Tackling Winter Storms: Empowering UK Water Utilities with Data to Mitigate Flooding

In the past four weeks alone, Storm Ashley, Storm Bert and Storm Darragh have unleashed their fury across the UK. The storms packed 90mph winds and heavy rainfall, leaving behind a trail of submerged streets, overwhelmed sewer systems and disrupted lives. These storms highlight a troubling trend—extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe. Last year, storms like Bibet and Ciaran caused widespread devastation, inundating homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. Such storms aren’t just environmental events, they are socio-economic disruptors, costing billions in damage and leaving communities struggling to recover.

For UK water utilities, these recurring events underscore a pressing challenge: how to manage the overwhelming volumes of water during storms while safeguarding the public, protecting assets and complying with stricter regulations. While the immediate impacts of winter storms—property damage, sewer overflows and public health risks—are highly visible, the underlying issue lies in outdated infrastructure and underutilised data.

The good news? With the right approach, UK water utilities can transform how they prepare, act and respond to these storms. By unlocking the full potential of their data, supported by foundational technologies such as Informatica Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), generative AI (GenAI) and data governance solutions, utilities can shift from reactive crisis management to proactive flood mitigation and resilience building.

Flooding remains one of the most significant risks to property and infrastructure in the UK. According to the Environment Agency, over 5.2 million homes and businesses are at risk of flooding, and the economic damages from flooding events reach £2.2 billion annually. The insurance impact of storms creates ripples within the economy, like the £360 million insurance impact of Storms Ciaran and Dennis. Winter storms further exacerbate this risk by overloading sewer systems, inundating rivers and causing surface water flooding.

Key challenges faced by these water and waste-water companies include:

• Outdated Sewer Infrastructure: Many sewer networks struggle to manage peak loads during heavy rains.
• Rainfall-Runoff: Urban landscapes dominated by concrete exacerbate runoff entering sewer systems.
• Data Fragmentation: Critical data on rainfall, sewer levels and flood forecasting is siloed, making timely insights difficult.
• Regulatory Pressures: With new powers under the Water Bill, agencies are increasing inspections and demanding real-time transparency.

The question isn’t whether UK water utilities have enough data—they do. The question is whether they are using this data to its fullest potential. Water companies can shift the narrative from reactive response to pre-emptive action with technologies to consolidate, govern and analyse data.

Integrating Real-Time Data Using Informatica iPaaS

Water utilities operate diverse monitoring equipment—rainfall gauges, sewer flow sensors and weather stations—across large geographical areas. Informatica iPaaS allows seamless ingestion and integration of these disparate data sources into a unified system. This integration:

• Enables predictive insights by correlating rainfall intensity with overflow risks in specific catchment areas.
• Supports dynamic decision-making during storm events by sharing real-time updates with local authorities and the Environment Agency.

For example, integrating event duration monitoring (EDM) data directly with regulators ensures compliance and faster response to breaches in permitted overflow thresholds.

Improved Flood Forecasting via Data AnalyticsI

Using Informatica's data governance framework, utilities can ensure data from external sources—such as the UKCEH's flood models—is validated, complete, and interoperable with their systems. This data governance facilitates:

• Accurate predictive models for flood zones.
• Tailored alerts for households and businesses at risk.

Utilities can also integrate localised rainfall forecasts with sewer capacity data to proactively adjust operational plans, like pre-emptive pumping or rerouting of stormwater.

Supporting Infrastructure Improvements with Trusted Data

Water utilities face significant capital investment decisions. Informatica Master Data Management (MDM) can:

• Centralise asset data, such as sewer pipe capacity, age, and maintenance history.
• Enable long-term planning to prioritise investments in areas with the highest flood risk.

For example, using data-backed insights, utilities can identify and replace bottleneck pipes or create retention basins in flood-prone neighbourhoods.

AI-Powered Decision Support with GenAI

Informatica’s GenAI can support utilities in operational and strategic decisions by:

• Operational Insight: Generating summaries of field conditions, such as which overflow tanks are nearing capacity and which pumps need activation, during heavy rainfall.
• Strategic Planning: Processing historical storm data to propose infrastructure upgrades that maximise impact.
• Community Engagement: Generating plain-language explanations of flood risks and mitigation measures for public awareness campaigns.

Proactive Rainfall-Runoff Management

Informatica’s solutions can help utilities analyse urban surface data to identify areas where porous surfaces can be introduced. This includes:

• Using geospatial analytics to map areas with excessive concrete cover.
• Designing green infrastructure projects, such as rain gardens and retention ponds, based on environmental data.

Compliance and Reporting

New powers under the Water Bill Act emphasise transparency and accountability. 

Informatica’s data lineage tools provide traceable records of all data points, ensuring compliance with inspection requirements from the EA and other regulators. This transparency can be extended to the public, fostering trust and meeting evolving consumer expectations.

Informatica is designed to complement existing technology investments, whether a utility uses Snowflake for data warehousing, Microsoft Power BI for analytics, or legacy SCADA systems for operations. Informatica iPaaS integrates these tools into a cohesive ecosystem, providing water companies with:

• End-to-End Data Lineage: Understand the journey of every data point, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Scalability: Handle the increasing volume of IoT sensor data as utilities expand digital instrumentation.
• AI-Powered Insights: Augment current tools with advanced machine learning capabilities.

Modern data solutions can help UK water utilities better prepare for and recover from winter storms, ensuring long-term resilience. Here’s a vision of what’s possible:

• Real-time alerts prevent sewer overflows and flooding in vulnerable areas.
• Advanced forecasting enables communities to evacuate or prepare effectively.
• Transparent reporting rebuilds trust with regulators and the public.

Winter storms may be inevitable, but their impact doesn’t have to be catastrophic. UK water utilities have a responsibility—and an opportunity—to harness their data to better prepare, act, and react. Informatica’s comprehensive suite of solutions equips them with the tools to meet these challenges head-on while maximising the value of their existing investments.

Informatica isn’t just a technology partner—it’s an enabler of change, helping water utilities turn data into a force for resilience. As the storms of tomorrow approach, the time to act is today. Let’s transform data into action and safeguard communities together.

To learn more about how Informatica can help your water utility build flood resilience and ensure compliance, contact us today.