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Meet the Team: Sapphire
January 17, 2025
Meet the team behind Sapphire, an AI tool created by HR Wallingford to improve river and bathing water quality.
The health of the UK’s rivers and bathing waters has become a growing public concern in recent years. Urbanisation coupled with changes to rainfall patterns attributable climate change are expected to exacerbate the problem, placing additional strain on existing drainage infrastructure. As one of the finalists of the Manchester Prize, our goal is to develop an AI tool to help alleviate water pollution stemming from storm overflows, agriculture, and urban areas.
In response to this critical challenge, Sapphire aims to make a substantial contribution towards reducing water pollution from storm overflows, agriculture, and urban spaces. By integrating observed data and computer model outputs into an AI platform, Sapphire will provide faster results and incorporate data on more sources of pollution than traditional methods. This will enable water companies to better understand the impact of storm overflows and manage flows more effectively, ultimately leading to improved water quality across the nation.
Bringing clarity to operational decision-making
The increasing urbanisation and changing rainfall patterns driven by climate change have placed greater pressure on the UK’s wastewater networks, consequently impacting water quality in our rivers. Innovation hopes to address these pressing issues. Sapphire has been specifically developed to address the pressing challenge of water pollution from various sources by leveraging the transformative potential of AI in water quality management, having the potential to revolutionise the way we approach environmental challenges. By harnessing the power of AI, we can unlock insights from the vast amount of environmental data already being collected, thus bringing new clarity to operational decisions.
A proactive approach to addressing water pollution
Storm overflows present a complex and growing challenge. Climate change intensifies the severity and frequency of storms, resulting in thousands of sewage spills in the UK. Sapphire aims to deliver a solution by utilising AI to analyse and interpret environmental data in a way that is not only faster than traditional methods but also actionable. By producing rapid, actionable forecasts, our tool will significantly increase the opportunity for early intervention in addressing water pollution. This proactive approach to water quality management will enable water companies to make informed and timely decisions, ultimately leading to improved water quality in our rivers and along our coasts.
Short-term and long-term benefits
In the short-term, Sapphire will use rainfall forecasts to predict whether these events will cause spills from wastewater networks, and whether water quality will fail thresholds. This enables preventative measures to be taken. Sapphire will also help with attributing pollution events to other sources, to understand the factors that resulted in the spill. Taking a long-term view, Sapphire will aid with the design of upgrades to infrastructure by simulating future performance with different rainfall scenarios.
“We believe that Sapphire could play an important role in improving water quality, drawing on our expertise and the advances in computer modelling and AI. We hope our tool will enable water companies to better understand the impact of their storm overflows and manage flows more effectively, as well as bringing insight into other sources of pollution; ultimately this knowledge will enable cross-cutting measures to be taken by stakeholders across all relevant sectors and industries. We need to look at pollution in a holistic way, so that everyone can work together to improve the environment, and Sapphire gives us an objective way to do that.”
-Emma Brown, Technical Director at HR Wallingford
Looking to the future
The state of health of the UK’s rivers and bathing waters requires urgent attention and innovative solutions. The impact of urbanisation and changes to rainfall patterns, as a result of climate change, have only intensified the risk of sewage spills. Sapphire, represents a solution to this pressing issue. By integrating observed data and computer model outputs into an AI platform, Sapphire will provide faster results and incorporate more sources of pollution than traditional methods, ultimately contributing to better water quality across the nation.
“The Manchester Prize has given Sapphire the opportunity to play a powerful and exciting role in improving water quality, drawing on our expertise and the advances in computer modelling and AI. The aim for our tool is to enable a better understanding of the impacts of storm overflows on water quality, as well as bringing insight into other sources of pollution; ultimately this knowledge will enable cross-cutting measures to be taken by stakeholders across all relevant sectors and industries. We need to look at pollution in a holistic way, so that everyone can work together to improve the environment, and Sapphire gives us an objective way to do that.”
– Quillion Harpham, Technical Director at HR Wallingford
