Explore-AI, the consulting arm of the recently-launched Explore Data Science Academy (EDSA) has been appointed by Thames Water to help deliver data analytics solutions for the UK’s largest water utility.
The project involves building data science solutions which will assist the utility to manage its water network more effectively.
Thames Water supplies over 15-million customers within London and the greater Thames region with 2,6-billion litres (570-million imperial gallons) of drinking water a day, and treats some 4,4-billion litres (970-million imperial gallons) of wastewater daily.
According to Thames Water’s chief digital officer John Beaumont, evolutions in technology enable Thames Water to digitise its business in ways it was not able previously. In a recent article in Source Magazine he said: “We have entered a new era in disruptive technology that is unprecedented in the past 50 years. ”
For Thames Water, one aspect has been the growth in low-cost sensors and devices that can collect data from pretty much anywhere in the water delivery system.
These low-cost sensors, for example, allow Thames Water to measure headroom in a sewer. Depending on the geometry of a sewer, there is a minimum headroom space required to avoid a blockage, flood or pollution.
“If we can detect abnormalities in the headroom levels digitally, we can deal with potential problems far quicker than we have previously,” Beaumont says.
The utility will use this techology and information on water supply to generate insights and determine appropriate response and boost customer service. It is here that the Explore-AI will be applying some of the data analytics insights and analytical tools.
“We are extremely proud to be doing work for Thames Water,” says Shaun Dippnall, CEO of Explore-AI. “They’re on the cutting edge in digitising their business and it’s an amazing opportunity for us to be working for them.”
Explore-Ai was also recently appointed by UK-based insurance group Correlation Risk Partners to apply data science and the latest machine learning techniques to solve some of the difficult problems across their insurance portfolio. Currently Explore-AI is working on three projects across the group.
According to Dippnall, the global shortage of data science and analytics skills, means increased opportunities for international work for the local AI consulting firm. “We have a number of projects underway across Europe at the moment,” he says. “There is just so much work to be done to apply the latest data science tools and techniques to solve difficult business problems.”
Thames Water is not the first time Explore has used its data science tools to gain insight into water usage. One of the first projects learners in its Explore Data Science Academy had to do was to analyse water demand and supply figures in Cape Town at the height of the recent drought crisis.
“In essence, data science is about taking real world problems and finding real world solutions,” says Aidan Helmbold, a co-founder of the EDSA.
The EDSA launched its Accredited Skills Data Science programme in 2018 in Cape Town with 100 learners, sponsored by BCX. Since then the academy has opened a Gauteng campus with an additional 350 data science and data analytics learners.