Independent tech consultancy Opencast is playing a key role in a revolutionary new ‘smart sewer’ approach to tackling discharges from storm overflows.

Northumbrian Water recently launched a ground-breaking £20m project that is set to significantly reduce storm overflow discharges across the Tyneside area. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and will use world-leading technology.

A combination of new tech, sensors and AI analytics is being used to lower the risk of overflows and is based on proven techniques used in the US, where smart sewer technology has produced an 80 per cent reduction in discharges over a 10-year period.

Opencast will be working with HydroDigital a United States-based water technology company and Northumbrian Water partner, which has developed the new smart sewer technology. The HydroDigital team has over two decades implementing smart sewer technologies and has worked with over 40 utilities globally.

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Tyneside-headquartered Opencast will work on integrating technology alongside fellow project partners Bluesmith and Axiologik.

Opencast Director of Private Sector Growth Andrew Howard explained: “We’ll be building a user-centred interface and platform that will be easy to use for those running the system. We’ll also be ensuring the digital infrastructure is properly integrated between the partners.

“Discharges from storm overflows into our seas, lakes and rivers is a very high-profile problem – and we’re proud to be part of such an innovative partnership tackling the issue.”

The technology will help control flows across the network, enabling Northumbrian Water to balance network capacity between areas experiencing heavy rainfall and areas with more capacity.