Lead Pipe Replacement and Plumbosolvency
The prominence and prevalence of lead in our water supply (lead pollution/ plumbosolvency) can lead to issues in human health. For many years the water sector has had to control this with orthophosphate chemical dosing, adding additional cost to the treatment process.
In this AMP (water sector regulatory period 2020-25), SWW has secured funding from the Green Recovery Programme to carry out a suite of interventions to improve outcomes for our customers in key areas of lead pipe replacement and broader issues of lead pollution, improving drinking water quality by removing traces of lead in our water supply.
Essentially, if lead and lead pipes are removed, orthophosphate dosing can be reduced (or removed) and less dosing means fewer chemical treatment processes. All this results in benefits against a triple bottom-line of people, profit, planet through:
- improved health outcomes for our customers through improved drinking water quality
- reduced cost to the business to supply the drinking water
- carbon reduction supporting our efforts to reach net zero by 2030
This project proposes to develop an upgraded to SWWs ‘Lead Model’, used to predict the location of lead pipes in water supply network the South West region. The upgraded model will utilise data already obtained by SWW, whilst also employing machine learning and artificial intelligence to update the model based on inputting findings and data throughout, which will help bridge gaps in the existing data.
Project Team
- Prof. Raziyeh Farmani, Professor of Water Engineering and Fellow of International Water Association
- Prof. Ed Keedwell, Professor of Artificial Intelligence
- Louise Newstead, Programme Manager, South West water
- Jason Harvey, South West Water
Funded by
- South West Water
- University of Exeter
