Grundfos, a global leader in advanced pump solutions and water technologies, has completed the acquisition of XPV Water Partners portfolio company Metasphere, a leading provider of telemetry and analytics solutions for water networks.

With UK water networks struggling to cope with the challenges of climate change, the world’s largest pump manufacturer Grundfos has acquired Metasphere to help it improve the resilience of the country’s sewer systems.

Water system failures currently cost cities billions of pounds annually - with climate change making extreme weather events more frequent, the damage is poised to grow without intervention.

Sewer networks are heavily impacted, but with Internet-of-Things-enabled hardware and weather data, coupled with strong analytics, the challenges can be significantly reduced.

In England alone, raw sewage flows into rivers and seas for more than 1.75 million hours last year.

Grundfos said that by adding the capabilities of Metasphere to its portfolio, it is set to provide its global municipal customers even stronger offerings. The partnership will help make water networks worldwide more robust in the face of climate change, solving a pressing global challenge.

Water companies across the world are battling to tackle sewer overflow. Announcing the deal, Grundfos described the UK as at “the global forefront of combatting sewer overflow.”

Despite this and improvements in recent years, raw sewage flowed into rivers and seas in England for more than 1.75 million hours in 2022. This includes sewer overflows caused by blockages and intrusion, causing damage to property and the environment.

Against this backdrop, the acquisition of Metasphere is an important milestone in Grundfos’ strategy to add to the company’s core competencies within pumps and hydraulics to address challenges requiring a holistic network perspective.

Key among Metasphere’s offerings is its ART Sewer integrated solution, which provides hardware and analytics software for the prediction and prevention of sewer network overflows. With its proven easy-to-install deployment and immense insights, ART Sewer already supports leading water utilities combat the effects of environmental change.

HP Nanda, CEO of Water Utility at Grundfos, commented:

“In Grundfos, we pioneer solutions to the world’s energy and climate challenges. It is clear that smart sewer technology will play a critical role in improving the ability of sewer systems worldwide to handle extreme weather events and overflows. We are excited about introducing Metasphere and their innovative solutions to our global audience of partners as part of our strategic journey towards a sustainable future where our water is safe.”

Tim O’Brien, CEO of Metasphere, added:

“Joining forces with one of the biggest names in the water utility industry is an important milestone on the journey towards our vision of zero spillage. With Grundfos, we will also be able to explore innovative ways to utilise different assets in a sewer network to avoid overflow across its global network. We are proud to be a UK-based business with the tools to make water systems work better for everyone, both in the UK and worldwide.”