High water mark: Interview with Andrew Burrows

When discussing the value of engineers and the attractions of engineering, it is common for its proponents to say that engineers are those who will solve the big problems the world faces. To the cynical, this may sound like empty rhetoric, but proof that it is not can be seen in the form of 2010's winner of the British Engineering Excellence Award, Andrew Burrows. Burrows, of i20 Water, received the award for developing a highly effective and innovative water-saving solution. The effect his design is having where it has been implemented is something that clearly gives him great satisfaction. He says: "As innovators and engineers we can get so involved in our technology that we don't really realise what an impact it is having outside of the design office. The solution that we have built is now having an impact on a really major problem, and it is great, not only for me, but for all the team of very talented engineers who have supported this vision, to receive recognition for the effort, the innovation and what it is now doing for this urgent problem." Despite being collected, filtered and chlorinated, then being distributed via high pressure mains, 25% of water is lost before it reaches the consumer. Water leakage can be reduced by limiting pressure in the distribution system but, until recently, no effective technologies existed to do this. Burrows designed an intelligent valve, controlled by a central server. This learns the behaviour of the network and constantly adjusts the pressure to the optimum. The system also reduces leakage by reducing pressure to the optimum to satisfy demand. Says Burrows: "The pilot valve is just one of the many innovations in our system – but a key one to enable us to smoothly control the pressure reducing valves. The pilot valve maintains the fundamental operation of a hydraulic pilot valve; which provides its inherent reliability, but introduces a smooth sliding and rotating control component which can move with tiny amounts of energy where previously it required the brute force of a spanner to adjust." The system, now in service, reduces water leakage by more than 20% and is now becoming recognised as the most economic solution to solving water shortage. Says Burrows: "In Malaysia, we are now saving 20 million litres per day from just 100 systems, we are in detailed discussions with water companies and governments in many countries to use our technologies to solve the problems of water supply shortage and wastage. We have also launched a new application of our technology which allows water companies to make substantial savings in energy consumption in pumping water and this is now also receiving a great deal of attention." However, it is clear that Burrows is not prepared to rest on his laurels, promising more innovations on the way. "We are now working on an even more innovative pilot valve which will bring more capability to our system and enhance the operating envelope of the existing pressure reducing valves," he says. "Probably the most innovative feature of the system is the architecture with the centralised server and artificial intelligence which automatically learns the network characteristics and remotely optimises.... and that is also being significantly enhanced. We are working on a couple of other technologies which we are looking to patent during 2011." The accolade of Design Engineer of The Year (awarded alongside the Grand Prix at the BEEAs last October), is something that Burrows sees both as vindication of the design and a tremendous boost for the company as a whole. He says: "The award demonstrates very clearly to our customers that we have developed something really rather special – an innovation which is out of the ordinary and makes our customers and potential customers see us as a provider of the leading technology in our sector. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend other companies to nominate for the award."