One of the major water company in the UK is trialling the AVK Smart Water’s new smart wastewater air valves at three locations across its region. We believe these smart wastewater air valves are the first of their type to be installed in the UK.
The Trials has been overseen by Dave Hurley, AVK’s Business Development Manager for smart water products:
‘Trapped air in water or wastewater pipe systems can cause, or contribute to, a wide range of problems across the network. These problems include reducing the efficiency of the network; water hammer; leaks and, in extremis, bursts; pipe corrosion; and disruption to the normal operation of other equipment‘.
Data Relay
AVK Smart Water’s new smart waste water air valves use sensors within the valve to monitor its function and performance and, in particular, pressure fluctuations within the pipe. For the purposes of the trial, this data is relayed into the water company’s SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system via the mobile phone network.
Optimised Network
A major deployment of the valves, however, could use a variety of communication channels to relay the data including radio networks.The installation of the smart waste water valves at the three locations has been a fascinating learning curve, technically and operationally, for both AVK and the water company. For example, the valves have already detected and reported a leaking flange on the network. AVK is currently working with the water company engineers to optimise the contribution of the valves to the management of the waste water network in those areas.
Smart Solutions
The AVK Smart Water, waste water air valve is just one of a portfolio of smart water network products being launched by AVK during 2020.It places AVK Smart Water in the vanguard of companies developing solutions for water companies in this frontier technology.
The first image shows the ease of the data reporting to the engineer via the mobile phone app and the SCADA system showing the location and details of the alert.The second image below shows the old and new air valves prior to installation and the new air valve installed.
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