Smart Digital Water Management of the Future
Smart digital water management enables utilities to transform the way they work in the face of challenges. Read how Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) is leading the way.
Smart digital water management is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide real-time, automated data for use in resolving water challenges across a range of scales and differing contexts. Smart digital water management enables water utilities to integrate smart principles into urban, regional, and national strategies.
Meanwhile, customers are not just passive consumers of water services, but instead, they are in the middle of the water chain, with customer behaviour demanding clean water, which affects the volume of water taken from the environment, treated, and transported for use. At the same time, it is the customer’s behaviour that drives demand for how much wastewater needs to be removed, treated, and returned to the environment.
Singapore’s Public Utilities Board
Singapore’s PUB operating environment is becoming more complex as Singapore faces emerging challenges such as increasing water demand and climate change. Furthermore, constraints in manpower and other resources means that PUB cannot easily scale its operations to meet these challenges based on past norms. In response, PUB is transforming the way it works to become a more efficient and effective organisation.
Smart sewer operations and management
PUB’s Sewer Analytics and Management System (SAMS), to be completed in 2022, will use data analytics and machine learning to monitor and analyse sensor data trends. SAMS will detect abnormal increases in used water levels and send alerts for maintenance. The system will also optimise the deployment of maintenance crews by predicting the locations where sewer pipes require maintenance. PUB will also deploy acoustic inspection tools that use sound waves to inform the user of the extent of obstruction within minutes.
Drones for reservoir management
PUB’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones allow the utility to remotely collect comprehensive data on reservoir conditions, water quality, and activities at the reservoir. The data and alert system enables PUB to deploy resources early and efficiently to mitigate safety and maintenance issues, such as overcrowding of vessels and plant overgrowth. Specifically, the BVLOS drones:
- Gather data on turbidity and algae concentration, which provides a good correlation to actual water quality
- Use a video analytics algorithm to identify aquatic plant overgrowth in the reservoir via the drone camera’s live video feed
- Live video feed monitor water activities, with a video analytics algorithm flagging potential concerns
Digitalising water demand management
PUB is leveraging digital technologies via the Smart Water Meter Programme to encourage behaviour change towards water conservation, optimise demand management, and increase operational efficiencies. PUB is rolling out the first phase of the Smart Water Meter Programme. By 2023, 300,000 smart water meters will have been installed in new and existing residential, commercial, and industrial premises, empowering customers to track their daily consumption and adopt water-saving habits. Customers will be able to:
- Obtain their daily water usage data via a mobile app or online portal
- Receive high usage notifications and leak alerts
- Manage their usage on a daily basis
- Take action to save water and money
The take-out
Smart digital water management comes in many shapes and sizes.
Join the conversation on the following LinkedIn groups: Urban Water Security, Our Future Water, Circular Water Economy, Blue-Green Infrastructure, Nature-Based Solutions, and Urban and Regional Futures
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