River Deep Mountain AI (RDMAI) Shortlisted for a Utility Week Award

Recognised for using AI and data innovation to transform river and waterbody monitoring across the UK.

We’re excited to announce that the River Deep Mountain AI (RDMAI) project, delivered in partnership with Cognizant Ocean, has been shortlisted for this year’s Utility Week Awards in the Unlocking Data category.

The award recognizes projects that are using data in new and impactful ways to improve outcomes across the utilities sector. RDMAI stands out for its use of AI, machine learning, and remote sensing to improve how we monitor and manage the health of rivers and waterbodies across the UK.

Funded by the Ofwat Innovation Fund, RDMAI is led by Northumbrian Water and delivered in collaboration with Cognizant Ocean, Xylem Water Solutions UK & Ireland, WRc, ADAS, and The Rivers Trust. It’s a collaborative effort focused on turning complex environmental data into practical, open tools that help tackle water pollution more effectively.

Applying AI to Protect River Ecosystems

RDMAI was created to address a major environmental challenge: the widespread pollution of UK rivers and the need for more effective, data-driven action. Currently, only a small percentage of English rivers meet ecological health standards, and many catchments suffer from diffuse and persistent sources of pollution that are difficult to track and manage.

Rather than introducing new data sources, RDMAI focuses on extracting more insight from existing data. The project is developing open-source, scalable models that combine multiple datasets including rainfall, land use, and water quality data to identify pollution patterns and assess the impact of interventions.

These models are designed to help water companies and environmental partners better target their monitoring, plan more efficient sampling, and interpret continuous water quality data more effectively.

A Strong Example of Collaboration in Action

RDMAI shows what’s possible when data, technology and environmental science are brought together with a clear goal. It’s a collaborative effort between utilities, researchers and tech providers, all focused on building practical solutions to one of the UK’s most complex environmental challenges.

Cognizant Ocean is proud to be part of this work, contributing the AI and data infrastructure needed to make the models scalable and usable across different regions. We’re pleased to see the project recognized in this year’s Utility Week Awards and look forward to continuing the collaboration as the work progresses.