A Better TOM-morrow: How Yorkshire Water Will Move to Its Target Operating Model during AMP7
26 July 2022
Posted by: Neilas Svilpa
A Better TOM-morrow: How Yorkshire Water Will Move to Its Target Operating Model during AMP7 to Deliver a More Efficient, Sustainable, and Resilient Service to Customers
Mark Coates, International Director of Public Policy and Advocacy
Humanity has an innate desire for self-improvement. We constantly strive to improve our response to the challenges that we face, as well as maximise the efficiency of our work.
This desire particularly applies to the Yorkshire athletes who have a spirited determination to win for Great Britain, as evidenced by the county’s many achievements at the recent Olympics. If Yorkshire were an independent country, this county of 5.4 million people would have finished 18th on the medals table at the 2020 Olympics.
But it doesn’t stop with the athletes. Its water utility Yorkshire Water is acting like a medal-adorned Olympian, determined to improve services for their customers while developing a more resilient network that sustainably accommodates the needs of the region for future generations.
It is an ambitious plan and not without challenges.
The cost of energy and raw materials continues to increase during AMP7, and there is greater pressure to meet the industry’s net-zero targets and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—all while maximising return on investment and delivering a vital public service for the people of Yorkshire.
Recently, I had the privilege of chairing a liaison meeting with representatives of Yorkshire Water, who spoke about the challenges that they are overcoming in this AMP cycle. They also explained how they are shifting their target operating model (TOM) to deliver a more efficient, sustainable, and stronger service for customers.
At the heart of their work is a desire to move away from the “fix-or-fail” mentality of delivering an operating model that is more proactive and informed. Much of Yorkshire Water’s liaison
with customers still revolves around fixing reported faults. However, as Deb Gilby, head of enterprise change, explained, the current AMP cycle is an opportunity for Yorkshire Water to improve how it harnesses data with digital twin technology to spot potential issues in their system before customers do.
By phasing the delivery of their TOM, Yorkshire Water aims to transform the company from a reactive asset management position to the predictive monitoring of assets delivered by an automated, data-driven system where customers get better service—and it costs less to serve them.
An example of how it is working can already be seen with advanced data science being used to quickly and accurately detect leaks across wide geographic areas, which is aided by the deployment of up to 39,000 acoustic loggers—the single largest acoustic monitoring network in the world.
Another key focus within the TOM is an improvement to the procurement process. Andy Clark, Yorkshire Water’s head of commercial services, spoke about how the business wants to be more transparent with tender publication, ensuring that partners know the exact specifications of a project before commencing work. Casting a wider net with partners helps balance risk with improved efficiency, creating opportunities for cross-sector collaboration.
Similarly, Richard Kershaw, Yorkshire Water’s innovation programme manager, spoke of the importance of developing an innovation culture within the business that prioritises wider collaboration with external partners beyond the water sector. Kershaw’s view is that working together ensures that there is the right engagement and support to create a successful ecosystem that is more than the sum of its constituent parts.
An example of this wider collaboration is with the University of York. Yorkshire Water treats around 150,000 tonnes of sewage sludge using anaerobic digestion, a process where organic waste is converted into biogas. By partnering with the university’s biology department, 100% of sewage sludge can be converted, reducing the need for extra infrastructure and enhancing the
system’s capacity.
Global Water Intelligence estimates that meeting the UN’s SDGs for water and sanitation by 2030 will require USD 4.056 trillion for new infrastructure globally. With a task of this magnitude ahead, collaboration across the water sector is vital—not just to drive innovation but to deliver greater value for customers and the environment.
Yorkshire Water’s innovation programme is underpinned by the GBP 200 million Ofwat Innovation Fund. So far during AMP7, the business has invested GBP 26 million through internal and external leverage. But innovation is about ideas as much as it is investment, and Yorkshire Water’s innovation programme prides itself on adopting new solutions to maximise their operational efficiency and resilience within their system.
As part of Yorkshire Water’s plans for AMP7 and beyond, there is a greater focus on sustainability, as evidenced by the business’ commitment to become a net-zero organisation
by the end of this decade.
The Yorkshire-Humber region is environmentally complex and is prone to both water extremes: flooding and drought. Places like Hull and the Aire Valley are prone to flooding, yet increased periods of drier and warmer weather as a result of climate change lead to lower rainfall in the spring and summer months, causing drought warnings to be issued as Yorkshire’s rivers and reservoirs dry up.
Decarbonisation is an important part of Yorkshire Water’s net-zero strategy, as it aims to reduce operational carbon emission by 12% in the next three years. This goal will be possible through the business’ innovation drive, as it implements new solutions to make its operations more sustainable.
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