Anglian Water has signed a two-year extension to its condition-based monitoring (CBM) framework with industrial artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Samotics.

Agreed in April, the framework covers more than 250 clean water assets currently monitored by Samotics' SAM4 predictive maintenance system across Anglian Water's operations.

This is the first major renewal since the first three-year framework was agreed in March 2023. It continues a partnership that originally began in November 2020 and is now entering its sixth year.

The core of the programme focuses on clean water optimisation, with hundreds of assets monitored continuously across the water company's water supply. In addition, the agreement will extend condition monitoring to new pumping stations being commissioned in key locations across the Strategic Pipeline Alliance (SPA), as part of the utility's major water infrastructure programme.

Andy Smith, smart water systems senior manager at Anglian Water, said:

“Our approach to maintenance is built around a simple principle: right maintenance, right time. To achieve that, we need to understand what our assets are telling us and identify potential problems early, before they affect performance or service.

“SAM4 gives our teams the visibility and confidence to act at the right time. Across our pumping stations, and now on the Strategic Pipeline, we can identify developing issues early and plan maintenance better. This helps us increase asset uptime, makes the best use of our engineers’ time and reduces the risk of disruption.

“Technology earns its place when it helps people make better decisions and delivers tangible benefits. By supporting our teams to maintain reliable infrastructure, SAM4 is helping us provide a dependable service for our customers and the communities we serve.”

SAM4 uses electrical signature analysis (ESA) to monitor equipment remotely from the motor control cabinet, with AI analysing the current and voltage signals from pumps and motors. This makes it possible to monitor assets continuously, without installing sensors on the equipment itself.

Identifying faults as they emerge, including cavitation, bearing wear and misaligned components, becomes easier for teams, which means they can act before problems escalate. The platform delivers 97% detection accuracy with fewer than 1% false positives.

Since adopting SAM4 in 2020, Anglian Water has prevented £886,800 in costs through early fault detection and avoided failures.

Tom Swain, head of UK & Ireland at Samotics, said:

“Working alongside Anglian Water since 2020, we have seen first-hand what genuine commitment to predictive, condition-based maintenance looks like in practice. The real value of accurate, trustworthy monitoring comes when teams have the confidence to act on what the data tells them, early and consistently. That is the approach Anglian Water has taken, and it is reflected in what the programme has delivered.

“It is genuinely encouraging to see Anglian and others across the water sector embracing the kind of early detection that ESA-based monitoring makes possible. As AMP8 programmes develop, proactive asset management will be central to how utilities protect service reliability and manage long-term costs. We are proud to be part of that work with Anglian Water, and we look forward to building on a partnership that has gone from strength to strength.”