Esri Ireland app transforms water conservation for Northern Ireland Water

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), has announced that its digital mapping software is transforming water conservation for Northern Ireland Water with the Report-a-Leak app.

Headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland Water serves 1.8 million customers and is responsible for maintaining a vast network of 27,000km of water mains. The organisation wanted to make it easier for members of the public to report potential leaks, as its existing telephone and email system generally made it cumbersome to assess the relative priority of leak reports and then locate them on the ground.

Built using Esri’s ArcGIS mapping system, the Report-a-Leak app enables members of the public to accurately log potential leaks from their mobile devices in less than a minute. Users can enter a description of the leak they find, provide an accurate location and geotag a picture of the problem. The report is then immediately passed to the relevant team for investigation.

Collaborative approach to reducing leaks

Report-a-Leak has led to a 350 per cent increase in the reporting of incidents since the launch of the app. The increased number of reports contributes to larger numbers of leaks being fixed and, in turn, greater volumes of precious water resources preserved. The app is a collaborative approach to reducing water leakage and is encouraging the public to take an active role in water conservation.

The tool is easy to use and is resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for Northern Ireland Water’s employees, as it has eliminated vague data entry and improved detection capabilities for the organisation.

Sean O’Boyle, asset information development manager, Northern Ireland Water, said: “The Report-a-Leak app is a turning point for us. ArcGIS is helping us to work more collaboratively with our customers to preserve our water resources in Northern Ireland. From a business perspective, the Esri suite of tools is so configurable that Northern Ireland Water can be self-sufficient and develop its own solutions in-house, as business needs arise.

“When it comes to the impact this has had on the public, it’s clear to us that people understand the importance of conserving water and they are eager to help. The Report-a-Leak app makes it easy for them to do that. They realise that every minute can really make a difference with a major burst, so fast and accurate action is vital.

“Now with the more reliable and timely location information we receive from the public, the faster we can go to the right place, fix the problem and potentially prevent the loss of large volumes of water.”

Phil McLaughlin, client manager, Esri Ireland, said: “We are delighted to work with Northern Ireland Water on such an important tool for engaging with customers and encouraging them to support water conservation efforts. ArcGIS is enabling the public to report leaks in real-time and provides accurate and clearly detectable information for Northern Ireland Water.

“It has led to a more than threefold increase in the number of potential leaks reported by the general public, is resulting in faster action to fix leaks, and providing a better customer experience. The app is making the task of preserving our natural resources easier and more efficient, and playing a part in that is something we take huge pride in.”

For details, see: esri-ireland.ie; email mapsmakesense@esri-ireland.ie; 01-869 3900.