Great Torrington Town Council join Fiware4Water

The Centre for Water Systems (CWS) at the University of Exeter and the South West Water (SWW) presented the FIWARE4Water project to Great Torrington town council at the end of July at their (now virtual) monthly council meeting. Great Torrington is a small historic market town in the county of Devon in the south west of England. The town has a population of just over 5,000 people with a history of being a factory town including industries such as meat and milk, and the world famous Dartington crystal.

During the council meeting, CWS and SWW gave a presentation outlining the aims of FIWARE4Water and how the smart water meters will help customers detect household water leakage and save water consumption, which will have positive impact on the natural environment and help them to reduce water bills. To date there are 100 homes in Great Torrington with the sensors installed. The council were engaged and interested in joining the Fiware4Water project, noting that local environmental groups will be especially keen to get involved.

The next step is to start the ConCensus methodology, which stands for 'The Council of Citizen Engagement in Sustainable Urban Strategies', which will take place over four months starting in September. Members of local environmental groups, and neighbourhood communities, will be asked to join for an initial meeting in September where they will be offered the chance to form part of ConCensus. During this meeting there will be discussion about the type of policy action that the community would like to be co-designed and co-implemented. This discussion will be led by Dr Richard Elelman and Dr Kate Baker.

Kate said “The community of Great Torrington have a great opportunity to be involved in assisting to develop smart water sensors and explore other methods to help raise awareness of water usage. Findings from the project will feedback to the European Union and UN Environment Programme’s new World Water Quality Alliance”

Author: University of Exeter