Yorkshire Water is rolling out 34 remote battery powered actuators across key sites in the region, and the utility says it is already seeing benefits.
The water company is working in partnership with R2M Limited to install 3S remote battery powered actuators. The new additions will mean that the flow of water can be managed centrally, from the company’s control room, and has the potential to save significant time in the event of a burst or water quality event – meaning less interruptions for customers.
The valves will be quickly operated in case of an emergency and due to the calm network function, the speed of closure can be adjusted to each valve’s requirement individually, thereby reducing pressure transients to a minimum.
Due to the reduced installation cost and reduced manual handling time, cost savings are estimated at around £20,000 per asset, per annum. Communications are sent via the mobile network, which also allows them to be used in locations that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
Sarah Gledhill, innovation project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Using the remote battery powered actuators has already seen us saving time, money and has allowed us to redeploy colleagues that would usually operate the valves manually.
“Our customers may not always be aware of updates and improvements like this, but they will see the benefit through a reduced number of bursts and much quicker resolutions if something does go wrong on the network.”
Jim Tattersfield, R2M‘s business development manager north, said: “It is a pleasure to be closely working with Yorkshire Water as they roll out and install 34 units 3S remote battery powered actuators for their wide ranging trial. The actuators offer many benefits to Yorkshire Water from protecting the health and safety of their staff to hugely increased network resilience and risk mitigation. It is amazing to see how Yorkshire Water is embracing this cutting edge technology and are willing to invest in their networks and the well-being of their workforce.”
