Smart Water Company of the Year
SUEZ
What is it?
A global water, waste and energy services provider deploying smart water solutions to its utility customers.
What has it done?
Suez is blazing the trail in bringing the digital water revolution to utilities across the world. Nowhere was this more prevalent in 2016 than in North America, where by the end of the year it had installed over 100,000 smart water meters, leak detectors and turbidity sensors as part of its mission to build the largest smart water network in the United States.
What makes it special?
Suez’s vision of reading every meter, every hour, every day has seen the installation of a wireless network covering more than 150 towns and cities in an area of 1,000 square miles. This ‘Smart Utility’ network in the United States is enabling the company to streamline its billing operations and bring in millions of dollars of extra revenue.
Its proprietary market-leading Aquadvanced platform provides a wide range of real-time options such as smart control panels, trend anticipation tools affecting the control of water and sanitation systems, and cutting-edge data analysis techniques.
Recognising the crucial role digital solutions will play in wastewater networks, Suez added the Urban Drainage solution to its Aquadvanced range in 2016.
Suez’s versatility lies in its ability to bring all the elements of the value chain together to deploy a smart solution, sitting above the network to collect data from disparate sources in order to offer utilities insights on operational efficiencies. Its mantra of ‘solutions developed by a water operator for water operators’ has given it a head start in the battle for water’s digital future.
Distinction
Xylem
What is it?
A publicly listed water equipment and analytics company.
What has it done?
Xylem was involved in one of the most exciting deals of 2016 in the water sector, when it acquired smart utility infrastructure specialist Sensus for $1.7 billion. The follow-up purchase of water analytics start-up Visenti helped propel Xylem to the forefront of the smart water space.
What makes it special?
Following two rapid-fire acquisitions, Xylem has put itself in pole position to offer its clients a truly integrated suite of digital solutions. It can combine Sensus’ second-to-none capabilities in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), data analytics and network technologies with its core equipment business of pumps, sensors and treatment systems to create a formidable value proposition.
Access to Sensus’ proprietary FlexNet communications network technology, which allows the secure transfer of data from smart meters and sensors to an analytics platform, means Xylem is perfectly positioned to capitalise on demand for AMI solutions, a segment which is growing much more rapidly than the total metering space.
Xylem has also changed the game in wastewater management, launching its Flygt Concertor pre-engineered pumping system, which detects operating conditions and adapts its performance in real time to significantly reduce clogging and pump downtime. Its pilot system on aircraft wastewater at London’s Heathrow airport resulted in clog-free operations on a high solids feed, as well as more than halving energy consumption.
The Global Water Awards 2018 is proudly sponsored by:
