Yorkshire Water scales AI-driven asset monitoring

Yorkshire Water is significantly expanding its predictive condition monitoring programme as part of its AMP8 investment. Industrial artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Samotics is set to monitor a further 1,200 wastewater sewage pumping station assets and 300 clean water smart pumping assets over the next 18 months.

The expansion is one of the largest deployments of electrical signature analysis (ESA) technology in the UK water sector. It reflects the growing role of asset-level intelligence in helping utilities reduce pollution incidents, improve network resilience and meet stretching environmental targets in the water company’s regulatory asset management plan (AMP) for 2025-30.

The expansion builds on a partnership that began in 2022, when the utility first awarded Samotics a £10 million contract to deploy ESA across its pumping network. The programme has since grown to cover around 2,500 assets and won the Utility Week Award for Digital Transformation in December 2025. 

Once the AMP8 rollout is complete, Yorkshire Water will have more than 4,000 SAM4-monitored assets across its estate, making it the largest single-customer deployment of Samotics’ technology to date.

SAM4 uses ESA to monitor industrial equipment by analysing current and voltage signals captured remotely from motor control cabinets, with AI classifying deviations into specific fault types. At Yorkshire Water, the technology is being applied to submerged sewage pumps, screw pumps and clean water smart pumps.

These are some of the most operationally critical and hard-to-access assets in the network, where conventional vibration sensors are impractical to install. Faults detected include pump blockages, airlocks and misaligned components, often weeks before they would otherwise become visible. The platform is independently validated at 97% accuracy with fewer than 1% false positives.

The decision to scale the programme reflects three years of monitoring operational outcomes. Across the partnership to date, SAM4 has detected 726 developing faults on Yorkshire Water assets, prevented 40 pollution events and delivered a confirmed detection value of £12.87 million. Evaluated across all monitored assets, the programme has delivered a 571% return on investment for Yorkshire Water.

Tom Swain, head of UK & Ireland at Samotics, said: “It’s been a real privilege to work alongside Yorkshire Water for the past five years. They’ve been an outstanding partner from the very first 50-site pilot, and the trust they’ve placed in us is something we don’t take lightly. 

“Reaching this point, with another 1,500 assets being added, on the back of December’s Utility Week Award for Digital Transformation, is an absolute credit to the team there and the consistent commitment they’ve shown to asset health and energy efficiency.

“For the wider industry, what this expansion shows is that ESA is becoming a proven solution in monitoring the critical, hard-to-reach assets that have historically been a blind spot. Submerged pumps, screw pumps and other rotating equipment sit at the heart of pollution risk and unplanned downtime, and being able to detect faults early changes what’s operationally possible. 

“As more UK water companies scale this kind of approach during AMP8, we expect it to make a measurable difference to pollution performance and network resilience across the sector.”

Simon Herrington, engineering performance manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Improving the health, resilience, life and efficiency of our assets is a priority for Yorkshire Water and underpins the £8.3 billion investment programme agreed with the regulator for AMP8.  

“The rollout of Samotics’ condition monitoring system represents a strategic shift toward data-driven, proactive asset management that will reduce the risk of service interruptions and environmental pollution, while delivering cost savings and operational efficiencies.”

He continued, “I’m pleased that the partnership is continuing into AMP8 with rollout on more assets and expansion into new asset categories, enhancing predictive capability and extending coverage, which will all help improve productivity and inform future investment priorities.”

Yorkshire Water plans to integrate SAM4 insights into its strategic data and cloud telemetry platforms, supporting wider visibility and long-term deterioration analysis to inform future investment planning. The 1,500-asset expansion is expected to be delivered over the next 18 months, taking the combined Yorkshire Water and Samotics programme into its next phase of scale during AMP8.