Thames Water: Decision Support Tools, Whole Life Costing and Asset Data Improvements Marie Linscott October 2012
Agenda UK water industry and Thames Water Challenges at their last price review Strategic responses from Thames Water Overview of the programme Decision Support Tools Whole Life Costing Data Improvement How it all comes together Embedding the change
WASTE WATER The water sector in the UK is highly regulated and vertically integrated Abstraction Treatment Storage Distribution Retail Distribution Treatment Regulators Source: Ofwat Ofwat Drinking Water Inspectorate Environment Agency Consumer Council for Water
Thames Water Largest UK water company with 14 million customers 1.6bn revenue 1.1bn operating costs & 1bn p.a. capital programme 2.6 billion litres of water a day 1.6bn of cash collected per year 715 reservoirs and treatment sites 80,000 kms of water main and sewer
Data related categories Challenges were laid out by the regulator at the last Price Review in 2009 PR09 Asset Management Assessment (AMA) criteria Stakeholder Engagement Leadership, policy and Strategy Management Processes WI WNI WWI WWNI Ofwat challenged Thames Water s reliance on expert judgement Asset data issues Lack of integration and use of asset planning tools Systems Data Analysis Reporting Balance % of total loss in PR09
We responded to PR09 with a number of strategic change programmes Data Improvement and Decision Support Tools Programme (DI and DST) - improve data quality in key areas and implement tools that improve investment cases to the regulator in time for the next price review SCADA WAMI Field Ops Transformation Field Ops Transformation Lean plan optimisation, terms and conditions review... WAMI Programme to enable work management and planning using SAP-PM SCADA Programme of improvement of Systems, Control and Automation DI & DST Programme Targeting service & operational improvements and more robust investment plans and improved outcome at PR14
Overview of the Data Improvement and Decision Support Tool Programme DI and DST Programme Providing data of greater accuracy/completeness through: Improving and cleansing data already in systems Data Cleanse Asset data cleansing for SAP- PM/EAM implementation Strategic Data Data requirements defined for PR14 - Field and desktop data improvements Decision Support Tools >15 asset class investment planning tools for Asset Planners prioritised against AMA and PR14 spend Whole Life and Unit Costing Improved cost data availability WLC process implementation Purchase of new or better quality data Tools to support decision making around risk, replacement, repair and forecasting Models to be able to effectively support whole life costing decisions and efficiency within operational sites Data focussed Model and tool focussed
A portfolio of Decision Support Tools have been delivered to improve decision making around investment vs risk vs service List of Decision Support Tools Clean water Distribution: bursts risks model Distribution: mains modelling phase 2 Leakage model natural rate of rise and deterioration Benefits of pressure management (PRVs) Trunk mains risk model Operations meters and PRV DST development WaterNet implementation River asset condition ARCs Waivers Zonal network solutions (ZNS) System resilience & generic mass balance tool WaRMs Waste water Rising mains models Large diameter sewer model Urban creep DAP Integration with risk models Floodworks model Small diameter blockages model Small diameter collapse model Small works headroom model System reliability modelling Sewage Pumping Systems (and availability) Integrated sludge planning model Integrated development forecasting tool (SOLAR) Investment planning processes Asset planning Risk modelling and serviceability assessments Operational efficiency management Assessing historic performance Intervention planning Others Benefits database Carbon models AIM Risk Wrapper AIM (the Risk Wrapper), is an intuitive risk-based solution tool targeting investment under multiple serviceability and budgetary constraints. It is a bottom-up investment planning tool allowing the user to aggregate proactive investment needs, reactive costs, risks and investment benefits.
WaterNet example Waternet DST benefits Improve cost benefit analysis by prioritisation of capital maintenance on Pressure Reducing Valves & Operational Meters The tool provides a user friendly interface and improved reporting thereby reducing the time required to undertake this activity
The Strategic Asset Data workstream supported the tools and investment planning process in delivering targeted asset data improvements Examples: Purchasing Datasets LiDAR Data elevation levels for the entire Thames Water landscape Combining Datasets Improved data inputs to models Demand Forecasting Model to provide more granular forecasting of demand Trunk Mains Age Data replacing inferred age data for trunk mains in North London with actual ages Other PR14 data sets Odour Complaints mapping of complaints to assets on corporate system PR09 data needs Early PR14 view Identification thru SME Workshops Prioritisation & Delivery Process Prioritisation Procurement and Delivery Completion and Load
Whole Life Costing is another related workstream improved asset cost data... Whole Life Costing will deliver a consistent integrated view of capex and opex costs for different asset classes and activities across the business throughout the lifecycle. 2. Asset cost models 1. Leverage existing reports Improving Thames Water s Whole Life Costing capability 4. WLC process & methodology 3. Unit Cost reporting
Examples of deliverables that span asset classes Sewerage network Large diameter sewer model Helps us to assess the safety and stability of our large sewers SDAC cost model Helps us understand where to invest and what the Opex impact will be Data feed: Gravity sewer construction date Customer impact: Better service due to reduced business cost and effort Benefits: Reduced risk of flooding Fewer sewer collapses Reduced number of tankers at sites
Examples of deliverables that span asset classes Water Network Systems resilience model Helps us to assess the resilience of our water supply systems Cost and performance data for DMAs Unit cost reports for treatment sites Guildford Water Supply Network Supporting data improvements: Service reservoir condition District meter calibration
Embedding the change Business & programme working closely together network of business users Programme, workstream and product communications Robust approach to training 30 training events Network of 76 super users (across different products) Building controls into the key business processes (e.g. investment gateway processes) Planned future business audits Measuring usage
Questions
Contacts Marie Linscott (Thames Water) Head of Asset Information Email: marie.linscott@thameswater.co.uk Barry Middleton (PwC) Mobile: +44 (0) 7969 554717 Email: barry.p.middleton@uk.pwc.com