Case Study: Northumbrian Water reduces alarm overload with Softwire’s AI Smart Alarm Management

Northumbrian Water cuts alarm volume by 75% with Softwire

Northumbrian Water faced a significant challenge with alarm overload in its water networks, where control room operators were managing up to 200 alarms per hour—far above the recommended level. This volume made it difficult to identify urgent issues and minimize customer disruption. To address this, they partnered with Softwire to develop an AI-powered solution.

Softwire developed the Smart Alarm Management (SAM) system using machine learning to prioritize alerts and group them by root cause, and generative AI to provide insights and recommend actions. This proof-of-concept reduced alarm volume by 75%, confirming the approach's effectiveness. The success secured a £1.7m innovation fund to develop and deploy SAM, enabling faster response times to reduce supply interruptions.

Northumbrian Water