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The water industry faces increasing pressure to demonstrate resilience. A landmark report released by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) aims to to help water companies measure, assess and communicate asset health with a more unified approach across the sector, providing the first practical roadmap for consistent asset assessment across the UK and Ireland.

Creating a joined approach for understanding health

While several overlapping definitions of asset health exist, there has been a lack of alignment in how it is assessed, making the management of asset health a recognised concern.

The UKWIR’s Common Definition & Calculation of Asset Health framework is believed to fill an important gap in supporting greater comparability between companies and enabling more transparent conversations about long-term performance. A clear picture of asset condition is critical to both investment and planning within water companies, and as part of the suite of measures and incentives set by regulators.

According to research and analysis for the UKWIR asset health project, the same definition was not effectively serving both needs. Given both the public and regulator attention on asset health, the framework recommends that the standard definition of asset health aligns more closely with the regulatory definition.

Key recommendations

The study made several findings and proposals in relation to requirements to adopt a precise measurable definition of asset health. It also suggests next steps for further development of asset health assessment:

• All elements of asset health, including data, metrics and interventions, must have defined owners within an organisation
• The water industry should move toward a single definition to ensure direct comparisons between companies are possible
• Companies are encouraged to map their existing asset health structures to the UKWIR framework, making it possible to refine them and share cross-sector learning

Collaboration was key for this report

According to Water Magazine, the report is particularly valuable as it brings together industry expertise, good practice and regulator input in one practical approach. This approach focused on agreeing a common taxonomy, improving the way asset health is assessed and monitored, and setting a roadmap for future deterioration modelling. This should enable the sector to collaborate more effectively and create more informed decisions.

Alignment with A new vision for water

According to UKWIR, this report also supports the direction of travel set out in the government’s recent Water White Paper – A new vision for water, published in January, particularly around resilience, accountability, transparency and better long-term decision making. UKWIR’s asset health report provides the precise metrics needed for the white paper’s proposed new regulatory regime, giving the sector a shared language to identify and intervene before infrastructure problems take hold.