In this keynote, James Dunning explains what constitutes a "smart water" solution and positions Syrinix as a provider of integrated hardware‑software systems that enable utilities to move from reactive to proactive pipeline management. He outlines the company’s flagship products – TrunkMinder, a vibro‑acoustic, always‑on leak detection system installed at up to 750 m intervals on critical trunk mains, and TransientMinder, a battery‑powered high‑frequency pressure‑pulse logger that captures transients at >100 samples per second and reports them instantly. Dunning details Syrinix’s market traction (over 160 TrunkMinder units deployed with Thames Water in London), a recent £2.2 million funding round, and a growth strategy focused on the UK, North America, and the Middle East while treating India and China as higher‑risk opportunities. He emphasizes the company’s competitive edge – deep R&D, outsourced manufacturing, and a focus on permanent, sensor‑based pipeline monitoring across water, gas, and petrochemical sectors – and frames the value proposition for utilities as cost savings, asset optimisation, risk mitigation, and the ability to meet rising customer expectations for reliable water supply without massive capital projects. The presentation concludes with an invitation for partnerships and further discussions.
Chapters
Good afternoon. I'm conscious that I'm the last thing now standing between you and lunch after what's been a pretty intensive morning of presentations and discussions. In preparing this presentation, I was asking myself, because the title is Smart Water. Just what is a smart water solution? Sure, it's data. And yes, there are lots of very clever companies doing extraordinarily clever things with data. Data that utilities are, to be honest, struggling to cope with at the moment, but data that will inevitably be at the core of their activities over the next three, five years. And yes, smart water is also sensors. You don't even need a driver for a car or a pilot for a plane these days. So imagine what you can do with a static water work. But the trouble is that all of that is quite intangible. So to give you a better handle on just what a smart water solution is, I'd like to talk to you about Sirinux. Because Sirinux isn't just about providing fancy bits of kit to attach to pipelines, albeit that's what we do. And you can see two examples at the top there. Sirinix is not just about displaying complex information graphically, but though again, that is a key part of what we do. And again, you can see example outputs from the services we provide. Because what Syrinx is really about is combining hardware and software in a single point solution to give utilities the ability to manage their networks on an active rather than reactive basis. Syrinx is about giving utilities the ability to save money by monitoring critical pipelines rather than just replacing them. It's about giving the utilities the ability to protect their reputations, to maintain the confidence of their customers and their political masters. And how do we do that? Well, our first product is TrunkMinder, comprising sensor arrays that are installed on critical pipelines at up to 750 meter intervals along these very critical stretches under roads, railways, shopping centers. Trunkminder uses vibroacoustics, so it's significantly more sensitive than pressure and flow solutions that are often used. And because of that, trunkminder provides always on monitoring of these critical trunk mains so leaks can be located and repaired before they become bursts. So those trunk mains can be monitored real time from a desk, but rather than standing in the middle of the road with a very bright yellow jacket. So utilities can mitigate the risk of expensive and disruptive bursts by monitoring rather than incurring the huge expense of pipeline replacement. And we also have the battery powered transient minder for identifying pressure pulses that move through networks at the speed of Sound causing discoloration and bursts that. Well, people just don't understand why they happened. Monitoring pressure on any size of pipe at more than 100 times per second. Transient Minder logs transients the moment they occur, the millisecond they occur, and then reports back just details of the transient itself. So at the moment you can have transient loggers and you get eight hours of data and you then put a posting on LinkedIn saying how do I find the transient amidst the 8 hours of data? Transient Minder solves that by just telling you about the transient. So you've got eight hours extra time to find the cause of the transient. And we have further products under development too, because SirInyx is a smart water solution. Because our aim is pure and simple to be the go to guys, the leading provider for sensor based pipeline monitoring. So our market, well, it'd be easy to say there's a whole world out there. Clearly the UK is a core market, though its five year cycle and regulatory incentives make it life there fairly interesting to say the least. But in March last year, this year we closed on a 2.2 million funding round and with that our focus is very much turning international. With major cities, crumbling infrastructure and a financial inability simply to replace everything, the USA is looking like a key market. And with water scarcity and increasing urbanization in the Middle east, again, that's an area we're focusing on. And of course there's also India and China with the significant opportunities there, but also significant risks for a company of our size. So we're still thinking about that one. And underpinning this ambition is a very clear strategy and a very clear framework for growth. Because we're clear not just what we're good at, but what we're good at that others will struggle to replicate. Hence our focus on pipelines, hence our focus on automated, permanently and semi permanently installed solutions to provide customers with savings, asset optimization and risk mitigation. So we're clear we're not just a software house at risk of failure or being copied by someone with deeper pockets. So we're clear we don't provide kit to be taken from site to site in the back of vans, a market sector that's already very crowded, thank you very much. So we're also clear that our core skills are R and D and business development, with manufacturing outsourced to avoid the cost and inflexibility of plant and machinery and given the different skill sets required for manufacturing, manufacturing as well. And over that we've laid a clear framework for growth too in terms of geographic expansion, complementary product development and complementary sector extension too. So I know this is a water conference, but we're already doing work in the gas sector as well as part of a complementary expansion. And how are we doing? Well, call me biased, but I think we're doing very well. Already we have over 160 trunk minder units being deployed across London by Thames Water and discussions are progressing with other utilities as well. Already on the back of our funding round, we are pushing hard into the North America and Middle east markets whilst focusing as hard on the next regulatory period in the uk. Already, as I say, significant progress has been made from taking Sirenix from being a water play to to a pipeline play covering water pipelines, gas pipelines, petrochem. Let me conclude with this. A new reality is facing water utilities across the world. Customer expectations of resilient, safe water supplies continue to increase. But continuing to meet those expectations just by pouring concrete, just by major capital projects with customer bills rising to pay for them is simply no longer an option. Put another way, in effect customers are increasingly wanting more for less. And the only way utilities are going to be able to meet that is by combining those capital projects with innovation. So I asked at the start, just what is a smart water solution? A smart water solution is one that enables water utilities to meet that customer demand of more for less. And yes, Sirinix has further to go. But what I can say is this, that we already have a portfolio of complementary products in the market to access the significant value opportunities this new framework is creating. And as I said earlier, our ambition is to be the go to guys, the market leaders, because we've already got in place the skills, drive and strategy to build upon the considerable progress we've already made. So our aim, as I said, is to be the market leaders, the pipeline monitoring solutions. And that is an ambition we intend to realize. So with that in mind, if you'd be interested in discussing things further with us, either as a possible user or as a partner, we also have a table next door and I'm around all day. Thank you very much indeed for your time.
