Aquadvanced

Improving water distribution network’s efficiency

Aquadvanced

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People in charge of the innovative practice :

Miquel Corredor – mcorredor@icab.cat

A quadvanced Wellwatch® is a technological solution developed by Suez and Schneider Electric and implemented by Aigua de Rigat.

Given the difficulty of having an efficient extraction system avoiding water losses and breakdowns, knowing the levels of the wells and carrying out a sustainable management of the water resource, this technology allows real-time monitoring and continuous optimization of the efficiency and performance of both the well and the pumps by controlling the parameters in real time. of the Life+ program, in collaboration with the CTM Centro Tecnológico foundation and with the companies Amphos21 and Catalana de Perforacions. Catalonia has a large part of the underground water bodies contaminated by nitrates. In this sense, this consortium has developed an in situ nitrate removal technology based on bioremediation. 

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Aquadvanced Wellwatch® is able to integrate into an interface all the parameters related to the proper functioning of the collection and distribution system. This decision support tool allows a new management model based on real-time control. It allows you to make decisions in advance, advancing maintenance actions in the distribution system.

The application of this method contributes to the reduction of costs and improves efficiency in the management of water resources. The replication capacity will depend on both the type of system and the economic capacity to acquire this technology. The trend towards real-time data analysis makes it a promising technology in a context of water scarcity and climate change

Responsible entity

Aigua de Rigat was established in the early 20s to meet the water demand of Igualada, Vilanova del Camí and La Pobla de Claramunt. For almost 100 years it has offered quality water supply service to more than 29,000 service points (homes, industries and shops) in the region of l’Anoia.

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https://www.aiguaderigat.cat/inicio 

Aigua de Rigat is specialized in all processes related to the integral water cycle and has a team of professionals who care about meeting the specific needs of each municipality and its users.

Currently, the management model of Aigua de Rigat is based on experience and constant innovation and proximity to homes and companies, which allows us to adapt to their needs, offering the services of the integral water cycle.

In Aigua de Rigat the drinking water service of 6 municipalities is managed, in which it is distributed from 5,830,000 m3 per year to a population of 61,708 people, using the most advanced technology.

Detailed explanation

Aigua de Rigat is committed to the preservation of all water sources, including underground ones. In this area, it is committed to advanced and sustainable management based on the optimization of resource extraction. In addition, it monitors the risk of overexploitation and promotes the artificial recharge of aquifers, which alleviates pressure on water ecosystems.

The dependence on rain, and more specifically the scarcity of this in recent periods of drought, as well as the pressure to which these underground catchments are subjected, make the wells require continuous monitoring to proceed with their maintenance, control their performance and optimize the capture of groundwater resources. To carry out a sustainable management of water resources, Aigua de Rigat has implemented an innovative advanced management system, called AQUADVANCED® Well Watch, which allows to control the water availability of the wells in real time (Aigua de Rigat, 2021).

AQUADVANCED® Well Watch is the pioneering global solution for continuously monitoring and optimizing the performance of wells and their pumps.

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SuEZ Agriculture’s proposals incorporate: complete monitoring of the survey (levels, flow, pressure, electrical voltage, power, etc.), communication through 4G modem to send data to SCADA or computer systems for data hosting, alarm SMS and e-mail reports, efficiency ratios, application of aid to efficient management and database.

The Aquadvanced Wellwatch® platform integrates all hydraulic and electrical signals into a single local interface and calculates yields and efficiency ratios that are used daily in sounding control work. (Suez, 2021)

Advantages:

  1. Increased service life of wells and pumps.
  2. Reduced operating and investment costs.
  3. Well-managed water resources and sustainable availability of groundwater resources.
  4. Controlled water resources and secure access to groundwater resources.
  5. Optimization of maintenance plans.

With the monitoring of groundwater catchments through data that is displayed in real time to visualize the situation of aquifer resources, the efficiency of the collection can be controlled and water extraction performance. The objective is to avoid water losses and breakdowns, reduce the impact on citizens in case of incidents or changing weather conditions, as well as improve energy efficiency and guarantee a good performance of the exploitation. This system allows to control the installation of the wells of Les Comes, one of the main sources of water supply in the area of Igualada and that has its origin in the Carme-Capellades aquifer (Aigua de Rigat, s.f).

example, one of the sensors that monitor the performance indicators has been installed in the Well of Les Comes 5 and allows to record the parameters of water level depth, pumping flows, impulsion pressure and electrical parameters. following the exploitation, the performance of the equipment is optimized and can be adapted to the meteorological conditions (times of drought or rain). With this, Aigua de Rigat can plan maintenance operations and reduce the impact on citizens and farms.

Likewise, this control tool helps to preserve farms, prolong the usefullife of the equipment, and optimize energy consumption. The innovation capacity of Aigua de Rigat allows to implement solutions that improve the lives of citizens and the health of the planet, with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Aquadvanced Wellwatch® is therefore a decision support tool that enables advanced management through continuous control.

Institutional setting

Aigua de Rigat is a company that holds shares in Agbar (68%), a company of the French multinational Suez and 32% of shares in the City of Igualada (La Veu, 2018).

Suez and Schneider Electric created a joint venture with the aim of making it a leader in the water digitalization sector (Independent, 2021)

Aquadvanced is part of the launch of “Advanced Solutions”, a new range of tailor-made solutions offered™ by SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and Schneider Electric to respond to the challenges of local administrations and industry (Schneider Electric, 2021)

Geographical setting

The Carme-Capellades aquifer (CC) is a body of water whose intense exploitation has caused a significant decrease in levels in recent decades worsening its quantitative state and affecting the natural discharge in different points such as the Capellades raft

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Figure 1 Location of the CC aquifer, the recharge zone (P1) and the aquifer upwellings (P2). Retrieved from: https://www.revistaigualada.cat/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/revista-igualada-66-24.pdf

In area P1, occupying the municipalities of La Llacuna, Mediona, Santa Maria dels Miralls and a small part of Bellapart and Querol is the recharge zone. In the P2 region the upwellings of the aquifer are located and includes the municipalities of Orpí, Carme, the Torre de Claramunt, the Pobla de Claramunt, Capellades, Sant Joan de Mediona, Cabrera d’Anoia and Sant Quintí de Mediona (Martí. P. O, 2020)

Historical overview

The coexistence of blockchain with the Internet of Things (IoT) will define a new technological paradigm for the coming years. The combination of both technologies in the monitoring and management of resources with energy or water is attractive. While IoT tools collect a large accumulation of data in real time, blockchain is able to evaluate, simulate and even make predictions.

IoT is being a very useful technology to model and monitor environmental phenomena. It allows wireless network connection, allowing distant devices to be connected to each other more easily. They are applicable in multiple fields, from treatment plants (wastewater or water treatment plants) to the modeling of aquifers or the control of the quality and quantity of the water resource.

Artificial intelligence (which allows to assess, understand, recognize and decide) combined with blookchain (verify, execute and record) allow to generate models that allow monitoring and prediction. In this sense, machine learning stands out, a technology based on statistical learning methods (Mustafa, H.M et al., 2021)

This combination has been applied in numerous projects recently; for example, Open Water Web (Open Data Platform), Waspmote Smart Water (platform for quality monitoring), WaterWatch (tool to produce multiple flow maps) among others. (Salam, A., 2020).

Evidence of benefits from implementation

With this tool you can integrate and analyze all the data of the status and operation of the network and facilities, and transform them into information and simple criteria for decision making.

The Aquadvaced Well Watch software allows the optimization of the operation of the extraction, guarantee the commitment of supply of the supplied populations and manages to reduce the losses in the distribution network (they can exceed 30% of the volume) giving the possibility of using a greater amount of the resource.

Through Aquadvanced Well Watch, the distribution network allows to identify these leaks and advance to maintenance or repair actions of elements of the network in real time.

Replication potential in SUDOE region

Real-time measurement systems contribute to data collection, reducing difficulty, minimizing costs. The difficulty of replication lies in the software, the treatment and extraction of the data that provide valuable information.

There is the possibility to acquire the software developed by Suez and Schneider Electric and deploy it in the desired region. There is also the possibility of developing our own software adapted to the particular case, adapting the technological and business approach represented by this initiative in the management of hydrogeological resources, which is applicable to any groundwater exploitation system.

Future outlook

The future management of water resources will be based on the control, analysis and interpretation of data, to obtain a sustainable and optimized management, an approach that management bodies call “intelligent management”. Thus, the judicious use of data contributes to guaranteeing the supply in quality and quantity, controlling efficiency and opening lines of improvement based on the information collected, which will be necessary in a scenario of scarcity of water resources.

Key points of the innovative method

  • Base the management of an exploitation system on the massive collection of data and its interpretation using machine learning methods.
  • The implementation of these technologies, together with the evaluation of their performance, should indicate new strategies in aquifer exploitation systems and distribution of resources to users.

Acknowledgements

This innovative practice was suggested by Miquel Corredor Secretaryor of Junta Central d’Usuaris de l’Aqüifer Carme-Capellades.

References

Presentación – Aigua de Rigat. (s/f). Aiguaderigat.cat. Recuperado el 25 de abril de 2022, de https://www.aiguaderigat.cat/presentacion
Readacció La Veu (2018) El proper 27 d’octubre Igualada acollirà una manifestació per demanar la gestió pública de l’aigua a l’Anoia. La Veu de l’Anoia.

Independiente, S. F. (2021, abril 7). SUEZ Y SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC CREAN EMPRESA para el desarrollo de soluciones digitales para el agua. guiadebombas. https://guiadebombas.com/suez-y-schneider-electric-crean-empresa-para-el-desarrollo-de-soluciones-digitales-para-el-agua/

Schneider Electric. (2021, septiembre 1). Schneider y SUEZ reforzarán el desarrollo de soluciones digitales innovadoras para el agua. iAgua. https://www.iagua.es/noticias/schneider-electric/suez-y-schneider-reforzaran-desarrollo-soluciones-digitales-innovadoras https://www.iagua.es/noticias/smart-cities/14/06/02/aquadvanced™-la-herramienta-de-suez-que-permite-las-administraciones-controlar-sus-redes-de-agua-

Martí, P. O. (s/f). La portada d’aigua de la Llosa del Cavall: una oportunitat per a l’aqüífer Carme-Capellades. Revistaigualada.cat. Recuperado el 25 de abril de 2022, de https://www.revistaigualada.cat/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/revista-igualada-66-24.pdf

Las aguas subterráneas, la clave invisible frente al cambio climático – Aigua de Rigat. (s/f). Aiguaderigat.es. Recuperado el 11 de mayo de 2022, de https://www.aiguaderigat.es/web/aigua-rigat/-/les-aigues-subterranies-la-clau-invisible-davant-el-canvi-climatic

Vivienda y Construcción. (2021, marzo 3). SUEZ: Monitoreo y optimización de pozos y bombas con tecnologías Well Services y Aquadvanced® Well Watch. Construcción y Vivienda – Noticias.

Mustafa, H. M., Mustapha, A., Hayder, G., & Salisu, A. (2021). Applications of IoT and Artificial Intelligence in Water Quality Monitoring and Prediction: A Review. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Inventive Computation Technologies, ICICT 2021, 968–975.

Salam, A. (2020). Internet of things for water sustainability. En Internet of Things (pp. 113–145). Springer International Publishing.

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