[March 06, 2014]

Accenture to Help Thames Water Prove the Benefits of Smart Monitoring Capabilities

Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has been selected by Thames Water, the largest provider of water and wastewater services in the UK, to prove new ways of working by integrating its business systems with its operations technologies.

Using Accenture Smart Grid Services powered by Accenture Analytics, Accenture will conduct an 18 month pilot from September 2013 to March 2015 at various Thames Water sites, to test, monitor and assess the benefits of the technology integration.

Thames Water is amongst the first movers on the intelligent use of real time data to monitor its assets as an efficient way to deliver the quality of service customers expect. The new ways of working made possible by the new analytics capabilities are intended to create a single view of its operating systems and assets, such as pipe and treatment facilities.

Accenture will implement advanced analytics capabilities, which will enable more efficient water sourcing and remote monitoring of assets. The information and data will help the utility anticipate equipment failures and respond in near real-time to critical situations, such as leaks or adverse weather events.

"The convergence of a wide range of digital technologies used to manage its infrastructure, will give Thames Water greater flexibility to respond to varying operating conditions, such as fluctuations in demand and changing weather patterns," said Suleman Alli, managing director of Accenture's UK water utilities industry group. "The company can make a step change in its ability to manage the performance of its assets through smarter use of its existing data and systems."

"We are committed to improving the efficiency of our operations through more intelligent data insights. This pilot will provide us with a clear framework for the benefits that can be realised," said Martin Dangerfield, head of PR14 and wholesale plan at Thames Water. "We selected Accenture to help us with this programme due to its deep understanding of our needs, expertise in systems integration and similar experience in other sectors."

Accenture will collaborate with Space-Time Insight and TIBCO Software Inc. to deliver the Smart Water pilot for Thames Water.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 281,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital, delivers insight-driven outcomes at scale to help organizations improve their performance. With deep industry, functional, business process and technical experience, Accenture Analytics develops innovative consulting and outsourcing services for clients to help ensure they receive returns on their analytics investments. For more information follow us @ISpeakAnalytics and visit www.accenture.com/analytics.

About Thames Water

Thames Water, which serves London and the Thames Valley, is Britain's biggest water and sewerage company.

Top-quality drinking water: We supply more than a tonne a week of water on average to each of our 9m drinking water customers. That's 2,600m litres a day.

Recycling water back to the environment: We also recycle safely back to the environment 14m people's wastewater. That's 4,200m litres of sewage a day - 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our region: Our service area stretches from eastern fringes of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire in the west, through to the western edges of Essex and Kent in the east.

Bills: Our bills are among the lowest in the UK water sector, with the average household bill currently 97p a day per household for water and sewerage services.

Ownership: Thames Water Utilities Ltd is owned by a group of pension and infrastructure funds from around the world, including Macquarie-managed funds, which have a 26% stake.

Regulators: All water firms in England and Wales are privately-owned and answerable to our regulators, who monitor all our activities.

- Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water industry: www.ofwat.gov.uk/

- The Environment Agency is the environmental regulator: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

- The Drinking Water Inspectorate regulates the quality of water companies supply: www.dwi.gov.uk/

Renewable energy: As well as providing water and sewerage services, we are also the biggest non-commercial producer of electricity inside the M25. We burn methane derived from sewage to create heat from which we generate our own renewable electricity to help power our works. This saves us on average £15m a year in grid energy bills.

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