I have been at Skewb for over three years now. 95 % of my time has been spent on Southern Water delivery, across a few different projects; primarily pressure transient detection and mitigation. It has taken the best part of those three years to unlock a work basket of some of the biggest, juiciest schemes in terms of leakage benefit for the client. But with pressure transients, the bigger the reward, the bigger the risk!
At the time of writing, it is 0943 hrs on Friday morning, May 9th, 2025. My phone battery is already half drained from the number of phone calls, text messages and WhatsApps I have made – I am in the middle of a delivery crisis.
Yesterday was a similar day, but the intensity has ramped up further and double the number of stakeholders are now involved. We are installing a new type of valve on a reservoir inlet, down in Hastings. We have successfully delivered one of these schemes with SWS previously, but it was in a different region, and thus, a whole different cohort of stakeholders and delivery partners. I learnt a lot from that tortuous first scheme. It took from February 2023, to November 2024 to design and successfully implement. Fortunately, the success of that scheme is evident. So, leaning on the success of the first scheme and bringing along all the lessons to prevent the long, tumultuous journey we had to endure, we are in the final stages of delivering our second scheme of this kind – a smart flow control valve.
Why are we doing this? Well, depending on how water networks are set-up, reservoirs fed from another reservoir by gravity, rather than pumped water, are governed by their inlet valves. These valves open and close automatically, based off of how much water has been fed into the reservoir. Unfortunately, the types of valves that are used to govern flow into reservoirs are often not ideal for the job. Gate and butterfly type valves allow for non-linear flow through their operation, meaning that they curtail most of the flow of water into a reservoir during the last 5-20 % of their operation. The rapid change in flow elicited by the opening/closing of one of these valves creates damaging pressure transients that race upstream, independent of flow, at over 1000 ms-1, increasing the rate of asset deterioration, which leads to leaks and bursts.
By installing a different type of valve on the downstream reservoir’s inlet that acts sympathetically (linear flow throughout operation), we can reduce the magnitude of, or altogether mitigate, the pressure transients. Trouble is, the variety of solutions are all new to our client, and their delivery partners…
The first lesson I learned from the first reservoir inlet scheme we delivered in Hampshire – it does not matter how much you think you can rely on a delivery partner or client stakeholder to understand the implementation phase of a new solution, you are the only person who actually does. This really matters as the slightest incorrect assumption can lead to a lack of understanding that has a big impact on delivery.
Do you really need to tell stakeholders that water is wet? Yes. We as Skewb create outline designs and then ask SWS’s delivery partners to build a detailed design from that. Usually there is one delivery partner that will put together a detailed design from our outline and then subcontract the more specialist parts of the implementation. We typically have no communication with subcontractors. However, when a delivery partner only pays a cursory level of attention to key details of the design and this only becomes apparent during the very last stages of implementation (as happened during our Hampshire scheme delivery), it becomes clear that you have to approach delivery of these schemes in a different way.
To mitigate the risk to delivery this can cause, you can take several steps. Firstly, delivery partner engagement. Sit everyone down and talk through what must happen during the implementation of a new type of scheme. Do this right at the start of the delivery process. Secondly, more closely project manage delivery by bringing in separate delivery partners to handle the different aspects of implementation – this allows you to exercise more control over the process. This step requires much more effort/communication/coordination on your part, but you can at least get a better sense of progress and catch potential risks before they have an impact as it forces delivery partners to be more communicative as they have to work in concert. Thirdly, more prescriptive work instructions. Although we provide outline designs, a delivery partner will be forgiven for seeing a work instruction stating, ‘install familiar valve brand valve at location x.’ If you understand this from the outset, you can help a delivery partner better navigate implementation by arresting their assumptions before they make them. For instance, highlighting that this is a new type of valve with different and specific requirements, and then detailing the meaningful differences is one way to do this.
In short, the above all adds up to one thing – you have to know more about this scheme than anyone – you have to be an expert. You have to have a good understanding of the existing flow meter’s electrical communication output, the power requirements of the valve controller, how the reservoir’s telemetry works, the pipe diameters, the current fill drain regime of the asset, the new control philosophy and the effect it’ll have on upstream pressures, who is responsible for what and have every possible stakeholder on speed dial. When your this close the wire, as I am right now, even a little hiccup can crash the whole delivery process. From hiccups, to high risk issues, everything has to be dealt with immediately and efficiently to keep delivery on track. It is unlikely that you will be able to pre-empt every possible scenario that may unfold during delivery, but at least you will be equipped with the knowledge to act.
Construction for this scheme should have started mid-July, 2024, one month after I first picked this scheme up. It was top priority, garnering attention from the client CEO. Navigating the hurdles of delivery, the poor communication from client and delivery partners alike, operational complications, the unfathomably slow nature of decision making – even when you really get your hooks into a scheme, like I have for this one, it can feel like running through treacle. So, with all of that effort, the valve was finally installed yesterday, Thursday, May 8th, 2025. All the electrical work should have been done weeks ago, and as I sit here, it is the electrical contractors third attempt to do the work. They are still unable to do the critical work necessary, ahead of Monday’s valve commissioning – a date set in stone months ahead, due to the finite resource of commissioning engineers.
Turns out, it doesn’t matter how closely you project manage delivery or how comprehensive your approach has been, delivery partners can catch you out in the simplest of ways. Not ordering any of the parts required for the job isn’t the one I was expecting though.
Applying pressure in the right way is very tricky to do. When you have a hard deadline, for instance, Monday, May 12th for the commissioning of this valve, you will have to apply pressure to many, if not all of the stakeholders involved to keep delivery on track. The amount of pressure you will need to apply will feel like it increases exponentially as you approach the commissioning date; particularly so on the date itself. It’s not carrot and stick, it’s not just being nice to everyone, it’s just dispassionately dispensing instructions; it’s a tricky, dynamic, complex blend of communication skills that would probably take another article itself to breakdown. Fast forward a few hours, the time is now 1351 hrs, Friday May 9th at the time of writing. Miraculously, two of the delivery partners involved have really pulled out the stops, and the parts needed for the final stage of enabling works are at the reservoir. I don’t know how Monday is going to go, but I’m confident in team I have around me. Well-managed stakeholders will rally around you to collaborate and solve the problems when the heat is on.
When at the final stage of delivery for one of these new schemes – commissioning day – the effort required and the nerves you will have to rely on to succeed are so considerable that you have to be there onsite yourself. I live up north and so I am waking up at 0200 hrs on Monday morning to drive the six-ish hours down to the reservoir. Although I likely live the furthest away of all of the stakeholders, I am determined to be the first there. I will be armed with many tools. Yes, PPE, sun cream and a cool box filled with cold drinks and cakes for everyone are all essential. But the most significant weapon in my arsenal is my knowledge of this scheme. No one knows this scheme better than me; I have been the central conduit for information and instructions between all of the stakeholders. I am confident and determined that I am equipped to deal with whatever challenges Monday will bring. And fortunately I have many stakeholders that I am able to rely on for support.
I must admit, I enjoy this, but delivery isn’t for the faint hearted…
By Adam Grocott
Adam Grocott is Sr. Network Engineer at Skewb. To speak with him about this topic in more detail, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.
