With all the discussion on infrastructure upgrade and hacking of utilities lately, focus has turned to the digital transformation of the water industry and to the concept of what is called “smart water.” Experts believe that this approach to water plant upgrades, both greenfield and brownfield, can not only prepare the industry for the stresses of today, but also future-proof utilities for the increasing demands for efficiency and consumer protection. In my recent interview in Water & Wastewater Asia, I describe “smart water” and how it can be achieved by water plants of all sizes.
In the article, I share how “smart water” is a concept of controlling and monitoring the water treatment and distribution infrastructure using the IIoT architecture and devices. This control system philosophy uses edge controllers and advanced instrumentation, and enables better monitoring, control and predictive capabilities of the infrastructure.
For incremental results, look at several progressive iterative steps in the process:
The problem, however, is that most existing infrastructure uses only the first two steps, which allows water plants to be only reactive, responding when problems occur. In order to increase efficiency and safety, plant improvements must include provisions for data storage, IIoT-enabled capabilities, and use of edge controllers to communicate with data clouds. Plant managers must have clearly defined KPIs like reduction in water loss, energy consumption optimization, and a commitment to move from calendar-scheduled or hour-scheduled to condition-based maintenance.
I then go on to explain how this shift in not only infrastructure, but also water philosophy, can be accomplished. Click here to read this interesting article that impacts us all.