Smart Wastewater & Sewage Systems

Spills Are Now In the Headlines - How To Deliver Against The New Performance Scorecard

Executing Under AMP8—and Learning from Global Performance Regimes

Solutions such as high-resolution, precision-calibrated Event Duration Monitoring (EDM), advanced sewer-level sensors, and operational digital twins have moved from innovation pilots to strategic deployment priorities. UK utilities are actively embedding these tools into AMP8 delivery frameworks. Across Europe, regulatory pressure—driven by EU directives and outcome-based performance standards—is accelerating similar adoption at scale.

Designed for Leaders Who Must Deliver, Not Just Plan

This is a conference for strategic clarity—focused on what’s delivering measurable, auditable outcomes. The emphasis is on operational systems that are actively shifting the dial on regulatory compliance, spill mitigation, and network intelligence.

The Execution Gap: From Technology to Results

Conversations with senior wastewater leaders across the UK and Europe have made one thing clear: the technology landscape is no longer in question. The sector understands what’s available. The real challenge now is execution at scale. Utilities are asking whether smart systems—beyond controlled pilots—can deliver meaningful, repeatable performance improvements under real operational conditions.

The New Benchmark: Accuracy, Integration, Impact

EDM infrastructure is already in place across most major UK utilities—deployed during AMP7 to meet baseline compliance. But implementation alone is no longer the benchmark. As one wastewater director recently put it to our Head of Research: “Coverage isn’t necessarily the main problem anymore—it’s what we’re doing with it that really counts.”

Insight Without Action Is the New Risk

So it’s not just about whether high quality data is being captured —it’s also whether the right people, processes, and decision standards are in place to act on it.

Accuracy, insight resolution, and system responsiveness now define success. Making it all work requires more than smart technology; it demands embedded change management, operator training, and a new operational culture built around real-time data, not retrospective reports.

Reskilling and Integration: Barriers You Can’t Ignore

Fresh off delivering the Smart Metering 2025 conference in London, we’re seeing striking parallels between smart water supply and wastewater transformation. The same integration headaches, the same organisational friction around change management and workforce re-skilling, and the same critical uncertainty: which technologies genuinely deliver ROI, and which don’t.

What You’ll Learn at Smart Wastewater Sewage Systems 2025

This conference is purpose-built for wastewater leaders who are no longer asking what to do—but how to do it. You’ll learn how to translate AMP8 strategy into action, under real-world constraints. Through UK case studies and targeted European comparisons—including insights from the Netherlands and Germany’s evolving compliance landscape—you’ll gain the operational know-how to make smarter, faster, and more accountable decisions.

The focus of the learning is on how to:

Deploy intelligent systems that actively reduce risk and environmental harm
Build EDM frameworks that meet new expectations around accuracy, granularity, and response time
Evaluate which technologies actually deliver under pressure—and which don’t
Understand how your peers are embedding smart systems into control centres, maintenance routines, and audit processes
Move from “monitoring” to real-time, predictive control that anticipates and diverts overflow risk

AMP8 has made one thing clear: the clock is ticking. What you decide in 2025 will define your regulatory performance by 2028. This event gives you the tools to get it right.

Wastewater Utilities Require Outcomes, Not Overviews

Through our consultation phase, the signal from utilities was unambiguous: they’re no longer interested in generic digital roadmaps. They want tested, scalable systems that deliver spill reduction, real-time situational awareness, and auditable outcomes. The focus is shifting hard toward deployment, integration, and performance under pressure.

Solutions that:

Improve the speed, accuracy, and transparency of EDM reporting
Reduce the volume and frequency of sewage spills
Deliver ROI within the AMP8 regulatory window
Enable proactive, AI-assisted decision-making in control rooms
Integrate seamlessly across legacy infrastructure and modern platforms

Coastal, Rural, Urban: Finding the Right Fit, Not Just the Right Tech

Investment decisions are being driven by context: network size, geography, rainfall intensity, legacy asset condition, and regulator pressure.

Early Intervention Over After-the-Fact Reporting

From next-generation EDM platforms that improve audit readiness and move utilities from spill reporting to spill prevention, to AI-driven flow optimisation and smart valves reducing pressure on overloaded assets, the focus is on systems that perform under real conditions.

We’ll compare different types of IoT and low-power telemetry solutions unlocking visibility in remote networks; cloud-native platforms integrating data, comms, and compliance; and digital twins and predictive analytics transforming long-term asset planning.

Whether you’re a coastal utility facing public scrutiny, a rural network grappling with limited visibility, or an urban operator managing legacy infrastructure under AMP8 pressure—this is where you'll see what works, understand where it fits, and ask the critical questions before investing/scaling.

The agenda, finalised by late May 2025, will focus on what’s working:

Which technologies reliably detect and enable early intervention?
How are utilities integrating monitoring, modelling, and control in live operations?
What strategies are actively reducing spill volumes—not just recording them?
How are regulatory pressures driving real systems change?
And how can UK utilities manage risk through shared experience?

The conference will also explore:

What defines accuracy, granularity, and real operational value in the AMP8 context?
How are AI, digital twins, and real-time rainfall integration improving responsiveness?
How are utilities linking sensing and action via prompt gates, logic control, and system triggers?

You’ll hear real examples of:

Early-warning systems that anticipate and divert spill risks
What a mature, smart spill prevention system actually looks like—and how to get there.

It will also explore how to:

Scale up EDM and spill reporting without drowning in poor-quality data
Reduce false positives
Automate validation
Align with EA expectations
Integrate EDM into dashboards, control rooms and incident response environments

From Pressure to Performance: This Event Is About Delivery

This won’t be a technical deep-dive for its own sake—and it doesn’t need to be. We know you’re engineers. You know the systems. What’s needed now is clarity: how to turn strategic pressure into operational results. This conference is built around one goal—showing how smart wastewater systems actually work in practice, and how to scale them with confidence.

As one wastewater systems lead put it this week:

"I don’t need another strategy session. I need answers. I’m already accountable for reducing spills, proving compliance, and modernising a network that was never designed to be smart. If your event shows me who’s doing it, how, and where it delivers—I’ll be there. If it’s just theory and vendor promises, I won’t."

This event is designed to meet that standard—and exceed it. We’ll connect you to real examples, real operators, and real lessons from the field. No fluff. No posturing. Just proven insight for those who are already delivering under pressure.

What Does a Resilient Wastewater Network Look Like Under AMP8?

That’s the core question—and the action focus—driving this event.

We'll explore how performance-based regulation is reshaping investment decisions, operational priorities, and technology partnerships.

And we’ll look outward—drawing on lessons from global utilities facing the same transformation imperative: fewer spills, faster decisions, smarter systems.

This will be a high-impact, outcomes-driven gathering for leaders who are serious about delivery. We look forward to welcoming you on 30 September 2025.

Looking for Solution Providers Who Can Help Operationalise Actionable Data Across Complex Networks

Engaging Strategic Vendors Ready to Support Scalable, High-Integrity Wastewater Solutions

Through a targeted consultation process with wastewater executives, asset managers, and operational heads across the UK and Europe, we’ve surfaced a consistent set of challenges now shaping AMP8 delivery. The conversations were candid, high-stakes, and practical.

Across the board, leaders are asking not just about which technologies are available—but about what works at scale, under pressure, in live systems. They’re seeking clarity on how to align digital investment with compliance risk, reputational exposure, and real-world performance outcomes.

Our research confirms a sharp shift in executive mindset:

This is no longer a conversation about if smart wastewater systems are needed—it’s about how to make them operationally and commercially viable.

What follows are five live scenarios drawn directly from these engagements, each reflecting a strategic pain point currently being navigated. Alongside them, we highlight the top five solution categories vendors must respond to—each paired with the most pressing questions utilities need answered now.

Scaling EDM from Compliance to Operational Intelligence

Most utilities have achieved baseline EDM deployment—but are now focused on making it actionable. Coverage is no longer the challenge; interpretation and integration are.