UKCRIC: National Water Infrastructure Facility: Distributed Water Infrastructure
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Civil and Structural Engineering
Abstract
The UK water sector faces very significant challenges: increasing population, higher customer expectations, better protection of the natural environment, with reducing resource availability and uncertain climate change. These pressures particularly combine in urban areas where the majority of the UK's citizens live and which are served by large and increasingly unsustainable and inflexible "legacy" water and drainage systems. These large legacy systems are a deteriorating asset in which there have been long term reductions in real terms investment. In the UK, inferred sewer and clean water asset design lives are 800+ and 120+ years, respectively. Yet with the current average asset life of around 70 years we are already experiencing unacceptable levels of service. The current premise of operating urban water systems with continual, gradual deterioration is no longer acceptable. If we wish to avoid massive future bills for wholesale renewal of our water infrastructure we urgently need to understand deterioration and develop innovative ways of monitoring and intervening.
Water utilities are traditionally cautious innovation adopters given the significant potential health and environmental implications of their actions. Appreciating this and the long term pressures facing the UK's (and international) water infrastructure systems it is clear that there is an urgent need for more scientifically based approaches and better evidenced technologies to meet future expectations without a significant economic burden on water users.
UKCRIC will enhance research capacities in the following areas at three of the UK's leading urban water research groups (Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield Universities) to address this issue.
1. Surface water management and smart water systems (Newcastle University): A new surface water management facility with equivalent urban infrastructure test-beds for energy, transport and ICT will be delivered. The facility will be modular so components can be tested in isolation, in series to model urban water as it moves from the roof to the river .
2. Distributed water infrastructure (University of Sheffield): A new specially designed water asset failure and deterioration facility will enable full scale experimentation of water and sewer pipes and ancillary structures to study deterioration and failure mechanisms, in-pipe biological/chemical and physical processes, flooding and corrosion processes and the assessment of asset condition under realistic environments. The existing world leading facilities of the Pennine Water Group at Sheffield will be enhanced with improved measurement capabilities.
3. Wastewater and potable water treatment (Cranfield University): A new potable water pilot hall will enhance the existing suite of industrial-scale test facilities. The facility will support research on the interdependencies between treatment and distribution processes, on condition monitoring & performance technologies. A breakthrough innovation hub will provide flexible space for design, rapid prototyping and testing of novel infrastructure components and sub-systems, visualisation facilities will provide access to sensor data from both on and off campus infrastructure systems providing opportunities for advances in analytics and testing
The aim of the UKCRIC facilities is to provide a collaborative, world-class research infrastructure that will allow UK researchers and innovators in the water sector to come together share ideas and then benefit from access to world class laboratories to develop and demonstrate those concepts so and to get them to a level of maturity appropriate for implementation to achieve long term impact on the UK's water infrastructure. This new knowledge, evidence and innovation will impact on our current urban water systems by reducing the risk of failure, reducing their environmental impact and reducing the likelihood of unacceptably high future investment.
Water utilities are traditionally cautious innovation adopters given the significant potential health and environmental implications of their actions. Appreciating this and the long term pressures facing the UK's (and international) water infrastructure systems it is clear that there is an urgent need for more scientifically based approaches and better evidenced technologies to meet future expectations without a significant economic burden on water users.
UKCRIC will enhance research capacities in the following areas at three of the UK's leading urban water research groups (Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield Universities) to address this issue.
1. Surface water management and smart water systems (Newcastle University): A new surface water management facility with equivalent urban infrastructure test-beds for energy, transport and ICT will be delivered. The facility will be modular so components can be tested in isolation, in series to model urban water as it moves from the roof to the river .
2. Distributed water infrastructure (University of Sheffield): A new specially designed water asset failure and deterioration facility will enable full scale experimentation of water and sewer pipes and ancillary structures to study deterioration and failure mechanisms, in-pipe biological/chemical and physical processes, flooding and corrosion processes and the assessment of asset condition under realistic environments. The existing world leading facilities of the Pennine Water Group at Sheffield will be enhanced with improved measurement capabilities.
3. Wastewater and potable water treatment (Cranfield University): A new potable water pilot hall will enhance the existing suite of industrial-scale test facilities. The facility will support research on the interdependencies between treatment and distribution processes, on condition monitoring & performance technologies. A breakthrough innovation hub will provide flexible space for design, rapid prototyping and testing of novel infrastructure components and sub-systems, visualisation facilities will provide access to sensor data from both on and off campus infrastructure systems providing opportunities for advances in analytics and testing
The aim of the UKCRIC facilities is to provide a collaborative, world-class research infrastructure that will allow UK researchers and innovators in the water sector to come together share ideas and then benefit from access to world class laboratories to develop and demonstrate those concepts so and to get them to a level of maturity appropriate for implementation to achieve long term impact on the UK's water infrastructure. This new knowledge, evidence and innovation will impact on our current urban water systems by reducing the risk of failure, reducing their environmental impact and reducing the likelihood of unacceptably high future investment.
Planned Impact
Water infrastructure is essential for the provision of safe drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment and adequate flood risk management. These large and often centralised infrastructure systems are therefore essential for life, they sustain economic growth and can have a significant impact on the ecological status of natural aquatic ecosystems.
UKCRIC will deliver a world class physical research infrastructure to study the key challenges facing the UK's water infrastructure into the 21st century. The scale of the investment will have a widespread impact upon individuals, organisations and institutions that engage with water service provision in the UK. The co-ordination of the three UKCRIC urban water facilities at Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield means that all types of water infrastructure can be studied ensuring a comprehensive provision of large scale research facilities for the UK water sector. The provision of world class collaborative experimental facilities has the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of innovation across the UK water sector. At Sheffield we anticipate that new knowledge on distributed water and drainage infrastructure will lead to better water quality for customers, fewer disruptions, less impact on society and the environment from uncontrolled discharges, new technologies to better control and manage networks and new techniques for monitoring and repair.
Our key deliverables leading to impact will be: (i) new academic-end user partnerships who will have utilised the UKCRIC facilities; (ii) new knowledge, technologies and products to better manage the UK's water infrastructure without unacceptable long term impact; (iii) high quality evidence to assess the economic viability, novelty and water utility acceptability of new solutions based on data collected at full scale; (iv) better understanding of barriers for technology adoption to better manage water infrastructure assets; (v) new technologies and approaches that can be used by the UK water sector to enhance its international competiveness.
Operating a collaborative set of large scale facilities will enabling better coordination and demonstration, and will help to address the difficulties of co-creating research across academia and industry that currently limits the uptake of innovation and new knowledge in the UK water sector. Research from the UKCRIC facilities will positively impact water service providers (water companies and supply chain), through the collaborative development of tools, technologies and processes that provide competitive advantage to these organisations in the context of future water service provision. In addition, we envisage positive impacts on other infrastructure providers such as energy and waste through cross-sector collaboration and learning.
By 2030 the UK share of the global water technology market has the potential to increase to 10% (£8.8 billion) or more, providing 71,000 jobs and involving 960 SMEs (UKWRIP, 2012). The UKCRIC facilities will address this challenge delivering world-leading water research in practice, and will position the water industry utilities, their consultants supply chains and new SMEs, to exploit this market opportunity and promote the UK to be a leading water innovation country internationally.
The investment in the three major water infrastructure research facilities at Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield will raise the profile of water engineering as an important and attractive sector for academia and the economy. We will specifically impact on the next generation of water engineering researchers and engineers by developing their technical and research expertise. The UKCRIC facilities will clearly demonstrate that the UK has the ambition to be one of the leading research environments for study of water infrastructure. This will attract very capable researchers from out with the UK and so will strengthen the UK research base.
UKCRIC will deliver a world class physical research infrastructure to study the key challenges facing the UK's water infrastructure into the 21st century. The scale of the investment will have a widespread impact upon individuals, organisations and institutions that engage with water service provision in the UK. The co-ordination of the three UKCRIC urban water facilities at Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield means that all types of water infrastructure can be studied ensuring a comprehensive provision of large scale research facilities for the UK water sector. The provision of world class collaborative experimental facilities has the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of innovation across the UK water sector. At Sheffield we anticipate that new knowledge on distributed water and drainage infrastructure will lead to better water quality for customers, fewer disruptions, less impact on society and the environment from uncontrolled discharges, new technologies to better control and manage networks and new techniques for monitoring and repair.
Our key deliverables leading to impact will be: (i) new academic-end user partnerships who will have utilised the UKCRIC facilities; (ii) new knowledge, technologies and products to better manage the UK's water infrastructure without unacceptable long term impact; (iii) high quality evidence to assess the economic viability, novelty and water utility acceptability of new solutions based on data collected at full scale; (iv) better understanding of barriers for technology adoption to better manage water infrastructure assets; (v) new technologies and approaches that can be used by the UK water sector to enhance its international competiveness.
Operating a collaborative set of large scale facilities will enabling better coordination and demonstration, and will help to address the difficulties of co-creating research across academia and industry that currently limits the uptake of innovation and new knowledge in the UK water sector. Research from the UKCRIC facilities will positively impact water service providers (water companies and supply chain), through the collaborative development of tools, technologies and processes that provide competitive advantage to these organisations in the context of future water service provision. In addition, we envisage positive impacts on other infrastructure providers such as energy and waste through cross-sector collaboration and learning.
By 2030 the UK share of the global water technology market has the potential to increase to 10% (£8.8 billion) or more, providing 71,000 jobs and involving 960 SMEs (UKWRIP, 2012). The UKCRIC facilities will address this challenge delivering world-leading water research in practice, and will position the water industry utilities, their consultants supply chains and new SMEs, to exploit this market opportunity and promote the UK to be a leading water innovation country internationally.
The investment in the three major water infrastructure research facilities at Cranfield, Newcastle and Sheffield will raise the profile of water engineering as an important and attractive sector for academia and the economy. We will specifically impact on the next generation of water engineering researchers and engineers by developing their technical and research expertise. The UKCRIC facilities will clearly demonstrate that the UK has the ambition to be one of the leading research environments for study of water infrastructure. This will attract very capable researchers from out with the UK and so will strengthen the UK research base.
Publications
Wang S
(2020)
Conductance-Based Interface Detection for Multi-Phase Pipe Flow.
in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Dell A
(2023)
Low frequency attenuation of acoustic waves in a perforated pipe.
in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Shafagh I
(2022)
Thermal energy transfer around buried pipe infrastructure
in Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment
Description | The National Distributed Water Infrastructure Laboratory is a unique facility that allows scientists and engineers to develop and validate new technologies that can be employed to radically improve how buried water and drainage infrastructure is build and operated. The facility became operational in 2019 and since then university researchers and R&D specialists from UK companies have developed sensing technologies able to measure flows and depths throughout whole sewer systems, locate pipe blockages and other defects and use mobile sensors to locate leaks. The facility has provided the environment to develop and test autonomous in-pipe robotic inspection systems that are the next generation technology for in pipe inspection systems for water supply, sewer and drainage networks. The facility has also been used to understand how heat can be recovered from the ground using buried pipe systems. All these technologies will deliver improvements to the UK water sector in terms of fewer flooding incidents, less leakage and fewer carbon emissions, all key national targets. |
Exploitation Route | Distributed fibre optic sensing technology has already been installed in liver sewers in the UK. The company that used the facilities is currently working to develop the technology in the US and other overseas companies. The robotic and sensing technologies will lead to the development of significantly enhanced asset data collection capabilities, that combined with data analytic techniques should lead to radically better management of the UK's deteriorating underground water supply and sewer and drainage infrastructure. |
Sectors | Construction Environment |
Description | The facilities at the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Laboratory have been used to deliver impact in the following ways: new knowledge on how in-pipe distributed sensing has allowed new in-sewer distributed sensing systems to be developed by a UK SME, this SME is targeting customers in mainland Europe and the US. The facilities have also been used to develop new multi sensor arrays that allow for the first time rapid sensing for defects and blockages in perforated drainage pipes, commonly used in the drainage systems of major roads and motorways. These arrays have delivered technology that opens up a new market for another UK SME. Small domestic level optical water level sensors were tested and they are now being deployed to combat sewer residential flooding. The EPSRC funded pipebots project is now starting to deliver tangible outcomes, this has led to funding from OFWAT to developing sensing techniques for pressurised wastewater pipes and to detect leaks in pressurised pipelines. The results of this testing has now lead to further applications for funding to the OFWAT innovation fund. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Environment |
Impact Types | Societal Economic |
Description | (Co-UDlabs) - Building Collaborative Urban Drainage research labs communities |
Amount | € 5,171,769 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 101008626 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 04/2021 |
End | 04/2025 |
Description | Distributed Fibre-optic Cable Sensing for Buried Pipe Infrastructure |
Amount | £641,361 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S017283/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2019 |
End | 10/2023 |
Description | Innovative Sensor Array for Sewer Survey (ISASS) |
Amount | £249,661 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 76593 |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2020 |
End | 07/2021 |
Description | Innovative solutions and methods for installation and maintenance of track drainage |
Amount | £123,764 (GBP) |
Organisation | Network Rail Ltd |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2020 |
End | 04/2021 |
Description | KTP with Nuron |
Amount | £175,660 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 511089 |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2018 |
End | 10/2021 |
Description | PLEXUS |
Amount | £1,013,092 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R013535/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2018 |
End | 12/2019 |
Description | Pervasive Sensing for Buried Pipes |
Amount | £7,290,965 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S016813/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 02/2024 |
Description | Rapid monitoring of river hydrodynamics and morphology using acoustic holography |
Amount | £521,877 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R022275/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2018 |
End | 12/2021 |
Description | Collaboration with nuron ltd |
Organisation | Nuron ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Researchers at Sheffield have developed a stiff pipe rig at the NDWIF to examine the vibrations created in flows and pipe walls as part of EP/S017283/1. nuron are a project partner in this award and have supported the analysis. This has helped in their current phase of product development. |
Collaborator Contribution | nuron ltd did extensive technological development funded by a KTP. They have now supported a ICASE studentship that will examine the turbulence flow field within free surface flows in pipes. They have also provided in-kind technical support for EP/S017283/1. |
Impact | nuron has a saleable FO based in-pipe sensing system |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | PLEXUS- Priming Laboartory Laboratory Experiments on Infrastructure and Urban Systems |
Organisation | Nuron ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Testing of a new product |
Collaborator Contribution | Partner has provided funding for a Innovate UK KTP |
Impact | Development of a new sensing system |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | PhD support for EPSRC DTA student |
Organisation | Nuron ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | £35000 contribution to EPSRC DTA funded PhD student - examining the effect of roughness in partially filled pipes. |
Collaborator Contribution | Financial contribution - for PhD student travel and measurement equipment. Periods of industrial secondment. |
Impact | No outputs yet. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Title | Optical fibre pressure sensing apparatus employing longitudinal diaphragm |
Description | This development is fundamental for an in-sewer longitudinal sensor that can be used for distributed hydraulic measurement. |
IP Reference | 1704492.6 |
Protection | Patent granted |
Year Protection Granted | 2021 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | This intellectual property is owned by Nuron Limited who are commercially exploiting the discovery. |
Title | nuron fibre sensing technology |
Description | nuron fibre sensing technology is the only patented dual-purpose product (sewer sensing communication) on the market. The fibre containment system is a unique design sensitive enough to sense environmental changes, yet robust enough to withstand harsh environments. It also provides networking capacity for the integration of existing sensors, telemetry and communications at high-speed over fibre broadband. |
Type Of Technology | New/Improved Technique/Technology |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | A full scale deployment in the north of England was held in 2020. |
URL | https://www.nuron.tech/technology/ |
Description | Curae Terrae meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Opportunities for funded collaborative research were considered. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Demonstration for pipebots project - Radio 4 Inside Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Journalists from BBC4 Inside Science program viewed a pipebots demonstration at NDWIF. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Facilities Webinar Jointly with CoUD Labs project |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | The intended purpose was to showcase the large scale infrastructure within the CoUDLabs consortium and to encourage the formation of scientific user groups to use these facilities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Industry workshop for pipebots program grant |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Progress for pipebots program grant was demonstrated to water sector audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Interview for Chinese Global TV (CGTV) network |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview given to film crew from CGTV network, Interview focussed on capabilities of NDWIF and pipebots project. To be broadcast later in 2023. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Anglian |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 14th January 2019 - Meeting with Anglian Water Staff. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - British Water |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 15th April 2019 - British Water Technical Forum. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - CDT Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 14th March 2019 - CDT Cohort Co-Creation Workshop |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Cambridge Univeristy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 27th November Academic staff from Cambridge University |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Construction Leadership Council |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 9th October 2019 - Construction Leadership Council |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Cranfield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 25th June 2019 - Cranfield University Visit |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - EMS & Lee Rowley |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 7th February 2020 - Visit by EMS and Lee Rowley Conservative MP. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - EPSRC Programme Grant |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 4th & 5th June 2019 - EPSRC Programme Grant Workshop. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - HR Wallingford |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 4th April, HR Wallingford senior staff |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - IKT |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 9th December IKT - senior and engineering staff on visit to IKT. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - IKT Senior Staff |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 4th February - senior staff IKT, Germany |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Kier |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait, 28th February - senior innovation staff Kier Construction. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Laing O'Rourke |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 5th March 2019 - Meeting with Laing O'Rourke. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Liege University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 28th August, Water Research Group, University of Liege. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Malaysian Minister |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 24th February 2019 - Visit of the Minister for Education of Malaysia. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - NIC |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 2nd October, National Infrastructure Commission. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - NWL |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 11th December 2018 - Meeting with Northumbrian Water Staff |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Nuron |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 15th March 2019 - Meeting With Nuron |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - PLEXUS |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 5th April 2019 - Collaboration Meeting between Plexus, Cambridge, Newcastle, Cranfield, Leeds. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Polypipe |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 4th July 2019 - Meeting with Polypipe staff. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Public Utilities Board Singapore |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 21st July, Public Utilities Board Singapore, Senior Engineering staff. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Secretary General |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 3rd October 2019, Visit of The Secretary General, David Bohmert - CESAER |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Sheffield Researchers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 26th May, Sheffield researchers |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Steel Alloy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 6th November 2019 - Steel Alloy Conference Visit |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - UKCRIC Committee |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 11th April 2019 - UKCRIC Committee Meeting. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - UKRI |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 19th March 2019 - Meeting UKRI Chair. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Valencia & Madrid Water Companies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 25th February 2020 - Visit from Valencia & Madrid Water Companies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - WRc |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 12th February meeting with staff from WRc. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Introduction to the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility - Yorkshire Water |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 20th December Innovation Team, Yorkshire Water Services. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Meeting with Adtrans |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Examined opportunities for funded collaborative research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Meeting with Arqiva |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshop held with senior staff from Arqiva to discuss their research needs and potential for NDWIF to support their internal R&D program |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Opening of the National Distributed Water Infrastructure Facility |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | 11-12th October Formal Opening |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Participation in OFWAT Discovery fund webinar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Participated in OFWAT discovery fund webinar, highlighting the potential of various UKCRIC testing and development facilities (Sheffield/Newcastle/Cranfield) in the UK water sector. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Presentation at 50th Year Departmental Open Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | This was a presentation to Departmental Alumini, as part of an Open Day to celebrate 50 years of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Robotics Digital Innovation Hubs Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This was a workshop to make a range of stakeholders award of EU funding available for Digital Innovation Hubs. The workshop focissed on the area of Infrastructure Inspection and Maintenance. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | UKCRIC All Hand Meeting - Net Zero and Circular Economy |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | All day workshop, first sim was to disseminate the capabilities of the NDWIF, the UFO at Sheffield and other translational facilities at Sheffield. The second aim was to examine collaborative opportunities in the areas of net zero and circular economy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | UKCRIC Workshop for Water Utilities at University of Cranfield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A workshop was organised at the University of Cranfield to introduce the UKCRIC facilities that have a relevance to the UK water industry. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Visit by ICE President and School Outreach Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 5th February Visit by ICE President and Schools Out Reach. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Visit by Northumbrian Water |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshop to examine the use of NDWIF for testing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Visit by minicam |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | minicam agreed to provide in-kind support to pipebots project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit by personnel from Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Integrated Manufacturing Group, to view facilities in the construction/infrastructure space. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | 20 personnel from AMRC's Integrated Manufacturing Group, to view facilities to explor joint working in the construction/infrastructure space. https://www.amrc.co.uk/capabilities/integrated-manufacturing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Visit by staff from John Moores University Liverpool |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Agreed to participate in CoUD Labs EU project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit by team from Adtrans |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | To examine the potential for future collaborative research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit by team from Digital UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Senior civil servants from Digital UK visted and held a workshop to examine potential for using buried pipe infrastructure for broadband roll out. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit from KTN Staff - Robotics Roadmap |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Visit by staff from KTN working with InnovateUK to map the current landscape for robotics 'proving grounds' in the UK. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://ktn-uk.org/programme/rai-landscape/ |
Description | Visit from KWR staff |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Agreed to seek funding at EU level for future work. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit from R&D staff from Polypipe to NDWIF |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Visit to facility, with presentation to facility discussion on future R&D needs. Information exchanged after the event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Visit from Sydney Water |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Sydney Water team visited to discuss future testing. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | WIRe Summer School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | WIRe PhD students undertook outreach training and organised visits from secondary school aged students. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop for Anglian Water team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshop to examine potential for future work in are of sewer system management. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop on use of CENTAUR system for practitioners |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Simon Tait - 3rd July 2018 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Workshop with Dept Trade & Inudstry (DTI) Team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Prof Simon Tait presented to officials from Dept Trade & Industry to make them aware of the potential of heat recovery from water and sewerage systems, ICAIR, Sheffield. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Workshop with Detectronics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Workshop to examine potential for future work in the area of water quality monitoring. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Workshop with Engineering Team from Water Research Centre (WRc) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Representatives from various engineering teams from the Water Research centre (WRc) participated in workshop to explore their current technological needs and the opportunities to use NDWIF. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Workshop with Severn Trent Water (STW) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Prof Simon Tait held a Meeting with STW's Waste Water operations team, ICAIR, Sheffield. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Workshop with research group from City University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Workshop to examine the capabilities of NDWIF to support the development of fibre optic based sensors, mainly for industrial clients although fundamental science challenges were also examined. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |