Procurement description
Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL) provides water and sewerage services to just under 4.4 million people, operating principally across the North East of England, Essex and Suffolk. NWL's vision is "to be the most digital water company in the world", and digital technology is a key enabler in delivering safe, resilient and efficient water services. As part of this, NWL must meet a wide range of regulatory (including Ofwat, Defra, DWI, EA and UKAS), statutory, shareholder and customer requirements. Effective monitoring, analysis and management of the clean water network is critical to ensuring continuity of supply, managing leakage, maintaining performance and meeting regulatory reporting obligations. This procurement seeks a Water Network Management System that supports these objectives by providing robust, integrated and data‑driven capabilities to manage network performance, risks and events, and to reduce the likelihood of service interruptions to customers.
NWL wish to procure a 5 year contract (with options to extend for 3+3+3+1 years) for a Water Network Management System, with the initial term commencing April 2027.
The solution will be used across the business by operational, analytical and engineering users to support the monitoring, analysis and management of the clean water network. This includes users who are office‑based, field‑based or working remotely. The system will play a critical role in supporting regulatory reporting, operational decision‑making, leakage management and network performance in line with statutory, regulatory and Ofwat requirements.
The current Water Network Management System is a mature and highly integrated solution within NWL's IT ecosystem and supports a wide range of functions, including the integration of telemetry data, GIS data, customer and billing information, work management data and smart meter data. It is used to configure and manage network assets and areas (including Zones, DMAs and PMAs), calculate water balances and leakage, monitor flows and pressures, manage alarms and events, and produce dashboards and regulatory reports.
The new solution is required to deliver functional and technical equivalence with the current system as a minimum, while also supporting improved usability, automation, scalability and long‑term sustainability. Key objectives include providing a high‑quality user experience, supporting near real‑time analysis, enabling robust data integration and validation, and underpinning NWL's leakage and network performance strategies.
Key desirable features of the solution include, but are not limited to:
• Integration with corporate systems including billing, customer contacts, work management, GIS and measured data sources
• Ingestion, storage and analysis of real‑time and historical telemetry data (flow, pressure and level)
• Configuration and management of network assets, areas and hierarchies (e.g. Zones, DMAs, PMAs)
• Water balance, leakage analysis and performance monitoring at multiple network levels
• Alarm and event management, including business‑rule driven thresholds and notifications
• Network schematics, upstream network analysis and hydraulic model support
• Smart meter and demand analysis capabilities
• Reporting, dashboards and scheduled regulatory outputs
• Role‑based access control, auditing and GDPR‑compliant data handling
• Mobile and offline capabilities to support field‑based activities
• Scalable, secure SaaS or PaaS solution aligned to NWL technical and security standards
NWL intends to appoint a supplier capable of delivering, implementing and supporting the solution in line with business needs, with implementation and transition activities planned ahead of the April 2027 contract start date. Certain capabilities may be phased or introduced over time, subject to business priorities and regulatory drivers.