A project to rollout high speed internet to remote areas using water pipes has been discontinued after two years due to regulatory hurdles and challenges of working between telecoms and the water sector.
The scheme was designed to have dual benefits from rolling out fibre internet cables within clean water pipe networks. It was backed by Department for Science, Innovation and Technology(DSIT) with involvement from the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra).
The Telecoms and Water Combined Operations (TAWCO) project was not continued due to regulatory hurdles. Approval from the Drinking Water Inspectorate to use clean water pipes had still not been secured two years into the project.
Despite calls for cross-sector collaboration in innovation, the report on the shutdown of the £5.5 million pilot concluded the challenges of combining the telecoms and water industries proved too obstructive.
DSIT said there was a “lack of clarity when it came to industry approved standards, which meant certification became a challenge” that prevented the use of fibre in the clean water pipes.
The scheme was intended to take advantage of the wide coverage of drinking water pipes to bring high speed internet to remote locations. The fibre cables were concurrently meant to detect leaks in the network.
Yorkshire Water was awarded funding from DSIT to advance work on using fibres into detect leaks in pipes. It joined with telecoms operator CommsWorld, the University of Strathclyde, and engineering consultancy Arcadis.
Having shutdown the pilot, DSIT said: “The decision was made to stop the live build trial for project TAWCO. Despite the obvious benefits to interested parties, there remains uncertainty around the best commercial model to adopt to make a viable solution.”
It added that financial risks also existed because there was a single company with the capability to supply and install the cables, which was a small start-up firm. Despite the barriers, which led to the project being discontinued, government said TAWCO designs could still be used in the future if regulatory approval can be granted.
DSIT’s report on the project said if it were to proceed in the future, a sweet spot had to be found between commercial opportunities and operational benefits as well as overcoming complexities of pipe material.
A separate project to explore the use of fibre cables in water pipes is underway through the Ofwat Innovation Fund. An initial pilot by Hafren Dyfrdwy investigated the use of dark fibre strands for leak detection in water and waste pipes. After proof of concept was successful the pitch was taken up in a second funding round through Ofwat’s competition with Severn Trent leading.
Installing these in situ was proposed as a way to lower costs for the telecom and water supply operator through a shared cost model as well as minimise carbon emissions by reducing the need to dig twice to install separate pipes and cables.