The situation

A race against time

Yorkshire Water serves 5 million households and 140,000 businesses in the north of England. Managing such a complex network presents significant challenges, particularly concerning CSOs.

Historically, the utility relied on a reactive maintenance model for its telemetry network, where issues were identified and addressed after a delay. The introduction of the Water (Special Measures) Bill, effective from January 2025, imposes stringent requirements for near real-time publication of CSO discharge data. Failure to comply and report within one hour could result in substantial fines, averaging around £360,000 per serious pollution event.

Critically, the legislation assumes any data gap equates to a spill, placing immense pressure on water companies to achieve 100% data availability. This regulatory shift necessitated a fundamental change in Yorkshire Water’s approach to CSO monitoring. The existing reactive system was no longer sufficient and a more proactive, data-driven approach was essential.

The solution

From reactive to proactive management

Grundfos’s leading telemetry and analytics solutions for water networks offered the ideal solution. Grundfos Telemetry Ex RTUs – remote telemetry units combined with intelligent sensors – provide comprehensive monitoring of CSO points across Yorkshire Water’s network. These self-contained, lowcost devices collect and transmit critical level information, enabling proactive identification of potential overflow events.

Crucially, Yorkshire Water was transitioned to a DaaS model in October 2024. This comprehensive, outsourced approach encompasses equipment installation, data collection, transmission, hardware operation and maintenance, and software delivery and licensing. By entrusting these responsibilities to Grundfos, Yorkshire Water can focus on its core operations while benefiting from expert management of its telemetry infrastructure.
 

Cleaner water, smarter savings

The move to a fully managed DaaS model enables water companies to shift from reactive operations to proactive, prevention-focused management. By combining real-time telemetry, intelligent analytics and expert system oversight, the approach strengthens regulatory compliance, supports environmental protection and delivers more efficient, costeffective service.

Proactive identification and mitigation of CSOs significantly reduces the risk of pollution events, protecting the environment and local ecosystems. This preventive approach also translates to cost savings by minimising clean-up expenses and the risk of fines associated with data gaps and spills.

Beyond regulatory compliance and environmental protection, the solution offers operational efficiencies through automated workflows and predictive maintenance. These features streamline operations, reduce response times and optimise resource allocation. Real-time data and advanced analytics enhance network visibility, providing valuable insights into network performance for better decision-making and proactive management in the long term.

The benefits extend beyond technology, thanks to the provision of a dedicated Grundfos project manager working with Yorkshire Water for the past five years. They are responsible for managing customer scheduling for maintenance crews, coordinating traffic management and site access, serving as the primary point of contact between Yorkshire Water and installation crews, ensuring clear communication and feedback, and providing direct customer care and support.

Finally, the agnostic nature of the Grundfos analytics software allows for the integration of data from various devices and systems, enabling comprehensive network analysis and informed strategic planning based on data-driven insights. With regulators urging water companies to share data across regions, this could facilitate better sharing of data and insight across the whole of the UK water sector – promoting collaborative solutions.

“Proactive management of CSOs is already proving highly beneficial to Yorkshire Water,” says Adam Thompson, Operational Manager, Yorkshire Water. “The data and events generated by the CSO Monitoring System has allowed early detection of incidents and their location, resulting in earlier, more effective corrective action when necessary.”