Slides from Peter Gallant's talk at the Feb 18, 2014 Event: Going Beyond The Spreadsheet - A Lunch & Learn co-hosted by WatrHub Inc. and WaterTAP Ontario.

1. Data-Driven Selling: How
Smart Networks and Big
Data Will Transform Sales
to Municipal Customers
Dr. Peter GALLANT
VP Business Development & Regulatory Affairs
ENDETEC Sensor Group
And Vice-Chair, WaterTAP Board
February, 2014

2. Today’s Challenge…
Vast networks of small, inexpensive, embedded
sensors are now being deployed by water
utilities worldwide.
These sensors are helping utilities to better
understand themselves and the behaviour of
their water distribution infrastructure.
What selling opportunities can vendors and
start-ups in the water technology sector
leverage from smart networks and big data?
How is this new knowledge going to change
the game?
“Seek First to Understand…then to be Understood.”
21/02/2014
Steven Covey,
Habit 5 of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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3. Our Discussion Today…
1. Seek First to Understand:
Utility operations: their challenges in “numbers”.
Brief introduction to smart networks in utility distribution
systems.
“Real World” examples of the unprecedented operational
knowledge and insight that big data analytics can provide.
2. Then Seek to be Understood:
Leverage big data to understand your customer.
3. Data-Driven Selling: The New Reality
Use the utilities’ own information to sell to them / validate
your value proposition.
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4. Numbers…
79
Overview
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5. Numbers…
79
Average age (in
years) of water pipe
in Washington, DC
Overview
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6. Numbers…
403,000
Overview
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7. Numbers…
403,000
Number of people made
ill by Milwaukee Crypto
outbreak (1993) out of
880,000 pop. served
Overview
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8. Numbers…
116 /
7,500
Overview
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9. Numbers…
116 /
7,500
Number of drinking
water contaminants
(116) selected for EPA
Candidate Contaminant
List out of 7,500
contaminants evaluated
Overview
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10. Utilities Face Multiple Challenges
Convergence of Forces and Drivers
Health
Protection
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Aging
Economics of
Infrastructure
Water
(Cost/Supply)
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11. 1. Seek First to Understand: Smart Networks
in Water Utility Distribution Systems
Smart Networks will require:
Massive networks of cheap sensors.
Rapid and easy to install (tap in like a
service connection).
Little to no calibration/service or
reagents (or OPEX will be unsustainable)
Smart Sensors will generate:
Both “direct” and “indirect” (surrogate)
parameters eg. optical detection of
organics, etc.
Massive amounts of raw data!
According to Sensus, Smart Networks could
save the world’s 180 biggest utilities up to
US $12.5 billion annually
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12. 1. Seek First to Understand: What Smart
Networks are Showing Utilities : 3 Examples
Example #1: Rapid detection of Adverse Water Quality Events
such as zero chlorine residuals – taste/odor and public health
protection.
Active
Chlorine
Conductivity
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13. 1. Seek First to Understand: What Smart
Networks are Showing Utilities : 3 Examples
Example #2: High water demand (firefighting) shows water
quality impact sloughing of biofilms and corrosion.
.
Fire demand (hydrant open) event shows biofilm release
and water age changes (conductivity transient changes)
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14. 1. Seek First to Understand: What Smart
Networks are Showing Utilities : 3 Examples
Example #3: Variable pressure can affect pipe life and lead to
water main breaks/premature failure. Jan 31/12 break of a 4”
water main detected by pressure drop faster than tank level
monitors.
21/02/2014
Source: American Water
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15. 2. Seek to Understand: Leverage Big Data to
Identify Customer Pain / Selling Opportunities
Understand
Optimize
Operate
Early adopters will be “good/best” systems that want to “keep
getting better” - partner with them and access public (and
possibly internal) data to understand key issues such as:
Detection of critical events (water main breaks).
Water security and system integrity monitoring.
Performance-based underground infrastructure
assessment.
Potential operational gains: in-plant treatment
optimization based on distribution system observations.
Applies to both chemical and energy savings opportunities!
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16. 2. Seek to Understand: Leverage Big Data to
Identify Customer Pain / Selling Opportunities
Utilities required to publish water
quality data (increasingly online).
Some utilities also publish network
monitoring data to the Web (in real
time!)
Public regulatory data re. violations
(adverse water quality events,
parameter exceedences).
AMR/AMI water metering
infrastructure can provide significant
amounts of flow/pressure data.
US Air Force has issued RFI recently for
“real time water quality sensors” to
reduce the occurrence of violations of
the Total Coliform Rule and other
federal water quality regulations.
21/02/2014
Source: WaterWise
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17. 3. Data-Driven Selling: the New Reality
Advantages:
Ease of “problem validation” – the data doesn’t lie!
Validated issues (especially potential regulatory, public
health or “public nuisance” such as taste & odor) may
enable budget prioritization or one-time appropriations.
Challenges to Consider:
Higher “burden of proof” of impact of new solution.
Increased use of data-driven KPIs in performance-based
contracts / public-private partnerships.
Sophistication required to sell to these customers.
Smart Networks and Big Data are going to transform what
utility customers know about themselves and their
distribution networks – and will also transform the process of
selling to municipal customers
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18. Contact Information
Dr. Peter Gallant
peter.gallant@veolia.com
www.endetec.com
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