Cambridgeshire – a county in the East of England – has a pilot project using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to better manage flood risks. The sensors are being installed by Cambridgeshire company, cThings.
Initially, sensors will be installed in up to six locations with known flooding problems. They will collect real-time river flow and water level data and send alerts to council officers and community flood groups about rises. The pilot program is intended to assess whether this approach can trigger early actions – such as planning for road closures and clearing ditches – to reduce the impact of flooding across the county. It is hoped that the pilot project will provide a template to allow more community flood groups to apply to self-fund sensors.
Councillor Anna Smith, Deputy Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, said: “The Combined Authority provides funding for Connecting Cambridgeshire to deliver trials of innovative technologies. That includes both these smart water level sensors and an expansion of the LoRa network on which they will operate. Water management is an increasingly important issue for our region and the Combined Authority is working with communities to develop a better grasp of flood risks across Cambridgeshire. Forewarned is forearmed and these sensors can notify community flood groups so that they can respond more quickly to manage the risks and reduce danger. This pilot will ultimately benefit the whole area. Trialing smart sensing technology will gather sharper and more timely data on water flow and rising levels. That means that threats can be detected earlier, residents and businesses warned, and actions taken to help keep them safe.”
The project is jointly funded by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) working in collaboration with Cambridgeshire County Council and Connecting Cambridgeshire.