Northumbrian Water selects Connexin to create new smart water network

Over 900,000 AMI smart water meters to be connected across the North East supply region

Follows the recent Essex and Suffolk Water contract award to Connexin

18th July 2024 - UK-based smart technology and digital provider Connexin has been selected by Northumbrian Water, a Northumbrian Water Group company, for its advanced water metering infrastructure (AMI) framework contract. Connexin will manage the supply and connectivity of over 900,000 smart meters over across the North East of England supply region which serves a 2.7 million-person population, including the urban areas of Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside, and rural areas in Northumberland and County Durham.

The new AMI contract follows Northumbrian Water Limited’s recent agreement with Connexin to supply meter and data connectivity for a similar volume of smart water meters across the South of England with Essex and Suffolk Water. This truly cements the Northumbrian Water Limited and Connexin relationship across both water supply regions and Connexin’s position as the go-to end-to-end solutions IoT provider for smart metering initiatives within the water sector.

Installation of Connexin’s low-powered and long-range LoRaWAN® network infrastructure will enable communications with the Head End System, sending data from smart water meters via the Connexin AMI network infrastructure to effectively analyse reports from across the network remotely in near real-time. Connexin will provide connectivity to over 330,000 LoRaWAN-enabled water meters by the end of 2029, forecasting over 900,000 meters over the 15-year contract.

Gary Adams, Head of Smart Programme at Northumbrian Water: “We are delighted to start our smart water partnership with Connexin in the North East of England to create a smarter, more connected, sustainable future. The new communications network will enable us to capture real-time data across the region and help us to identify and fix leaks faster than ever before, to reduce waste and safeguard our environment.”

The Connexin network will support Northumbrian Water to identify household and network leakage quickly and effectively, reducing the amount of water wasted across the region, and it will also provide households with remote access to hourly water meter readings, which will increase visibility of usage and help customers take control of their bills.

Dan Preece, Vice President of Water & Utilities at Connexin said: “We are thrilled that Northumbrian Water has selected Connexin for the AMI smart water meter roll-out programme in the North East region, building on our existing successful relationship with the group. This further endorses Connexin as the right partner when it comes to IoT smarter water initiatives, and we look forward to using our expertise to double the volume of smart water meters across both territories.”

The Northumbrian Water agreement is the fourth major smart water meter win for Connexin having already secured Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent Water and Essex and Suffolk Water, meaning that Connexin will have the most extensive IoT LoRaWAN network across the UK, enabling cities, towns, and businesses to accelerate their journeys towards using smart technologies to improve the ways in which people live.

This summer, Connexin will sponsor Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival to co-develop a solution that enables those who need care to live independently for longer in their own homes, in addition will host a session at the Young Citizen’s Work Experience Festival to inspire Year 9 pupils with the possibilities of technology and data for a smarter future.