Servelec Technologies has been awarded a contract by the UK’s Portsmouth Water for the use of its FlowSure self-learning software to help manage its supply network and reduce leakage.

The software analyses readily available real-time data. It uses algorithms operating in an artificial neural network to detect anomalies and automatically identify when bursts or other significant network events happen or are about to occur.

The award of the contract follows a whole company, six month competitive trial. According to Servelec, the software detected 322 genuine anomalies during the trial period, of which 43 were bursts.

According to a statement from Servelec, Jamie Jones, Distribution Project Manager at Portsmouth Water, commented: ‘FlowSure has proven itself to be an essential tool to enable us to respond quickly to emerging bursts, blockages and other network events… During the trial, FlowSure detected 322 anomalies which included signal and data issues, engineering events, instances of low pressure and genuine bursts detected in a matter of hours of them occurring.’

According to Servelec, the software can be used on supply and wastewater networks. It provides information in the form of dashboards, maps, pipe views and alarms. The company says costs benefit analysis based on trials show that larger water companies such as Portsmouth Water can achieve ‘annual six-figure net savings’ by using the software.