Derceto signs NZ $5.5M export software deal

Top 10 UK water utility forecasts major savings from multi-million pound energy management software investment

One of the top ten UK water utility companies – Northumbrian Water Ltd – has signed a £2.6 million ($NZ5.5 million) contract with specialist New Zealand water utility optimization software company Derceto via their UK partner, Mouchel.

Derceto’s CEO Wayne Spittal says the contract, the largest signed by Derceto to date, will see Derceto implement its Aquadapt software throughout Northumbrian Water Ltd plants in the UK, enabling significant energy cost savings of around £1 million annually

The implementation, at all five major water networks within Northumbrian Water’s operating areas in Essex, Suffolk, and the north-east of England, will also deliver other operational benefits.

Northumbrian Water serves a population of 2.6 million people in the north east of England with water and sewerage services. Essex & Suffolk Water supplies water to 1.7 million people in the Essex, south Norfolk and north Suffolk areas.

Northumbrian Water Network Manager Dennis Dellow says the decision to purchase Aquadapt had been driven primarily by the need to control, manage and predict energy costs.

“For a water utility, energy is the second highest cost after labour,” Dellow says. “We are principally interested in Derceto’s Aquadapt as a way of reducing energy costs, mainly through more efficient pump scheduling. But as the product was evaluated, and Derceto analyzed the cost saving opportunities, it became clear that in addition to achieving significant energy savings, Aquadapt could also provide accurate energy modeling, and that data could be used to negotiate more favorable three-year energy supply contracts.”

He says there will also be operational benefits from being able to support individual operators with a powerful software tool designed to enable consistent and predictable operation.

“Because we have a lot of storage we have quite a lot flexibility in how we pump the water. But we have a highly complex system with hundreds of pumping stations and reservoirs, so it’s a big challenge to maintain supply and manage reservoirs at operational levels while at the same time maximizing lowest cost electricity use. This is a bigger and more complex problem than can be managed by individual operators over such a large number of sites.”

Dellow says that in looking for a solution Northumbrian Water went out to the entire market throughout Europe.

“We certainly found no other product that would do what Aquadapt can do. Some vendors said they could develop a solution, but we saw Derceto’s Aquadapt as a proven and working solution, already doing what we want to do at other water utilities in North America, New Zealand and Australia.”

Northumbrian Water’s implementation of Derceto’s Aquadapt will be a first across the European Union, Dellow says.

“No other water company in Europe is doing it on this scale. We have a lot of work ahead of us to deliver on the business case, but we are very confident that we can achieve the cost savings and efficiencies forecast – and significantly reduce our energy costs over the long haul.”

A rolling implementation throughout the five discrete water distribution systems within Northumbrian Water will be completed over the next 20 months with support from Mouchel, Derceto’s UK implementation partner.

ENDS

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