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Water control at British Waterways


Over the past decade British Waterways has made giant leaps in the technology which allows it to track and manage water levels. When combined with the expertise of well-practiced staff, British Waterways can keep restrictions and closures on our canals and rivers to a minimum using a variety of techniques.

Older (or more experienced) boaters may remember frequent closures on the Oxford Canal due to water shortages. This issue has largely been eradicated thanks to back-pumping. While pumps have been used for many years, a good proportion of them were past their best. New pumps have been installed along a stretch of the Oxford Canal and will move water from the bottom pounds back up to the top.

The vast majority of pumps are automatic and electronically sense if a pound is low. The sensors can also tell if the pound below it has enough water to be able to spare some for the pound above. In many cases there are a series of pumps installed, which can help feed water back to the summit of a stretch of canal and keep it open.

However, back-pumping isn’t just for the Oxford Canal. It’s a technique used at many locations around the country. The Grand Union Canal and the Kennet & Avon Canal are both waterways which benefit from this technology.

Another tool in the fight against empty canals is SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). This bespoke system has been designed by British Waterways to help keep track of water levels in the canals and their feeding reservoirs in real time. Over 500 sensors, which keep track of water levels, have been placed in strategic points in reservoirs and along the canals. Any water engineer sitting at any British Waterways’ computer can access SCADA and find out the latest data, allowing an instant reaction to any emergency.

Fight against empty canals

As well as being vital for flood control, SCADA comes into its own in the summer months when it can sense a sudden drop in water levels, raise an alarm and indicate that water is being lost. Often the cause of a sudden drop in water levels is due to vandalism at a lock or paddles left open. The water engineers can then take steps to reduce any further water loss from a particular point on the network.

The SCADA system can also be used to plan a ‘water budget’. By looking at historical data, the engineers can predict how long any reserves will last, how they can best manage the water there is and whether extra measures such as temporary pumps need to be used. Looking at weather patterns from as early as the 1920s can give British Waterways’ water engineers an idea of what to expect in the future. Although no one can predict the future with 100 per cent accuracy, using a mix of historical data, the latest technology and brain power, the water engineers can get a good idea of how full our reservoirs need to be at different stages of the year.

Ask the experts

If you want to put a question about water resources to the British Waterways hydrology team, post it below and over the coming weeks we’ll ask the in-house experts for their thoughts and let you know the answers.

Last updated: 20/06/2011

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