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A day in the life of Binnies Principal Leakage Consultant

Published on January 20, 2022

Binnies Principal Leakage Consultant Colin Cox has more than 30Β years’ experienceΒ of water networks, specialising in strategic leakage management and operational and asset management delivery.Β 

Here,Β he discusses his career and gives an insight into his day-to-dayΒ job.Β 

WhenΒ we turn on a tap each day to access clean water, weΒ neverΒ give a second thought toΒ what a precious and valuable resource it is.Β 

Many of usΒ are guilty of taking for granted theΒ availability of water andΒ often don’tΒ appreciate the challenges faced by water utility companiesΒ to ensureΒ it is always accessible to us.Β 

These challenges includeΒ aΒ changing and unpredictable climate, population growth, water scarcity and affordability issuesΒ and mean we need toΒ valueΒ waterΒ andΒ ensure weΒ manageΒ and useΒ it responsibly.Β 

A critical issueΒ and key performance indicatorΒ for wholesale water providers is leakage, which representsΒ a waste of both natural resources and money. With tough regulatory performance hurdles, ageing infrastructureΒ andΒ aΒ greater focus on customer service,Β the need to drive down the cost of leakage-reduction strategies through innovative and cost-effective solutions has never been more prominent.Β 

ThatΒ is whyΒ jobs like Colin’s are so important, and here,Β ColinΒ outlines his day-to-day workΒ and whatΒ the future holds for water.Β 

For more than 30 years, Colin has worked in the water industry.Β HeΒ started his career workingΒ forΒ companies such asΒ York Waterworks and Severn Trent Water,Β digging roads,Β fixingΒ pipesΒ and working in customer service,Β beforeΒ ultimatelyΒ focusing on leakage,Β in which fieldΒ he progressed his careerΒ through a number of operational management rolesΒ toΒ eventuallyΒ leadingΒ aΒ leakage department.Β 

In 2015,Β Colin moved into senior rolesΒ within theΒ energyΒ sector,Β workingΒ asΒ aΒ seniorΒ operationsΒ managerΒ at SSEΒ Energy ServicesΒ andΒ headΒ ofΒ operationsΒ at Morrison Data Services,Β butΒ last year, heΒ found himself re-evaluating his life and career after catching COVID-19.Β 

β€œMy love for leakage never really ended,” he admits. β€œIt’s like being a sleuth, like being Sherlock Holmes. There’s always an area that needs investigation.” 

Fortunately,Β BinniesΒ wasΒ looking forΒ someone who knewΒ aboutΒ the operational side of leakage, and Colin hasn’t looked back since joining the team in September last year.Β 

β€œI’m absolutely loving it. I’ve gone from managing 500 people toΒ working as part of aΒ much smaller team,Β so it’sΒ beenΒ a big change for me but a good one,” he says.Β 

β€œLeakageΒ servicesΒ at Binnies isΒ an area of growth and expansion. It’s something I find fascinating – everything about it – supporting clientsΒ with solutions,Β fromΒ understandingΒ theirΒ assets’ conditionΒ andΒ digitalisation toΒ finding and fixing leaksΒ more efficiently.” 

Typical daysΒ for Colin can vary.Β β€œSince I’ve started, most of my time has beenΒ spentΒ workingΒ on specific projectsΒ forΒ clients,Β developingΒ new opportunities or working with our partners,Β theΒ marketing teamΒ and my colleaguesΒ onΒ ourΒ leakage service offering.Β Recently,Β IΒ have beenΒ workingΒ with aΒ partnerΒ onΒ pinpointing and sizing leaksΒ usingΒ artificial intelligence (AI)Β on sound filesΒ fromΒ acousticΒ loggersΒ for a clientΒ and developing ourΒ non-invasiveΒ assetΒ condition assessmentΒ service offering.Β This willΒ help clientsΒ surveyΒ assetsΒ at a much larger scale than alternative solutions for an equivalent investment.” 

Colin andΒ hisΒ colleagues helpΒ utility companiesΒ outperform their regulatoryΒ commitments, deliveringΒ improved performanceΒ byΒ harnessing proven engineering capabilities and innovative digital technologiesΒ in order toΒ provide greater network intelligence and support clients in delivering their operational and strategic leakage objectives.Β 

β€œThe leaks we find are not the ones you can physically see;Β if you imagine a map of a city it’ll be split up into undergroundΒ mains calledΒ a distributionΒ networkΒ thatΒ isΒ split intoΒ discreetΒ areas calledΒ districtΒ meterΒ areas.Β By metering these areas andΒ taking into accountΒ a numberΒ ofΒ components,Β we canΒ account for where all waterΒ that is put into distribution goes on an average day in the year.Β ByΒ understanding this, waterΒ companiesΒ can targetΒ areas that have leaks,” explains Colin.Β 

β€œWe can be doing anything from looking at burst pipes and their history to mains rehabilitation but as I say, my day variesΒ a lot.” 

β€œThings have changed since the old days when you would go out with a listening stick to identify leaks – this simply will not be enough for companies to meet their regulatory targets. We have to beΒ a lot more innovative and technicalΒ in our approaches toΒ preventing andΒ finding leakage using cutting-edge technology, AI, asset condition assessment and pressureΒ management,” he adds.Β 

β€œWater availability is a key challenge inΒ some areas of the country,Β especially where the population isΒ more transientΒ as thisΒ leadsΒ toΒ an increasedΒ demand for water.Β For example, placesΒ whereΒ Β holidaymakersΒ frequentΒ get a lot more people using water for a time and then leaving, which creates a spike inΒ demand,Β making leakageΒ more difficult to find.Β 

β€œConversely,Β changes in the weatherΒ such asΒ freeze/thaw events or long dry periodsΒ causeΒ pipes to burstΒ or leaks to get worseΒ due to ground movement,Β meaning that water companiesΒ have toΒ implement incidentΒ managementΒ to find and fix leaksΒ quickly.Β To meet the challenges that our clients face,Β our strategy is toΒ collaborateΒ with partnersΒ so thatΒ we can offer clients a range of services to reduce and more effectively manage leakage from their assets,” says Colin.Β 

As for the future, ultimately,Β Colin believes that digitalisation of water is the way forward.Β 

β€œWaterΒ digitalisationΒ is going to be key, with utility companiesΒ ultimatelyβ€―moving from time-based to condition-based maintenance, adopting the ability to understand the effective age of their assets and then forecasting potential failures,” he explains.Β 

β€œThis will enable utility companiesΒ to identify and schedule massive improvements in life extension maintenance activitiesΒ andΒ strategically plan for replacementsΒ in their long-term asset plans.” 

β€œFor me,Β digitalisation in the water sector is about building on existing foundations where utilities embrace and expedite the application of data science and augmented intelligence techniques,Β enabling the virtual representation of water systems, enhanced situational awareness or near-real time flow and quality monitoring, which haveΒ great potential to solve many of the challenges faced by the industry,” saysΒ Colin.Β 

β€œChris Steele,Β Head ofΒ Digital at Binnies, and the rest of the team are doing fantastic work with different types ofΒ digitalisationΒ in their dynamic maintenance programme.” 

And whatΒ is the best part of Colin’s job?Β 

β€œDefinitelyΒ the variety of work we do – being able to help and support people outside Binnies to deliver their objectives,” he says.Β 

β€œThis is a different role for me.Β Being part of a team and business that believes in the growth of its people and businessΒ whileΒ caring for the climateΒ andΒ finding sustainable ways to look after the world we live in is really motivating. Who would not want to beΒ part of that?Β 

β€œI’m putting more than 30 yearsΒ of experience into practice,Β enjoyingΒ being part of a team and theΒ people I workΒ withΒ and I am really impressed with what I’ve seen of diversity and multiculturalismΒ at RSK and Binnies. The sheer scale of activities we cover is phenomenal.Β 

β€œI’ve worked in big organisationsΒ before,Β but this level ofΒ diversityΒ isΒ soΒ impressive.” 

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ARTICLE AUTHOR

Colin Cox

Principal Leakage Consultant, Binnies

More from this author

As principal leakage consultant at Binnies, Colin brings leadership experience from across the water and energy sectors, underpinned by significant leakage and operational management expertise. He has more than 20 years’ experience of water networks with specialisation in strategic leakage management and operational and asset management delivery.

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