Efficiency: How the Water Industry can maximise ROI in AMP8

With AMP8 underway water companies face mounting pressure to deliver better outcomes — faster, cleaner, and more cost-effectively. New investment must run hand-in-hand with better networking and and increased data sharing. Getting this right promises environmental and economic wins for long-term success.

Here are six ways to drive efficiency across water and wastewater treatment operations and maximise your return on investment in AMP8.

1. Identify and Remove Constraints

Every system has a bottle-neck. Identifying and addressing that limiting factor can lead to immediate gains. The “theory of constraints” prioritises improvement by focusing on the weakest link, and then moving on to the next.

2. Communicate with Purpose

Ofwat are promoting open communication with customers and the public. Foundational to this is enhanced communication within your company.

Clear, timely communication reduces errors, avoids duplication, and accelerates problem-solving. Tools like Checkproof, Infraspeak, and monday.com streamline task management and maintenance logging, especially for pump-intensive operations.

But don’t rely solely on digital tools. Face-to-face (or video) conversations improve trust and clarity. Understanding different communication styles—influenced by personality, role, and priorities—also builds stronger teams.

Regulatory tip: AMP8 brings heightened scrutiny. Since the 2015 Upper Tribunal ruling, water companies are legally obligated to share environmental data under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). Proactively sharing performance data, particularly around CSOs and treatment efficacy, not only builds public trust but reinforces your “social license to operate.”

Good internal communication builds the foundation for better external communication.

3. Plan Creatively and Boldly

Change management is a full-time role in the water industry!

If conventional approaches aren’t working, it may be time for bold innovation. Creative problem-solving can deliver faster, lower-cost results—provided safety, quality, and sustainability are not compromised.

Don’t get bogged down by over-complication. Sometimes a bold, creative solution can achieve what incremental tweaks cannot – that said, speed should never come at the cost of safety, quality, or sustainability.

Use lifetime cost analysis (TOTEX) to guide decision-making. This includes CapEx, OpEx, maintenance, downtime, and end-of-life disposal.

Planning is a crucial part of minimising downtime during any equipment upgrades or trials. Demands on WwWT plants have grown exponentially over the last few years, making it imperative that sites continue to operate at FFT (Full Flow to Treatment) even while undergoing improvement works.

This is where portable bypass systems come into their own, reducing risk and enabling capital projects to proceed without impacting FFT capacity. EnviroHub lamella units provide a portable settlement system that takes up only a 10th of its effective settling area. They are readily available for short to long-term hire, or outright purchase to meet AMP8 resilience targets.

Above: An EnviroHub HL150 – 150m2 of settlement area in a 20′ shipping container-style format

Tech tip: Predictive AI tools that fuse sensor data, weather forecasts, and network capacity now provide 20-hour to 3-day lead times for CSO events. Integrating these insights into planning helps mitigate flood risks and exceed performance commitments.

4. The 3 T’s – Trust, Teamwork & Training

Efficiency thrives in a culture of trust. When stakeholders trust each other—from field engineers to suppliers—they collaborate better, adapt faster, and stay focused on shared outcomes.

With AMP8 amplifying climate, regulatory, and customer demands, cross-company collaboration and skills-sharing have never been more critical.

Investing in training ensures staff are up to speed with modern tools and techniques. It also boosts morale and retention, reducing the costly churn of skilled labour. Ultimately, a well-trained workforce is a more reliable, productive one.

AMP8 presents a shared challenge — and opportunity — across the sector. Fostering trust across internal teams and external partners helps drive coordinated, effective responses to regulation and climate risks.

5. Automate the Repetitive

Look for tasks that are repeated frequently or triggered by fixed rules. Automating these can unlock valuable time for creative, high-impact work.

Start small: Severn Trent and South Staffordshire Water replaced a manually operated valve with a smart pressure management device. No more midnight site visits; the system now opens and closes automatically.

Platforms like Senteos enable remote monitoring and automated control across treatment systems like EnviroHub. This eliminates manual data collection and creates actionable insights for compliance, planning, and continuous improvement.

AMP8 note: Automation doesn’t have to be complex or enterprise-wide to deliver value. Iterative, low-risk deployments at the site level often provide the fastest ROI.

As an example, Senteos is a remote monitoring and control system compatible with many sensors and data systems, including EnviroHub. Networked tech like this saves hours of manual work and travel between assets and sites. Real-time data visibility, smart-programmable equipment control, SMS text or email alerts, and automated data logging are made simple with EnviroHub and Senteos.

There are many software & platforms that can be used to boost productivity – helping to manage tasks, checklists, health & safety, and teamwork.

Take-away tip: Data collection underpins them all – what you can measure, you can control. Data sets you free to make good, accountable decisions.

6.    Optimise Asset Management

Efficient operations depend on effective asset care. Neglected assets lose performance and run up energy consumption— rapidly. Regular intervention keeps infrastructure running close to full design capacity.

Biofilters, storm tanks, and digestors all require cleaning, inspection, and maintenance. Even minor improvements here can extend asset life and prevent expensive failures.

International benchmarks show what’s possible: in France, one wastewater network cut CAPEX by 55% and overflows by 75% by optimising existing infrastructure. Another saved €250M by avoiding new construction altogether.

AMP8 implication: OFWAT’s performance commitments increasingly reward smarter, lower-carbon asset management. Upgrading pumps, sensors, and data systems offers not just savings—but measurable improvements in service quality.

Conclusion

AMP8 is more than a regulatory milestone — it’s a proving ground and catalyst. By investing in smarter systems, agile planning, and trusted partnerships, water companies can not only meet their increased performance targets, but shape a financially and ecologically resilient, customer-focused future.

Whether you’re automating operations, enhancing communication, or upgrading infrastructure, every small improvement builds toward long-term resilience and a stronger return on investment.

Let efficiency lead your AMP8 strategy — and the results will flow.