UK Water Monitor Trial via MK:SMART Data Hub

The city of Milton Keynes, England, is using its data hub MK:SMART to power a water monitoring trial aimed at reducing household water usage.

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MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM -- The Milton Keynes Council and its partners, such as Anglican Water and BT, are using the big data hub, MK:SMART, to monitor household water usage in a six-month trial running through December 2016.

The voluntary Water Monitor trial focuses on the one of the city’s newer developments, Broughton Gate, and its approximately 50 streets.

Anglican Water will collect participants’ water usage data weekly through existing external water meter and internal radio water meters and upload it to MK:SMART. Participants can log onto the Water Monitor portal to learn how to reduce both energy and water bills based on ways to reduce their water usage.

According to program information, the Council is conducting the trial to see if people actually use less water when they have up-to-date information about its usage. The trial will also explore which water-saving tips and information on the site are most useful and analyze how much participant water use changes during the trial. If its successful, access to the tool and program monitoring could be expanded throughout the city.

The city of Milton Keynes is anticipating significant population growth, and the Council wants to get ahead of water demands.

In addition to Water Monitor, MK:SMART has also been working on a garden watering app that will have a trial this summer. The app relies on a user’s WiFi-accessible garden sensor, weather stations and other data to forecast soil moisture over a 10-day period.

Schools in the city are also going to use Anglican Water meters and a display unit for student-monitoring of water usage. They’ll learn how much water is used to wash hands and flush toilets. Over the long-term, students will use the equipment to identify leaks and poor water usage practices, and then devise and implement a water-saving plan for the school.

Download Milton Keynes’ water strategy on the MK:SMART website.

Andrea Fox is Editor of Gov1.com and Senior Editor at Lexipol. She is based in Massachusetts.

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