Puraffinity, a start-up developing technologies which remove PFAS from water, has announced plans to scale, following the appointment of Vincent Caillaud as its new CEO and securing £6.73 million in new investment from BGF.

Mr Caillaud brings exceptional industry experience, with more than 20 years working in the water sector. He was previously CEO of Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, a global water technology business unit within the world’s largest water, energy and waste management company, Veolia.

BGF’s investment completes Puraffinity’s £16.93 million Series A funding round, following existing funding from Octopus Ventures, HG Ventures, Kindred Capital, and Verve Ventures, as well as materials science sector specialist fund Universal Materials Incubator Co (UMI).

The funding is intended to allow Puraffinity to scale up production of its patented, PFAS-capturing material, “Puratech ®”, “to meet exceptionally strong and growing demand across multiple sectors”. It will also support the company’s work developing fresh commercial applications that use Puraffinity’s patented materials.

Founded in 2015 by Henrik Hagemann & Gabi Santosa and spun out of Imperial College London, Puraffinity provides a differentiated solution to the world’s ever-growing PFAS problem as its technology consistently and reliably removes PFAS from water, in a much more cost-effective manner compared with conventional treatments.

Puraffinity said its precision technologies place it at the forefront of the fight against PFAS, which have been linked to multiple health issues, including cancer. Developed in the 1940s, PFAS’ molecular make-up makes them resistant to water, grease and oil, meaning they have multiple industrial uses. However, these same qualities make them hard to destroy, hence the name “forever chemicals”, and according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, they have entered water supplies worldwide, with an estimated 97 percent of people having PFAS in their bodies.

International regulators are examining bans or limits on the amount of PFAS drinking water can contain in an attempt to tackle the estimated €16 trillion annual cost of environmental remediation and healthcare costs.

Puratech, described as a breakthrough adsorbent media that Puraffinity has developed, can be applied across use cases as it features a customisable plug-in solution that fits into any existing water treatment system. Puratech can also be tailored to capture specific PFAS compounds, ensuring that global users can meet the regulatory standards of different markets.

The high-performing material also adopts a green chemistry technology which, according to Systemiq 2022, results in 60 percent less carbon emissions in its manufacturing than existing petroleum-based products.

“Attracting such a respected water industry figure as Vincent, alongside investment from BGF underlines not only the progress Puraffinity has already made, but the incredible potential of the business, said Henrik Hagemann, founder and chief product & innovation officer at Puraffinity, “The new management structure will allow me to focus on accelerating our existing technologies and developing new product roadmaps, confident that Puraffinity’s business development is assured with Vincent as CEO.”

Vincent Caillaud, CEO of Puraffinity, said: “At Puraffinity, we are delighted to join BGF’s growing network of climate tech start-ups as the company continues on its mission of providing PFAS-safe water to the world. With BGF’s expertise in helping start-ups in breakthrough technologies achieve transformational growth, we look forward to meaningfully expanding our commercial capability and extending the global reach of our patented PFAS-removal solutions.”

“Puraffinity is well-positioned to fulfil its vision of bringing PFAS-safe water to one billion people by 2030,” said Luke Rajah, investor at BGF. “BGF is thrilled to work with Puraffinity as it enters a new phase of rapid, global growth, taking a meaningful step towards enhancing water safety. BGF has developed a strong reputation for identifying and providing early-stage support for companies creating technologies which not only have huge potential but offer huge societal benefits.”

A new filtration material developed by researchers at MIT might provide a nature-based solution to PFAS contamination, an obviously stubborn issue. The material, based on natural silk and cellulose, can seemingly remove a wide variety of these persistent chemicals as well as heavy metals. And, its antimicrobial properties can help keep the filters from fouling.

The findings are described in the journal ACS  Nano, in a paper by MIT postdoc Yilin Zhang, professor of civil and environmental engineering Benedetto Marelli, and four others from MIT.

PFAS chemicals are present in a wide range of products, including cosmetics, food packaging, water-resistant clothing, firefighting foams, and antistick coating for cookware. A recent study identified 57,000 sites contaminated by these chemicals in the U.S. alone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that PFAS remediation will cost $1.5 billion per year, in order to meet new regulations that call for limiting the compound to less than 7 parts per trillion in drinking water.

Contamination by PFAS and similar compounds “is actually a very big deal, and current solutions may only partially resolve this problem very efficiently or economically,” Zhang says. “That’s why we came up with this protein and cellulose-based, fully natural solution,” he says.

“We came to the project by chance,” Marelli notes. The initial technology that made the filtration material possible was developed by his group for a completely unrelated purpose — as a way to make a labelling system to counter the spread of counterfeit seeds, which are often of inferior quality. His team devised a way of processing silk proteins into uniform nanoscale crystals, or “nanofibrils,” through an environmentally benign, water-based drop-casting method at room temperature.

Zhang suggested that their new nanofibrillar material might be effective at filtering contaminants, but initial attempts with the silk nanofibrils alone didn’t work. The team decided to try adding another material: cellulose, which is abundantly available and can be obtained from agricultural wood pulp waste. The researchers used a self-assembly method in which the silk fibroin protein is suspended in water and then templated into nanofibrils by inserting “seeds” of cellulose nanocrystals. This causes the previously disordered silk molecules to line up together along the seeds, forming the basis of a hybrid material with distinct new properties.

By integrating cellulose into the silk-based fibrils that could be formed into a thin membrane, and then tuning the electrical charge of the cellulose, the researchers produced a material that was highly effective at removing contaminants in lab tests.

The electrical charge of the cellulose, they found, also gave it strong antimicrobial properties. This is a significant advantage, since one of the primary causes of failure in filtration membranes is fouling by bacteria and fungi. The antimicrobial properties of this material should greatly reduce that fouling issue, the researchers say.

“These materials can really compete with the current standard materials in water filtration when it comes to extracting metal ions and these emerging contaminants, and they can also outperform some of them currently,” Marelli says. In lab tests, the materials were able to extract orders of magnitude more of the contaminants from water than the currently used standard materials, activated carbon or granular activated carbon.

While the new work serves as a proof of principle, Marelli says, the team plans to continue working on improving the material, especially in terms of durability and availability of source materials. While the silk proteins used can be available as a byproduct of the silk textile industry, if this material were to be scaled up to address the global needs for water filtration, the supply might be insufficient. Also, alternative protein materials may turn out to perform the same function at lower cost.

Initially, the material would likely be used as a point-of-use filter, something that could be attached to a kitchen faucet, Zhang says. Eventually, it could be scaled up to provide filtration for municipal water supplies, but only after testing demonstrates that this would not pose any risk of introducing any contamination into the water supply. But one big advantage of the material, he says, is that both the silk and the cellulose constituents are considered food-grade substances, so any contamination is unlikely.

“Most of the normal materials available today are focusing on one class of contaminants or solving single problems,” Zhang says. “I think we are among the first to address all of these simultaneously.”

The research team included MIT postdocs Hui Sun and Meng Li, graduate student Maxwell Kalinowski, and recent graduate Yunteng Cao PhD ’22, now a postdoc at Yale. The work was supported by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.

The Environment Agency’s director of water, Helen Wakeham, has discussed plans to increase scrutiny of water companies in England and Wales in a new water sector podcast.

Targeted recruitment campaigns, more site inspections and enhanced digital systems will drive better performance from the industry, Wakeham told the WiseOnWater Podcast: Conversations in Flow, from media specialist WiseOnWater and technology company Xylem UK & Ireland.

“We’ve an awful lot more investment in water regulation. We consulted earlier this year on increasing our charges for water quality discharges and we’ll use that to increase our scrutiny of water companies,” Wakeham told podcast host Natasha Wiseman.

Site inspections will increase to more than 10,000, to be supported by new recruits, including “boots on the ground” and data analysts, Wakeham said. “It’s a really exciting time. There are a lot of people around with loads of experience. It’s brilliant for those people to be joined by a new cohort with new ideas.

“Data can help us. When I started my career in 1990 it really was whack-a-mole. These days we can be a lot cleverer than that. We’ll be able to focus our effort on where we know the problems are. We’ll be able to visit the places that matter to people.”

Reflecting on the public’s heightened awareness of water quality, Wakeham said: “I think what started off as perhaps quite a narrow debate about storm overflows has brought the value of water to people’s attention. While some of those conversations are hard, it’s brilliant to have water very much more in the public consciousness. I think we’ve realised how central it is for all of us.”

The WiseOnWater podcast, which launched on 9 September 2024, is a monthly deep dive into the ever-changing landscape of the UK water sector.

Joining Wakeham on episode one is Margaret Read, director of policy at the National Infrastructure Commission, who explores the proposed £96 billion 2025-30 AMP8 investment.

She said: “We’ve got a lot of different issues to solve in the water sector. The first one which we’ve looked at in detail is the water supply question. We haven’t built any reservoirs in the UK for over 30 years and we’re facing a big gap between supply and demand.

“Secondly, we’ve got problems, as everybody knows, with water pollution and that requires a big investment to resolve. Then thirdly, we also need to maintain our existing assets. So, it does sound like a big amount of money, but we will need it – we also need to be realistic about what can be delivered over that period.”

Read urged regulators and government to “speak with one voice” and “be really clear with the public that there is a need for this new infrastructure and that they will have to pay for it”.
“That takes some political courage,” she added, “but it’s really important.”

For project delivery, Read said water companies need to collaborate more closely with each other and the supply chain to “solve these problems once rather than many times”.

Pollution reduction, nature-based solutions, smart metering, leakage, drought resilience and bill increases were among other conversation topics in the 30-minute podcast episode.

Episode two focuses on skills, recruitment and retention with guests Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water and Sarah McMath, chief executive of MOSL. Future episodes feature Wessex Water chief executive Colin Skellett and the managing director of Xylem UK & Ireland, Ian Thompson.

Wiseman, founder of WiseOnWater and non-profit news platform Make Water Famous, said: “In each episode of the WiseOnWater podcast we’ll bring together the brightest minds in water, from industry leaders and policymakers to engineers, communicators and researchers. These are the people tackling the pressing challenges of today and ensuring the future availability of our most precious resource.

“We are especially excited to be supported by Xylem UK & Ireland, who have a deep understanding of the needs of this sector. It has never been more important for organisations in water to explore new collaborative communications initiatives if we are to ensure a sustainable water future for the UK and beyond.”

Andrew Welsh, water utility sales director at Xylem, said: “At Xylem we believe that meaningful conversations are the cornerstone of progress in the water sector. Partnering with WiseOnWater to launch this podcast allows us to bring critical discussions to the forefront, driving awareness and collaboration on the most pressing water challenges.

“By connecting industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators, we aim to not only highlight the issues but also inspire actionable solutions that will shape a sustainable future for the UK’s water infrastructure.”

Episode one of the WiseOnWater podcast is available now on Spotify.

Regulations for hydrostatic pressure testing have taken a significant step forward with the release of Water UK’s Water Industry Standard for hydrostatic pressure testing of PE pipes, a move that will ensure the safety and reliability of the process, says Tony Kitchen of AHS Pipeline Innovation.

Water companies and contractors are adjusting to the requirements of the new Water Industry Standard 4-01-03, released in March 2024, which outlines the required standards for the hydrostatic pressure testing of polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene barrier pipes. The standard replaces previous guidelines from Information Guidance Notice 4-01-03.

The transition from an Industry Guidance Notice (IGN) to a Water Industry Standard (WIS) marks a shift towards more stringent and enforceable standards that aim to improve the safety and effectiveness of the pressure testing process.

WIS 4-01-03 specifies detailed procedures for pressure testing below-ground water supply pipelines and sewer rising mains comprised of PE and PE barrier pipes. It includes guidelines for testing entire systems as well as replacement sections and service connections.

The specifications emphasise the importance of considering the viscoelastic properties of PE, which exhibits what is known as creep behaviour – deformation that occurs when subjected to pressure over time.

Understanding the difference
It is important to understand the distinctions between WIS and IGN:

● An Information Guidance Notice serves as a set of recommendations or guidelines that offer advice on best practice but does not mandate specific actions or procedures.
● A Water Industry Standard is a more formal document that sets out mandatory requirements for products, materials or operational procedures. WIS documents are intended to ensure uniformity and compliance across the water industry, leading to more standardised and reliable outcomes.

Improving safety
The new WIS is designed to improve both the accuracy and safety of pressure testing which means there is now a zero-tolerance policy on pre-pressurisation. Key points are:

● The pipe must be at ambient pressure prior to testing
● If a test has failed, the operator must leave the pipe for four times the length of the ramp-up time before reattempting the test
● The operators must wait for two to three hours between filling and pressurising the pipeline. This takes into consideration the effects of thermal conditioning and allows the temperature of the pipe to stabilise once it has been filled.
● The allowable air content has now been reduced from 8 to 4 per cent
● The air content must also be accurately calculated during the ‘ramp-up’ stage as the pipeline is brought to system test pressure (STP). This means that the test can be immediately abandoned if it is over the acceptable limit.

What WIS means for contractors
There is no question that the new standard represents a significant step towards leak-free networks, but the new requirements potentially impose a greater burden on contractors. The stringent rules around correct preparation prior to testing, including pre-pressurisation, thermal conditioning, and calculating air content prior to starting the test, making it crucial to get the test right first time, to prevent wasting time and resources in retesting.

A reduction in the allowable air content means less margin for error, which highlights, from a compliance and cost perspective, the importance of contractors carefully managing their own and subcontracted pipeline pressure testing.

Due to the increasing complexity of hydrostatic pressure testing and varying levels of expertise among technicians and operators, some pressure testing providers may not meet the standards outlined in the WIS and could lack the knowledge or skills to correctly prepare the pipe for testing.

Contractors must ensure that all pressure testing activity is fully compliant with the new WIS specifications. Substandard testing potentially creates dangerous situations, with risk to life and limb, if air is not properly removed from the pipeline.

It is crucial for contractors to select subcontractors with proven compliance to ensure the safety and reliability of their projects if they are to maintain both contractual obligations and a good reputation in the industry.

Proven expertise
AHS Pipeline Innovation is recognised as an industry leader in hydrostatic pressure testing with over 20 years of experience and almost 50,000 tests completed. The proven expertise of AHS allowed the company to play a key role in the development of the new WIS as part of a multidisciplinary panel which included pipe manufacturers, water company representatives and trade organisations.

Careful consideration was given to onsite implementation of the new requirements, and how contractors can be supported in meeting the standard.

Pressure testing services at AHS are already fully compliant with WIS 4-01-03 and incorporate the latest technology and real-time assistance from the company’s in-house analyst teams to give contractors unrivalled support throughout the testing process, ensuring that testing is right first-time.

AHS is equipped to guide and support teams in adopting these new standards so that their pipeline operations meet the necessary requirements. Should water companies and contractors be unsure about how WIS 4-01-03 affects their operations, or require support to ensure compliance, AHS is available to provide the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate this transition smoothly and effectively.

WIS 4-01-03 not only mandates stricter controls over variables like air content, ambient pressure and temperature, it also effectively identifies and removes any activities undertaken onsite that can affect test performance. Importantly, it reintroduces rules that had been relaxed in previous guidance, restoring rigorous standards that are essential for maintaining the integrity of water systems and creating more defined regulatory expectations.

In addition, pressure tests carried out in accordance with the WIS are measured using sophisticated algorithms that deliver definitive test outcomes, ensuring clarity and reliability.

At a time when the water sector is experiencing reputational challenges, WIS 4-01-03 represents an opportunity for water companies and contractors to get it right from the start. By carefully navigating these changes, and ensuring that every test not only meets but exceeds the latest standards for safety and efficiency, they can mitigate risk to the public and their own teams altogether.

The water sector needs to build infrastructure at scale over the coming decades. Ahead of her keynote address to the Water Industry Forum on 25 September, Sharon Darcy, chair of the Linear Infrastructure Planning Panel, says competing demands with other sectors over allocation of resources means a collaborative approach is vital.

The water industry faces a monumental challenge: delivering the vast infrastructure needed to meet future demands, while navigating a complex landscape of competing projects in energy, transport and communications.

Projects with robust early stakeholder engagement are more likely to result in success, which is why the Linear Infrastructure Planning Panel (LIPP) works across utility sectors, with representatives from community groups, non-governmental organisations and other external stakeholders, to develop a common language and leading practice on infrastructure planning.

At the Water Industry Forum’s annual dinner in Leeds on 25 September, cross-sector research and insights from LIPP will be shared, which show how planning consent for infrastructure projects can be achieved, and how critical initiatives can be developed and delivered in a cost-effective way that builds community support.

Balancing needs
Balancing national and local needs in infrastructure planning decisions is notoriously difficult, but it is a challenge that needs to be faced if the water sector is going to deliver on net zero carbon, resilience and other national goals. Founded in 2023, LIPP aims to listen and incorporate the perspectives of key public interest stakeholders, including social and environmental groups, in the development of good practice and ethical approaches to the implementation of new techniques, including algorithms and advanced software tools, in linear infrastructure planning.

LIPP published a white paper in March 2024, ‘Delivering net zero, resilience and nature recovery: How new tools and approaches can transform infrastructure planning’, which has already fed into UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee reporting on sustainable electrification. The report draws on intensive engagement with key stakeholders and looks at the social, environmental and economic metrics used in the spatial planning of infrastructure such as electricity transmission lines and major water pipelines.

It highlights new technologies and the changes needed to procurement processes to ensure successful delivery of infrastructure that is essential in meeting net zero targets and resilience to climate impacts. The paper also explores ways of managing uncertainty when developing metrics in these areas, including the need for robust data and ways of ranking and weighing-up different metrics.

Informed decision-making
England faces a critical land shortage. A growing population needs to be housed, while producing enough food, protecting nature and tackling climate change. Despite the intense competition for land, there is no system in place to manage it effectively.

Attendees at the WIF annual dinner will hear a swathe of insights from other industries, such as energy, which can be drawn on to help the water sector navigate current and future challenges. The energy sector is grappling with challenges in grid development, with public opposition to the expansion of power lines needed to transport renewable energy to population centres.

The water sector can learn from these experiences by integrating technical and spatial planning much earlier in the decision-making process. The recent King’s Speech outlining the new Planning & Infrastructure Bill acknowledges the need for advanced spatial planning that considers multiple infrastructure sectors.

By joining up technical planning with spatial planning, learning from other sectors, and through early strategic stakeholder engagement, I believe the water sector will be well-placed to streamline the infrastructure planning process and delivery into the next asset management plan (AMP) period – 2025-30, and beyond.

Sharon Darcy will address the Water Industry Forum Annual Dinner in Leeds on 25 September 2024. To register, visit https://www.britishwater.co.uk/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1841149&group=

Existing technologies for atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) are saddled with numerous downsides associated with size, cost and efficiency. But new research has yielded insights that could improve efficiencies and bring the world one step closer to tapping the air as a culinary water source in arid places.

The study – from University of Utah engineering researchers – presents what’s described as a first-of-its-kind compact rapid cycling fuel-fired AWH device. This two-step prototype relies on adsorbent materials that draw water molecules out of non-humid air, then applies heat to release those molecules into liquid form, according to Sameer Rao, senior author of the study and an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

“Hygroscopic materials intrinsically have affinity to water. They soak up water wherever you go. One of the best examples is the stuff inside diapers,” said Rao, who happens to be the father of an infant son. “We work with a specific type of hygroscopic material called a metal organic framework.”

Rao likened metal organic frameworks to Lego blocks, which can be rearranged to build all sorts of structures. It this case they are arranged to create a molecule ideal for gas separation.

“They can make it specific to adsorb water vapor from the air and nothing else. They’re really selective,” Rao said. Developed with graduate student Nathan Ortiz, the study’s lead author, this prototype uses aluminum fumarate that was fashioned into panels that collect the water as air is drawn through.

“The water molecules themselves get trapped on the surfaces of our material, and that’s a reversible process. And so instead of becoming ingrained into the material itself, it sits on the walls,” Ortiz said. “What’s special about these absorbent materials is they have just an immense amount of internal surface area. There’s so many sites for water molecules to get stuck.”

Just a gram of this material holds as much surface area as two football fields, according to Rao. So just a little material can capture a lot of water.

“All of this surface area is at the molecular scale,” Rao said. “And that’s awesome for us because we want to trap water vapor onto that surface area within the pores of this material.”

Funding for the research came from the DEVCOM Soldier Center, a program run by the Department of Defense to facilitate technology transfer that supports Army modernization. The Army’s interest in the project stems from the need to keep soldiers hydrated while operating in remote areas with few water sources.

“We specifically looked at this for defense applications so that soldiers have a small compact water generation unit and don’t need to lug around a large canteen filled with water,” Rao said. “This would literally produce water on demand.”

Rao and Ortiz have filed for a preliminary patent based on the technology, which addresses non-military needs as well.

“As we were designing the system, I think we also had perspective of the broader water problem. It’s not just a defense issue, it’s very much a civilian issue,” Rao said. “We think in terms water consumption of a household for drinking water per day. That’s about 15 to 20 liters per day.”

In this proof of concept, the prototype achieved its target of producing 5 liters of water per day per kilogram of adsorbent material. In a matter of three days in the field, this devise would outperform packing water, according to Ortiz.

In the device’s second step, the water is precipitated into liquid by applying heat using a standard-issue Army camping stove. This works because of the exothermic nature of its water collecting process.

“As it collects water, it’s releasing little bits of heat. And then to reverse that, we add heat,” Ortiz said. “We just put a flame right under here, anything to get this temperature up. And then as we increase the temperature, we rapidly release the water molecules. Once we have a really humid airstream, that makes condensation at ambient temperature much easier.”

Nascent technologies abound for atmospheric water harvesting, which is more easily accomplished when the air is humid, but none has resulted in equipment that can be put to practical use in arid environments. Ortiz believes his device can be the first, mainly because it is powered with energy-dense fuel like the white gasoline used in camping stoves.

The team decided against using photovoltaics.

“If you’re reliant on solar panels, you’re limited to daytime operation or you need batteries, which is just more weight. You keep stacking challenges. It just takes up so much space,” Ortiz said. “This technology is superior in arid conditions, while refrigeration is best in high humidity.”

New research appears to find that the number of water scarcity events in Scotland could double by 2050, presenting a need for key industries to do more to adapt.

The research, led by The James Hutton Institute, focused on how climate change is impacting water availability for the farming and whisky sectors, which could be left increasingly high and dry.

In some catchments, it found that surface water scarcity events, where river levels drop to significantly low levels, could increase in frequency from one every five years to every other year – or even more often, potentially meaning more restrictions on using these waters.

The study was commissioned by Scotland’s Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW), which is based at the Hutton, with partners at Scotland’s Rural College, the University of Aberdeen and the British Geological Survey.

Dr Miriam Glendell, who co-led the work at the Hutton, said, “We found that, for many, water scarcity is already an increasing issue. At critical times of the year, even short periods of water shortage could lead to vegetable and fruit crop failure.

“Some are already taking measures to adapt, particularly in the distilling sector, where technical advances could help reduce their need for water for cooling, but many could be at risk if they don’t take more action.

“Our work suggests more information would help them, about resources, but also adaptation strategies they can take, as well as help funding these and collaborating across catchments over resources.”

The study found that April/May and late August/September, in particular, are expected to be noticeably drier, potentially impacting crop yields and livestock gains.

Recommendations included using more efficient irrigation methods, avoiding the introduction of more water demanding crops, increasing water harvesting and storage of water during wetter months.

While using groundwater was seen as a potential way to address water shortages, more information was needed on where and when this could be a viable option. In some areas, summer groundwater levels have been lower in recent years, compared with previous decades. Areas with low groundwater storage capacity and decreasing groundwater recharge are likely to become increasingly vulnerable to drought.

To support these areas, British Geological Survey and the University of Aberdeen developed a new framework to help estimate groundwater resilience.

The report also suggests that increased monitoring could help, as well as improved coordination of water resources use across catchments and the provision of adaptation advice and funding was also recommended.

Dr Kirsty Blackstock, who co-led the work at the Hutton, says: “Water scarcity is a clear risk to business resilience and, once aware of these risks, participants were looking for solutions. But more information is needed on potential returns on investment and how the solutions can fit in with existing farm practices. Clarity on funding opportunities for these interventions in the new Agricultural Payments Tiers would also help them to adapt.”

The project team also recommended cross-sector coordination to prepare for future water extremes and a greater role for river catchment partnerships to coordinate use of water resources at landscape scale.

A link to the report can be found Future Predictions of Water Scarcity in Scotland: Impacts to Distilleries and Agricultural Abstractors.

A groundbreaking new reconstruction of 19th-century Britain’s water resources has revealed how limited access to waterpower during the Industrial Revolution helped drive the adoption of steam engines in Greater Manchester’s Cottonopolis.

Geographers and historians from the UK and Australia are behind the research, which reveals for the first time that local water shortages during the rapid expansion of the area’s textile factories likely played a role in their switch to steam power.

The research provides new information on the complex factors which drove Britain’s transition to steam power. Textile mills, traditionally powered by water wheels, were among the first industries to expand into new types of factories, which used machinery initially powered by water but soon adopted coal-powered steam engines to meet demand for their products.

Historians have long debated to what degree the Britain’s transition from water to steam power was influenced by British industry’s inability to access sufficient waterpower to support the needs of the country’s factories.

The team set out to investigate the issue by building an unprecedentedly-detailed geomorphological reconstruction of the water power resources available to 15,500 different mill sites in Britain.

Their high-resolution model was bolstered by historical climate data and the information contained in the 1838 Factory Return, the earliest comprehensive report on power use in textile mills.

They found that access to water power was in fact abundant across Britain as the Industrial Revolution gained pace, with one exception – Greater Manchester, one of the centres of the country’s booming cotton industry.

The researchers found that utilisation of most counties’ total water power across Britain was low, running from less than 2% to 14% in the most industrialised areas. Cottonopolis was the notable exception to that under-utilisation, with some of the most crowded Greater Manchester river tributaries reaching far beyond their power capacity.

The team suggest that as the Mersey Basin became increasingly crowded with factories as market demand increased, mill owners were forced to move towards steam power because the river could not provide sufficient waterpower to meet their needs.

The switch to steam was also likely compounded by the early 19^th century’s unusually dry climate, which further reduced local access to water. As mills sought the most efficient way to maximise their limited access to water, owners adopted steam engines more rapidly, providing a template for industrialisation that factories across the country would soon adopt.

The team’s results are published in a new paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus.

Dr Tara Jonell, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, is the paper’s lead and corresponding author. She said: “The First Industrial Revolution is one of the most intensely studied periods in British history, but our understanding of the factors that drove the widespread adoption of steam power is still incomplete.

“Our research draws together a vast amount of data to produce the first analysis of historical waterpower potential during a key period in British history, allowing us to scrutinise how much access mills of all sizes had to water during the Industrial Revolution.

“The fact that water was widely available around the country runs counter to some explanations of the shift to steam, such as an energy crisis caused by a water shortage. It also provides additional context for our understanding of how and why Cottonopolis embraced steam power quite early.

“We were fascinated to see for the first time that the cooler, drier climate conditions in Britain may have played a role in Cottonopolis’ shift from waterpower towards widespread use of steam power, in addition to the well-understood historical context of the cotton industry boom.”

The researchers found that manufacturers across other parts of the country, who had more ready access to water, often took a hybrid approach to generating their power. The team’s research further supports growing evidence that steam engines were first used as a supplementary power source to water wheels as waterpower use continued well into the latter half of the 19^th century, longer than commonly believed.

The findings challenge the common view that the transition to steam power was sudden and sweeping. “The use of hybrid power systems was often an astute, best-business practice,” added Dr Jonell.

Dr Adam Lucas, of the University of Wollongong, is a co-author of the paper and co-investigator on the team’s ongoing research project. He said: “A common assumption is that British industry embraced steam power quickly, abandoning by the early 19th century the water power that had driven mills in Britain for nearly 2,000 years in favour of the perceived technological superiority of steam. Our research supports a growing consensus which has emerged over the last decade or two that the transition was in fact far more complex, and varied significantly from region to region.

“As our planet continues to heat up today as a result of fossil fuel use which accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, governments around the world are being urged to make new climate-driven decisions about power generation. We hope that research like ours can help provide new historical context for those important discussions.”

The team’s paper, titled ‘Limited waterpower contributed to rise of steam power in British ‘Cottonopolis’’, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus.

The research, which is part of the ongoing ‘Away from the Water: the First Energy Transition, British Textiles 1770 – 1890’ project, was supported by funding from the Leverhulme Trust.

An acoustic fixed-base pipe monitoring technology that uses fire hydrants to host multi-sensor devices, has already found more than 30 leaks for Kansas City Water, says Lou Rossetti senior vice president of sales North America at Orbis Intelligent Systems.

Non-revenue water loss in Kansas City, Missouri, is being driven down by a successful collaboration between the municipality and California-based technology company Orbis. The partnership began in September 2022, with the installation of 150 Orbis SmartCap telemetry leak detection devices on fire hydrants and over 30 leaks have already been found.

The water network in Kansas City comprises 2,300 miles of water pipes and distributes up to 240 million gallons of water a day, serving over 450,000 people. Much of the pipework is legacy infrastructure, installed within busy commercial and residential areas.

The water loss experienced ranges from small leaks in the service lines taking water to properties, to large breaks on the distribution mains traversing the city, where water can become visible as it breaks through roads and sidewalks, causing major disruption in busy areas.

The municipality is proactively reducing water loss in the distribution system, not only for visible leaks but by incorporating early detection for leaks hidden deep underground. Existing technologies could not always meet the demands of Missouri’s variable weather conditions, or the need of technicians to easily relocate and deploy leak detection equipment at short notice.

Engineers and technicians at Kansas City Water were looking for a more effective leak detection system that was robust, and adaptable and took advantage of existing urban infrastructure to build resilience. They also wanted to make a shift from reactive decision-making to data-led proactive operations by integrating smart water technologies into drinking water infrastructure systems.

Deployment details
Having demonstrated the capability of Orbis Smart Caps, a second order was placed in September 2023, and Kansas City Water now has 150 devices in operation in the city as part of a proactive campaign to reduce leakage on the water network. To date they have been placed in the popular Plaza area in downtown Kansas City and in a residential area, acting as initial deployment sites.

Alongside the installed SmartCaps, Kansas City Water technicians have been trained on the Orbis cloud-based Streamline portal, where they can regularly check and identify warnings for potential leaks coming from the installed devices.

James Binkley, manager for meter field services at Kansas City Water said, “Since the SmartCaps have been installed, we have found 30 plus leaks. The ease of deployment and the plug-and-play strength of the SmartCaps has been a huge positive for us as we can strategically plan when and where to place them.”

The SmartCap’s pinpoint accuracy enables Kansas City Water repair teams to quickly locate underground leaks and, once an area has been fully surveyed and all existing leaks, as well as any smaller and emerging leaks, have been found, it is possible to easily relocate the caps if needed.

Telemetry data
The Orbis SmartCap is an intelligent fire hydrant and pipe monitoring device that enables remote leak detection by providing intelligent network data from a multi-sensor. Packaged into a fire hydrant, the device can convert any fire hydrant, be that wet or dry barrel hydrants or legacy hydrants, into a smart-enabled asset simply by replacing the pumper nozzle cap.

Once installed, the SmartCap emits a secure wireless signal to the cloud with algorithms enabling the SmartCap sensors to interact and connect with each other. SmartCaps use GPS to show accurate leak locations with time-stamps capturing acoustic data.

Data uploads from the connected SmartCaps allow analysis of sounds for accurate pinpointing of leaks. The Streamline portal and dashboard provide actionable alert notifications and identify locations for corrective action to enable near real-time, auto-generated, reporting for network efficiency.

Alert notifications on parameters including leakage, tamper, flow, and pipe conditions can be viewed on the portal online or through an application programming interface (API) on a utility’s in-house database. The portal gives a distance, in feet, from the hydrant, making pinpointing exact locations easier.

This actionable intelligence enables utilities and municipalities to manage water network operations efficiently and effectively.

Cost savings
Drinking water systems in the US currently lose at least six billion gallons of water every day and a water main break occurs every two minutes, according to figures from the American Society of Civil Engineering – which says the country lost an estimated US$7.6 billion of treated water in 2021 due to leaks.

Additionally, for Kansas City Water, some of the potable water leaking from water mains makes its way into the sewer system by infiltration. This adds to the volume being treated at the wastewater treatment plant, increasing costs and increasing strain on the plant.

Implementing Orbis SmartCaps has achieved significant water and cost-savings by alerting Kansas City Water to leaks which would otherwise have continued for weeks, even months.

The SmartCap’s remote monitoring capability means no labor resource is required onsite to detect the leaks. However, the biggest savings come from the prevention of future water losses and by lowering the risk of major infrastructure damage and the costly legal claims that can result from a water main break.

Nicholas Wolf, utility superintendent for leakage investigations at Kansas City Water said, “The team who are trained on Streamline portal can look for the alerts presented on the network map and can even hone-in and listen to individual SmartCaps to determine risk and whether to escalate it into action.

“The Streamline portal can easily pick up the difference between high water usage, versus line-breaks, in a way that was not possible before. All of this information and data can be interpreted, analyzed, and conveyed to maintenance crews.”

Orbis supports Kansas City Water with technical support where queries arise, with follow-up meetings and on-hand emergency contacts made readily available. Training on the Streamline portal is also available to ensure the software’s use is maximized and expanded as software developments are made.

Kansas City Water says the municipality expects to expand the use of SmartCaps once the results from rollout of the second order become evident.

A ground-breaking project that is enabling continuous remote monitoring of a 16km trunk main has been recognised at the Water Industry Awards.

The Blairlinnans SoundPrint Acoustic Fibre Optic System, a joint project between Xylem and Scottish Water – and described as a European first, was named Asset Management Initiative of the Year at the awards ceremony on 4 July 2024.

The Blairlinnans water main is a 42 inch (1,067mm) pre-stressed concrete (PSC) pipeline that runs from the Blairlinnans Water Treatment Works to a service reservoir in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The pipeline was installed in 1974 and is critical to the ongoing operation of Scottish Water’s supply network.

Scottish Water identified the main as a high-risk asset, which prompted a complete engineering assessment to understand its true condition and prevent an unexpected burst.

Inspections using Xylem’s SmartBall and PipeDiver technologies provided the data necessary to conduct a thorough engineering analysis. The insights showed while most of the pipeline was in good condition, several sections had broken pre-stressed wires, which are critical to support operational pressures. If the wires break, a trunk main can lose its structural integrity, with a risk of failure.

In the first project of its kind in Europe, Scottish Water selected Xylem’s SoundPrint Acoustic Fibre Optic (AFO) system to continually monitor sections of the pipeline. SoundPrint AFO detects breaks in the pre-stressing wire that hold PSC pipelines together.

The system set-up comprises bundled, reinforced fibre-optic cable fed though the water main, which is connected to a data acquisition system to monitor the acoustic activity in near real-time. If a wire break occurs, it is detected by the AFO system, which is connected to Xylem’s AFO analysts via the cellular network.

Wire break events are investigated by the analysts and with the help of machine learning, the break location is pinpointed. An email notification is sent to the customer and the results posted on a cloud-based system, which displays the pipeline status on colour-coded dashboards.

The monitoring, combined with further analysis by Xylem’s engineering service, enables utilities to make proactive decisions about which sections of pipe need to be replaced or repaired as deterioration continues over time.

Ian Dunsmore, team leader – strategic water infrastructure at Scottish Water, said: “Replacement of major pipelines is often cost prohibitive, extremely complex and causes major disruption – however it is rare that the entire pipeline needs to be replaced.

“Leveraging Xylem’s AFO system and engineering experience enabled us to understand the true condition of the Blairlinnans water main at a single point in time and have confidence that the pipeline is being continuously monitored for any further deterioration. It is great news that the success of this joint initiative has been recognised by the sector.”

Andrew Welsh, water utility director at Xylem said: “Xylem is extremely proud that this innovative partnership with Scottish Water has been recognised by the Water Industry Awards.

“The AFO system has enabled Scottish Water to reduce the risk of failure by pre-emptively repairing areas known to be in poor condition, make significant cost savings by extending the life of remaining pipe sections and minimise disruptions to customers, while maintaining the utility’s reputation as a forward-thinking, reliable service provider.”