Case study
Know what's coming, plan with precision
We worked with the reactive maintenance partner servicing one of the UK’s largest sewer networks — spanning nearly 40,000 km and handling 65,000 maintenance calls a year.
The challenge
Heavy rainfall causes field technician demand to surge 3–4 times normal workload levels, straining a fixed-size workforce and jeopardising service level commitments. Climate change is intensifying these peaks, creating significant cost pressures.
Our approach
We sourced eight years of reactive wastewater repair and maintenance data alongside high-resolution radar precipitation data. On Azure and Microsoft Fabric, we built a predictive model forecasting first-response work order volumes and locations, accurate at daily, weekly and monthly scales. This supported proactive deployment of Customer Response Technicians, with base-level resource right-sized for the year and temporary peaks met through a call-off commercial model.
Further work delivered areal distributions at community and CSO-level resolution, replacing periodic manual review with continuous analysis.
"I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present" — Head of Wastewater Networks, UK water company
Outcomes
- Reduced team size and associated costs by 20% annually
- Improved SLA performance during high-demand periods
- Enabled regional resource redistribution to optimise deployment
- Enabled more rapid response to pollution events
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