/ Africa & Middle East, Developing economies, Global
Talbot, the 180-strong South African-based water and wastewater solutions specialist, is launching a cloud-based platform developed in partnership with Microsoft. Talbot Analytics will give big water users an instant, at-a-glance picture of how they are doing across the water spectrum, which is a key point of difference the company explained.
“Big water data is big. It’s constantly changing, complex and comes from various sources. It’s also stored in different places so pulling it all together to make informed decisions is a science in itself,” said Talbot strategic director Helen Hulett.
Cost-effective and customisable, Talbot Analytics serves as a single repository that enables users to visualise and interpret their data so that they can make smarter, more insightful and strategic business decisions. “These could relate to anything from water quality, environmental compliance, consumption, savings and recycling rates to cutting down on plant chemical costs and monitoring operator performance against standard operating procedures,” said Hulett.
“What is particularly advantageous amid current restrictions on travel [due to COVID-19] is that decision-makers, environmental and operational personnel have a bird’s-eye view of the performance of their water infrastructure across countries and continents right from their laptops,” she added. By using Talbot Analytics, “they are able to radically reduce travel costs, save time and lower travel-related carbon emissions while gaining an improved awareness of how their facilities are actually doing and where they can improve.”
The response from the market, including public sector water providers has been significant, she claimed: “Clients are signing up for a multitude of different reasons. Some are using it to optimise their water cycles and to pinpoint sources of wastage and contamination, while others use it as a preventative maintenance tool so that they can pick up on problems with environmental and financial implications before they arise.”
One client is Malawi’s biggest agricultural producers and also the country’s largest private water supplier; and this in a region where one in three people do not have access to a safe, clean and reliable supply. “The company operates two large agricultural estates, one of which houses eleven water treatment plants alone. It has adopted Talbot Analytics to give it oversight of these plants and to ensure that the water it distributes to 30,000 Malawians every day meets the required quality standards,” stated Hulett.
Talbot has a 30-year history in the South African market, with offices in Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Johannesburg, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Its focus sectors are FMCG, food and beverage, agri-processing (e.g. sugar and pulp & paper), industrial and mining. It offers a variety of water and wastewater related services, including strategic consulting, technical assessments, feasibility studies, plant design & build services, operational support and environmental laboratory services.
It is hoped that Talbot Analytics will provide a digital platform from which to leverage the full suite of services.