official comment: only rain can save Chennai from this situation…

Predicting conflict over water shortages

Can analytics really predict water wars…?

You want another network to manage?

LoRa and Sigfox gain share but NB-IoT will win in the end…

iNet software does the work of 100 people

Using software to monitor the network is essential.

Water crisis hits industry in Mangalore

The media underplay the impact of a water crisis on industry.

Pegasus used to hack WhatsApp

Hackers have installed surveillance software on mobile phones using Pegasus, exploiting a vulnerability in WhatsApp.

Exciting time for water sensors

Ofwat associate director Alison Fergusson is reported as saying that the cost of monitoring and having real-time data has really come down.

SMS fallback? Do you have a typewriter in the office?

Using SMS as a fallback is like keeping a typewriter in the office in case the printer breaks. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember when offices only had typewriters. Then electric ones. Then word processors. Then computers. Let’s not mention fax machines.

Before the clock starts ticking

Last week’s blog focused on managing incidents once you become aware of them, noting how i2O’s eNet solution can support you in being more effective at this.

The clock is ticking

When disaster strikes, the clock starts ticking. In a water company that could mean a water quality incident, a burst; a sewer overflow, a pollution incident; a physical security breach, an IT security breach; or a health & safety incident.

IT weather forecast: Cloudy

Read through Water Briefing’s list of tenders (yes, of course we do) and you will notice something interesting. It contains some unfamiliar acronyms: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. PaaS doesn’t stand for Pizza as a Service, but it’s used as a fantastic analogy as part of a nice primer from Hosting Advice that explains the acronyms with the help of some clear diagrams.

Smoke gets in your eyes

In most foreigners’ minds, England is a place where it rains quite a lot. But Sir James Bevan, CEO of the Environment Agency has warned that England could run short of water within 25 years. His language was dramatic. England faces an "existential threat", and in around 20 to 25 years, England will reach the "jaws of death” - the point at which we will not have enough water to supply our needs.

Cyber secure

The power blackout in Venezuela has caused widespread disruption. Including to the water supply. Tap water was said to have turned black. Dramatic pictures showed citizens going to extraordinary lengths to get water.

i2O secures further investment

i2O is pleased to announce that it has received further investment from long-term committed investor Ombu.

The UK doesn’t have water meters

Readers around the world are surprised to learn that a large percentage of homes in the UK don’t have water meters. So how are they charged for water use? On the basis of a tariff that relates to the size of the home. Nothing to do with the amount of water actually used or the number of people in it.

i2O’s Technical Support Team solve their 15,000th support ticket

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, have today announced that the Technical Support team have solved their 15,000th support ticket. Support requests range from analysing PRV behaviour to setting up tailored data extracts for regulatory reporting and new requests are typically replied to within 1 hour.

Organisations struggle to corral data into useable and actionable intelligence

PWC’s CEO survey reports that organisations struggle to corral data into useable and actionable intelligence, and the main reason for their frustration is ‘lack of analytical talent’, followed closely by ‘data siloing’ and ‘poor data reliability’. i2O’s new iNet solution helps water companies address these three issues, and deliver actionable insight that will help identify and resolve network problems quickly (before customers call, reputation is damaged, and regulatory penalties apply), and schedule maintenance efficiently on the basis of condition rather than time/risk.

UK Regulator industry exam results

Water industry regulator Ofwat has reviewed the 5 year plans offered up by UK water companies for 2020-2025. Unlike the new 9 – 1 GCSE grades in England, there are only 3 categories when it comes to marking: A*, Must do better, and Fail.

i2O continue to contribute innovative thinking to the water industry – 2018 in review

In 2018, i2O added new clients, extended its smart network solution set, enhanced quality, further reduced hardware cost and passed it onto clients, and continued to contribute innovative thinking to the water industry.

i2O launches new network monitoring, insights and analytics software solution

i2O is delighted to announce the re-launch of iNet as a full-blown network monitoring, insights and analytics software solution. Basic functionality—graphing of data and threshold alarms—will in future be provided as standard as part of the dNet solution.

Detecting network problems before customers do

Pace “Detecting Network Problems Before Users Do” by Stefano Gridelli of NetBeez, 13 June 2017 In a perfect world, water networks have 100% uptime and adequate pressure. In reality, customers experience loss of pressure, water quality issues, and outages. In under-invested networks, this is even more frequent. Yet, providing a good customer experience is possible. Detecting problems before customers do is not a fortune teller’s trick, but something that can be achieved with the right tools and processes in place. So how can Network Engineers achieve Zen for their networks?

Drought Contingency Plan

Lake Mead is a reservoir that helps supply water for 25 million people in Nevada, Arizona, and California, and some in Mexico. The dam that created the lake is the Hoover Dam, built in 1936. It is one of a series of dams in the West of the USA that store water and generate electricity enabling cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix to exist in the desert. The water enables farming as well as supporting habitation. Increasing population, rising demand and years of drought mean that the reservoirs are running low. Dean Farr’s data and interactive map illustrate the issue beautifully. The challenges and implications get excellent coverage in Vox.

Toxic brine from desalination plants

A new study has highlighted the problem of brine discharged from desalination plants. More than half the brine comes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for 22%. 3 countries - the Maldives, Malta and the Bahamas - meet all their water needs with desalination.

i2O ships first 4G NB-IoT logger

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, has today shipped its first 4G NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things) logger. NB-IoT is a low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology from mobile phone companies that is now being switched on in a number of countries. It is designed to enable industrial devices to have access to wider and deeper network coverage with longer battery life and lower cost, at scale.

We only have 12 years to save the earth!

Flash, I love you! But we only have 12 years to save the Earth! In the film of Flash Gordon, NASA scientists claim the unexpected eclipse and strange hot hail are nothing to worry about. Not so in our current reality. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has warned that we only have 12 years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, after which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

Summertime and the livin' isn’t easy

The UK Climate Projections 2018 study says that summer temperatures could be 5.4C hotter by 2070. The chances of having a summer as warm as this year’s summer (2018) is currently 15-20%. That’s going to rise to 50%. In other words, as likely as not. The warmer summers will also be much drier, with average summer rainfall dropping by 47%.

Are water firms ready for extreme weather events?

Ofwat, the UK water regulator, is set to take a hard line with water companies this winter if bad weather strikes again. A spokesperson for the regulator says it expects all companies to “show they have learned lessons and are prepared for whatever the weather brings”.

Mind the gap

Ari Mahairas is the special agent in charge of the Special Operations and the Cyber Division at the F.B.I.’s New York field office. Peter J. Beshar is the general counsel of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, and has testified frequently before the US Congress on cybersecurity. The two have written an article in the New York Times pointing to the vulnerability of water companies to attack by cybercriminals.

i2O partners with Ubisense to deliver powerful network monitoring and analytics solution for water utilities

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced a new partnership with Ubisense, the global leader in enterprise location intelligence solutions. The resulting integration of Ubisense’s myWorld platform with i2O’s network monitoring and analytics iNet solution provides water utilities with a powerful new way of identifying issues on the network and assessing the condition of assets on the network.

i2O launches new Control Logger as part of its iNet network monitoring and analytics solution

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, has today announced the launch of its new Control Logger. The device is a pressure and flow logger with 3 pressures and bidirectional flow capability. This would typically be used at the entry to a zone on a PRV to measure upstream, downstream and control space pressures and record flow from the pulse output of a flow meter.

No water for 300 families in Greater Noida for 2 days

Greater Noida City is a north Indian city with a population in excess of 100,000, located in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A valve in the pipeline failed on Saturday. Residents complained about the lack of water. Water tankers were dispatched to provide temporary supply. Supply was resumed on Sunday evening. So reports the Times of India. It could have happened almost anywhere in the world.

Water wars

You may think that the Cape Town water crisis is over. But we can only really say that we’re past the peak reporting of it. There’s a fascinating article in the Columbia Journalism Review about the phrase “Day Zero” and the media campaign masterminded by PR agency Resolve Communications.

Next generation network monitoring

Next generation network monitoring. Coming soon from i2O... “A network monitoring system that: monitors the network for problems caused by bursts, leaks, changes in customer demand, theft, transients, engineering work, network design issues reports on the condition of assets in the network: pipes, PRVs, valves, pumps, flow meters, loggers, controllers, actuators reports on network performance

Why go into the office?

There are certainly downsides to working from home: Social isolation Lack of support and input from colleagues Interruptions and distractions IT issues

i2O launches new eNet event management software solution for water utilities

i2O is delighted to announce the addition of eNet to its suite of smart network solutions. eNet extends i2O’s ability to help its clients deal with the challenges of increasing and urbanising population, more extreme weather events, ageing network infrastructure, an ageing workforce, customers becoming more demanding, and difficulty in increasing revenue or accessing capital.

How to win when the chips are down

Incident Management Software has the following benefits: Faster time to resolution Quick access to relevant information Reduced time to analyse and determine next best action Easy and automatic escalation No missed steps No duplicated activity Visibility from any location of progress and decision logic Quick review after closure for lessons learned

i2O collaborates with Badger Software to extend its suite of smart network solutions

i2O is pleased to announce that its new event management solution eNet will be powered by Badger Software’s CLIO product.

Event management

“An incident is an event that could lead to loss of, or disruption to, an organization's operations, services or functions.” There are processes relating to managing an event, to bring it to a conclusion as quickly and effectively as possible before it escalates into an emergency, crisis or a disaster.

Purchase price v lifetime cost

You may have read our thought piece about the lifetime cost of a logger.

i2O sponsors Anglian Water’s WaterAid Cycle Ride

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, has been a proud supporter of WaterAid since 2015, so they are delighted to be sponsoring their client Anglian Water for the upcoming WaterAid Cycle Ride again this September.

Australia worst ever drought

The world seems to be suffering droughts of greater severity than ever before this year.

Trunk mains

We often talk about ageing infrastructure as one of the challenges facing the water industry.

New Android app will enable technicians to configure water network data loggers from their mobile or tablet

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has launched a new mobile application that will enable technicians to configure and view real time data from its data loggers using Android mobile phones and tablets.

Feeling the heat

Temperature records have been broken around the world this year. The UK is enjoying a heatwave. At least most of us are. But the water companies are feeling the heat.

Russians hack control rooms

The Wall Street Journal reports that Russian hacking group Dragonfly APT has accessed utilities’ control rooms.

Resilience

The answer to resilience is to do more civil engineering projects says Civil Engineer magazine in its July edition. They are understandably looking forward to the report of the National Infrastructure Commission on what the UK’s infrastructure priorities should be and are expecting water to figure highly. They are critical of the water industry regulator Ofwat for focusing on further reductions in the level of leakage and demand reduction through metering.

New Delhi the new Cape Town

New Delhi will run out of groundwater in two years as India faces 'day zero' crises, according to the Telegraph.

Can we trust AI?

“Can we trust AI?” asks Technology of Business reporter Marianne Lehnis. Before we answer or even ask that question, we should ask :“Can we trust humans?” They can’t always articulate why they make the decisions they make, and even when they do we know that this is mostly a post hoc rationalisation for an unconscious choice. And we also know that their brains contain hundreds of bugs. Not literal bugs. Software bugs. 166 of them! They’re known as cognitive biases and they’ve been categorised.

Can water companies handle big data?

In short, the answer is no. But not for the reason you might think. More monitoring devices, especially on the network, are yielding ever increasing volumes of potentially valuable data.

i2O celebrates 2 years since opening its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is celebrating 2 years since it was officially opened by Caroline Nokes MP.

NASA warns about water

Water shortages will be the key environmental challenge of the century according to NASA. New data from NASA’s Grace satellite has revealed the extent of the problem.

Oh buoy!

The largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere happened on Tuesday 8 May 2018. It was 23.8m or 78ft high. More than 5 double decker buses. (A double decker bus is a favourite height measurement. Like an Olympic swimming pool is for liquids.)

Royal Wedding boosts water charity

Prince Henry of Wales KCVO, better known as Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle have chosen Philippa Craddock as the florist for their wedding.

A dip in the gene pool

The water industry lacks customer focus and up-to-date IT systems. So says Perry Noble, partner in investment manager Hermes Infrastructure, according to Utility Week in an article that opens with ““Sticky” workforce and limited “gene pool” in senior management causing talent problems for water”. Perry made the comments last year at the Water UK City conference.

Climate change and growing global population threaten water security says UN

The UN has published its 2018 World Water Development Report. It calculates that global water demand is growing at 1% per annum mainly because of population growth. They say that whilst agriculture will remain the largest user, industrial and domestic demand will increase much faster. And the vast majority of the growth in demand for water will occur in countries with developing or emerging economies.

A smarter future for water distribution and non-revenue Water management

Our CEO Joel Hagan features in the latest edition of the Water Innovations magazine and provides his thoughts on how he believes innovation is helping to improve water distribution and non-revenue water management.

Pitbull – the global water terrier

It’s not often this blog provides a link to Rolling Stone. But it’s the music press that’s giving the most coverage to Miami-born Cuban American rapper Armando Christian Perez (also known as Pitbull, Mr. 305, and Mr. Worldwide) who has a new role as the United Nation’s Clean Water Here Global Ambassador, covered here in the NME.

i2O invests in manufacturing its own Advanced Pilot Valves, passes benefits to water utility clients

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has added a new production line for manufacturing its patent protected Advanced Pilot Valves (APVs) at its state-of-the-art production facility in Woolston, Southampton.

Russian Government Cyber Activity Targets Water

i2O has sought to be a leader in information security. Why? Because we provide services to an industry that is responsible for critical national infrastructure. It seems that we were right to do so.

All hands to the pump

i2O doesn’t just sell its clients hardware and leave them to get on with it. We know that maintaining an estate of hardware, using it, and getting the most out of it requires time and knowledge that water companies don’t always have.

Baby it’s cold outside

The Sun newspaper reported that it was the coldest day ever in March. “Big thaw leaves thousands without water in parts of UK” said the BBC.

Water crisis will mean total crisis

The Global Risks Landscape 2018 from the World Economic Forum places Water Crisis as the 5th highest risk facing the world today. It has been pushed down the list by the increased likelihood of Cyberattacks and Data Fraud or Theft and their potential impact.

Cyberfine for water companies

The UK Government has announced that critical national infrastructure companies will face fines of up to £17m if they fail to protect themselves from cyber-attacks, effective May 2018. Critical national infrastructure companies include energy, transport, health and water companies. They are being told that they should have in place “the most robust safeguards”. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance about what these should be.

Innovation in water conservation and leakage management

We recently wrote an article in December’s edition of Water Active highlighting why we believe innovation is helping to tackle water conservation and leakage management with the UK leading the way. You can read the full article here.

i2O achieves gold standard for information security

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has achieved ISO 27001 certification, the internationally-recognised standard for best practice in information security and managing critical data.

Sales expansion and the year of the logger - i2O’s 2017 in review

2017 has been the year of the logger at i2O as water utilities around the world monitor and report on network performance increasingly. We’ve seen demand for i2O loggers soar amongst our clients, and this has not been at the expense of other areas of our business.

The future isn’t LPWAN

IDC FutureScape’s report that contains its Worldwide Internet of Things 2017 Predictions includes this:

i2O begins production of next-generation logger

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has begun production of its next-generation smart data logger, Logger 17, to provide water utilities with greater insight from their distribution networks and improve how they access it.

Living on the edge

Edge analytics isn’t a form of extreme analytics with data scientists performing complex calculations on precipitous cliffs. So what is it, and why does it matter? It’s key to effective network monitoring. Here’s the theory:

SCADA isn’t a panacea

Kristina Foster, Marketing Communications Manager at Sensus and formerly of Schneider Electric has written an interesting post about asset maintenance.

H2O Will Trump CO2

Alpheus Water Research has written a wide-ranging piece explaining why they think that water will surpass climate change as the world’s main preoccupation in future.

Lady Freethinker

Lady Freethinker is “a nonprofit media organization with the mission of achieving a free and compassionate world — for every species”.

Lessons from the sewers

In 1775, London watchmaker Alexander Cumming patented the S-bend. It was a beautifully simple solution to containing sewer smells in the sewer.

Kevin Starling appointed non-executive director at i2O

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that Kevin Starling has joined the i2O board as a non-executive director.

i2O extends global sales force reach with eight hires in six months

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has completed a major investment in new talent and a tripling in the size of its global sales force since the beginning of the year. New i2O sales and client support staff are now in place in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and North America.

The S in SCADA isn't for Secure

The S in SCADA stands for Supervisory, not Secure. An article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Smart Cities Are Going to Be a Security Nightmare” points out that SCADA systems are particularly susceptible to frequent hacks due to poor security protocols, and a lack of cryptographic security and authentication factors. This is largely because the software dates from the last century.

i2O ships 15,000th smart data logger

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has shipped its 15,000th data logger. The device, built by i2O engineers at its assembly centre in Woolston, Southampton, has been shipped to Chile in a batch of loggers that will be used to monitor water pressure and flow in one of the country’s large urban water networks.

Cheque this out

Pucallpa is a city in the east of Peru. It is built on one bank of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon.

Drought: act now before it's too late

Droughts are occurring more frequently. Because populations are increasing and urbanising, the impact of drought on agriculture and people could be devastating. Major cities could run out of water and the resulting unrest could create civil strife, mass migration, and conflict.

The Water Court of Valencia

Eight men in black robes meet every Thursday at noon sitting in a circle on chairs in the street outside a cathedral. They are the Water Court of Valencia. According to the Times of India the Court has been in existence for 1,000 years. It’s an elected body who resolve irrigation conflicts in an agricultural area of Spain. Not perhaps a very modern model for regulation of scarce resources, but a democratic one at least.

That sinking feeling

Sinkholes make great pictures. There’s something unsettling about the idea of the ground opening up and swallowing houses, cars, even people.

i2O appoints Mark Loveday to support continued European expansion

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has appointed Mark Loveday to join David Kenny in supporting water utilities across the UK and Europe in their adoption of smart water network solutions.

Underinvesting in infrastructure can cost big in the end

It’s only when disaster strikes that we look back, recognise, and accept that there has been a significant shortfall in investment in ageing infrastructure. For the residents of Grenfell Tower in London, there are questions now about whether the cladding, which was used to cost-effectively address environmental issues with heating and cooling, was a conduit for the rapid spread of fire. There are questions about whether a sprinkler system should have been installed, as would be mandatory in a newly-built tower of a similar height. There are questions about the availability of fire-fighting equipment in common parts of the building.

It makes you WannaCry

The rapid global spread of ransomware WannaCry at the end of last week should have made everyone think hard about security.

The playbook for best practice outage management

In a recent event experienced by Anglian Water in the UK in March 2017, a tweet was picked up by local media outlet LincolnshireLive from resident Phil Scrafton who tweeted at Anglian Water: "No water for 20hrs, 1 week old baby needs feed, multiple calls to you yet still no bottled water. Why aren't you looking?" The rather ponderous headline read: “Tesco out of water as hundreds STILL have no supply after 20 hours (including family with newborn)”.

South West Water selects i2O for loggers

South West Water, the provider of water and wastewater services to 1.7 million residents of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, has selected loggers from i2O to instrument its clean water distribution network.

News OfWat’s going on

Every 5 years, the UK water regulator Ofwat does a price review which sets limits on charging and sets expectations about what customers get for those prices. The next price review will be in 2019, known as “PR19”. The timetable includes a final methodology statement from Ofwat by the end of 2017, and UK water companies submitting their business plans by September 2018 for review by Ofwat, so the industry is already gearing up for the process.

Sydney sweats it out

As the UK enjoys another week of freezing winter temperatures, Sydney Australia enjoys (or suffers) a heatwave. news.com.au called it a “summer of sweat”. Sydney has just experienced the hottest January on record with temperatures above 40C.

Water: spiralling cost or drop in the ocean?

Water UK reports that the average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales for 2016-17 will be £389 - an increase of £2 (less than 1%) compared with the previous year. Despite this small increase, water and sewerage companies will deliver a 5% average drop in real terms in prices between 2015 and 2020.

i2O establishes global technical team to support smart water utilities

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, announced today that it has expanded its technical support team to improve the way it supports water company clients around the world.

i2O doubles software development for smart water networks

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, announced today that it has doubled the size of its software development team in the past 12 months to ensure water utility clients can derive maximum value and insight about their networks.

Riparian reserves

Raconteur tells us a worldwide water crisis is looming. The context they give consists of two of i2O’s six major challenges for water utilities: climate change, and population growth and urbanisation.

Smart network innovation, growth & transformation - 2016 in review

2016 has been a year of expansion, innovation and acceleration at i2O. Smart water networks are increasingly seen as a high impact, low cost and immediate way for water utilities to address the challenges they face: increasing populations, urbanisation, more extreme weather events, ageing infrastructure, and more demanding customers.

Analysts rate i2O as sector leader

Lux Research has identified i2O as a dominant player in the Internet of Things for the Water market.

That sinking feeling

Many sinkholes are the result of erosion by water. Most of that is natural. Some of it is man-made.

i2O bolsters security capability with hire of cyber security expert

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has appointed Daniel Bradberry, formerly chief engineer at one of Europe’s leading cybersecurity consultancies, to oversee its cyber security activities.

Software R&D spending key to success

WaterBriefing reports PwC’s finding that firms who shift R&D spend to software and services have faster revenue growth, or, put another way, are more successful at creating solutions that clients value.

Caroline Nokes MP opens HQ for expanding i2O

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, visited smart water network solutions company, i2O, on Friday to open its newly refurbished headquarters.

i2O bolsters advisory board with Kevin Starling appointment

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that water industry veteran Kevin Starling has joined its Advisory Board.

i2O appoints service partners to support UK customers

i2O, the smart water network solutions company, today announced that it has appointed Hydrosave and Z-Tech Control Systems as authorised service partners to provide field support to i2O’s water company clients in the UK.

“SaaS” has given itself a bad name

The trouble with the name SaaS is that it’s an acronym. The acronym obscures the fact that SaaS is a service. People too often assume it’s just software. And that’s causing confusion.

South West Water becomes first client for new iNet solution

South West Water, the provider of water and wastewater services to 1.7 million residents of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, has adopted new data analytics software from i2O, the smart water network technology company, to monitor the condition of Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs) on its 15,000 kilometre network.

Will competition in water retail in the UK achieve its objectives?

Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, has announced plans for greater competition in the UK water market. They hope that it will be a driver of improved customer service, noting, for example, that “only two of the water companies in England let their customers manage their bills using an app".

Smart water networks set to become pervasive

Our CEO, Joel Hagan, recently wrote an article in July's edition of WIPAC Monthly.

Decongestion charge

The UK Local Government Association has called on the national Government to give more powers to local authorities to charge utility companies for the time they spend digging up busy roads. Today only authorities in London and one county in the South East of England can do so without having to get government approval first.

Global Water Intelligence ranks i2O top quartile

In its latest report Global Water Market 2017, Global Water Intelligence ranks i2O above its direct competitors in terms of being both a market leader and having multiple solutions. i2O also ranks as top quartile alongside much larger companies: ABB; metering companies Itron, Sensus and Diehl; and leak detection specialist Gutermann.

Water utilities gain new insight from network data

i2O, the smart water network company, today launched a new software tool to help water companies monitor their networks and improve performance using data. i2O’s iNet software increases the ability of water companies to analyse and make automated decisions based on pressure and flow data and is the first software product available that diagnoses problems with Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs) automatically.

i2O doubles manufacturing capacity

i2O, the smart water network company, today announced that it has doubled its manufacturing capacity by creating a new state-of-the-art technology assembly facility in Woolston, Southampton, close to its UK headquarters.

i2O appoints sales director to drive European expansion

i2O, the smart water network company, has appointed David Kenny as European sales director. David, who has almost 20 years’ experience in the UK water sector and specialises in smart water technologies, joins i2O from TaKaDu, where he was responsible for sales and business development in the UK.

Anglian Water reports record low levels of leakage and interruptions to supply

Anglian has announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2016, which were picked up by Utility Week.

Water: the urban/rural divide

A report from the BBC says that Nestle extracted 36 million gallons of water from a national forest in California last year to sell as bottled water, even as Californians were ordered to cut their water use because of a historic drought in the state.

Heavy rain in Chile leaves 4 million people without drinking water

Santiago, Chile, is a pretty dry place. Average annual rainfall is just 8% of that in Dartmoor, UK. But it’s just experienced an extreme weather event; treatment plants were overwhelmed and drinking water supply had to be cut.

i2O appoints CTO with extensive smart utility network experience

i2O, the smart water network company, today announced that it has appointed Steve Wilkes as Chief Technology Officer. He joins i2O from ONZO, a provider of data analytics insight to electricity companies and brings more than 20 years of technology experience gained building smart networks within the utilities sector.

Smart networks smoothing supply of water

The move to smart water networks is accelerating in the water industry because it allows utilities to confront their major challenges, extend asset life in the network, reduce operating costs and deliver better customer service without the high cost of building new supply infrastructure.

i2O launches dNet solution at SWAN

Joel Hagan announced i2O’s new dNet solution to more than 180 delegates at the SWAN Conference in London on Tuesday and spoke about the major water industry challenges it helps to address.

i2O develops new logging system to provide comprehensive low-cost water network data

i2O, the smart water network company, today launched dNet, a low-cost data logging and software system to provide water utilities with accurate, reliable and affordable data for informing decision making and improving water networks performance.

i2O's oNet system turns legacy infrastructure into smart water networks

i2O has launched oNet, a new suite of technologies providing water utilities with the ability to monitor and manage the pressure and flow of water across their entire networks.

Kevin Rutledge has been appointed to expand smart water network footprint

We are delighted to announce that Kevin Rutledge has joined i2O Water as our first Global Sales Director. A seasoned sales professional with more than 20 years’ experience working in the utility industry, Kevin is tasked with expanding our global footprint and helping many more water companies to improve their customer service, business efficiency and environmental performance with smart water networks.

Fun, Food and Fundraising for Water Aid

Our last fundraising event for Water Aid was so successful, we thought it was high time we organised another one and what better time than at Christmas! Another i2O Water Bake Off was on the menu again and better than ever, with employees testing their culinary skills with ’empanadas’ and mince pies. Cakes, fudge and flapjacks were also baked for all to enjoy as it’s the festive season and therefore the time for tasty treats and sweets.

Smart water networks will endure when the IoT bubble bursts

In its latest Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, the analyst firm Gartner places the Internet of Things (IoT) at the top of the life cycle phase it calls the ‘Peak of Inflated Expectations’. Beneath the hype there lies a reality: the IoT is delivering value in practical and unsensational ways that will endure.

Keith Hilson is our Head of Customer Solutions

i2O Water, the Smart Pressure Management technology company, today announced that it has appointed Keith Hilson, formerly of South East Water, as its new Head of Customer Solutions. Keith has 20 years of experience working with water utilities and is recognised as one of the industry’s foremost smart water network experts.

i2O Water joins forces with Water Aid to improve access to water

i2O Water, the Smart Pressure Management technology company, today announced that it will support WaterAid as its charity partner. Currently 748 million people worldwide live without safe water and 2.5 billion people live without a toilet. i2O is delighted to support WaterAid’s vision and mission to provide water, sanitation and hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030.

Joel Hagan has been appointed as CEO

i2O Water, the Smart Pressure Management technology company, today announced the appointment of Joel Hagan as its new Chief Executive Officer.

World leaders say water crisis is number one global risk

Water security, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), is one of the most tangible and fastest-growing social, political, economic and environmental challenges faced today. Based on its potential impact to Society, WEF ranks the water crisis as the number one global risk.

Anglian Water selects i2O Water

i2O Water, the Smart Water Networks Company, today announced that it has been appointed by Anglian Water to help meet future demand for water, improve service levels and reduce its environmental impact.

i2O Water secures £8m funding to support expansion

i2O Water, the Smart Water Networks company, today announced that it has secured additional funding of £8 million to expand its research and development (R&D) activities in Southampton, UK, and provide additional commercial and technical support for its growing global network of partners and resellers.