Northumbrian Water
We’ve worked collaboratively with Northumbrian Water for over 25 years. We share facilities and deliver novel approaches to enhance water and wastewater treatments.
Our relationship with Northumbrian Water (NWG) maximises the use of water and advances techniques to generate energy from water.
Our collaborative research generates real-world solutions to water related issues. This includes:
- Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
- internships
- post-doctorates
- undergraduate programmes
- summer placements
Our sponsorship of their annual innovation festival allows us to support innovative research sprints.
FairWater
FairWater is a collaborative project with Northumbria Water Group, alongside industry partners:
- National Energy Action
- Procter & Gamble
- Northern Gas Networks
The overarching aim is to reduce household water consumption, particularly hot water, to help reduce bills for customers.
The project is testing and developing more effective and sustainable water and energy solutions for people’s homes. This includes those on low-incomes, the elderly and vulnerable.
So far the project has:
- installed 159 water sensors, 54 shower sensors and 44 smart plugs on washing machines and dishwashers in 55 households
- installed smart water metres along with low power radio to support data transmission
- started experiments with households for clothes washing, dishwashing, showering and toilet use
Chris Jones, Research & Development Manager, Northumbrian Water Group said
'FairWater has been possible thanks to NWG’s longstanding and multi-disciplinary partnership with Newcastle University. The project involves teams across business, social science, computing, geospatial and, of course, water.
The success of FairWater relies on the trust and understanding between our two organisations. It builds on the strong relationships that both NWG and Newcastle University have with the other project partners. This is essential for coping with the uncertainty and risk inherent in cutting edge research and innovation.
NWG’s strategic ambition steers our collaborative research and the outcomes we aspire to for our customers and environment. This is focused through Newcastle University's lens of internationally leading science to deliver both local and global impact.'
Commercialisation of research into reduction of energy from water treatment
Newcastle University and NWG are at the forefront of Microbial Electrochemical Technology (MET) research and development. After years of pilot-testing and developing the technology and IP, the team now aims to advance it further through commercialisation.
The resulting spin-out company, METzero can help wastewater treatment plants increase their capacity. It can also reduce the energy costs of treatment whilst also reducing their carbon emissions. It is hoped that METzero can complement existing treatment technologies and help bring the sector closer to net zero. Dr Pavlina Theodosiou, the academic leading MetZero, received a prestigious Enterprise Fellowship. This was awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering earlier this year, to support her as the company’s CEO.
Digital twin - a world first
A digital replica of Newcastle’s entire water infrastructure is being developed. This will allow real-time resilience testing. It will ensure a rapid response to events such as flooding and drought. And it will inform future investment decisions.
Newcastle University researchers are working in partnership with Northumbrian Water to develop this ‘digital twin’. It is technology used in manufacturing and Formula One. The technology has never before been applied to infrastructure across an entire city. It will help to prepare Newcastle for everything from flooding caused by burst water mains to the long-term impacts of climate change.
The digital twin will allow engineers to model the impact of thousands of potential scenarios and take preventative action where necessary. Equipment failure could be modelled in the digital world, for example, and contingency plans put in place long before it became a problem. But the computer model will also play a crucial role in dealing with any problems as they happen.
During a flooding event engineers could use the model to pinpoint the best course of action to resolve the issue. It could provide real-time information to the city council and emergency services. It could even predict which properties are likely to come under threat. It will enable the authorities to act decisively to protect homes and businesses.
National Green Infrastructure Facility
Part of the Newcastle Helix innovation district, the facility is a full-scale space for research in soil-vegetation-atmosphere interaction.
The facility comprises:
- urban water-vegetation-soils experiments
- full-scale sustainable drainage swale
- dedicated laboratory space
- state-of -the-art instrumentation and monitoring capabilities.
Technical specification:
- can hold 600m3 of water and is capable of handling 50mm of rainfall in one hour
- large-scale, heavily instrumented lysimeters that allow unique trials of experimental SuDS specifications
- 130m ‘extreme event’ swale enabling research and demonstration of leaky barriers for urban water attenuation
- 100m ensemble of variably planted bio-retention cells to investigate the influence of planting regime and management on hydrological performance
- open monitoring data via an API hosted by the Urban Observatory
- 50,000L rainwater harvesting tank to provide water for rainfall simulation
Student placements
Year-long placement opportunities are available exclusively to Newcastle University students across a wide range of Northumbrian Water's teams, including:
- Asset Investment Team
- Commercial Team
- Customer
- Developer Services
- Information Services
- Scientific Services
- Strategic Planning and Economic Regulation
- Wastewater
- Water