Digital + Water = Operational Transformation

Water management may not be one of your typical “top ten” conservation topics around the dinner table, but it should be.

Because one of the greatest challenges of the next century will be the management of our natural resources; first and foremost – water.  Water is fundamental to not only human life, but also to the transportation and manufacturing processes that define our modern economies.

Every year, 38 billion cubic meters of water are lost through leakage from water utility distribution networks.  To put this number in context, this equates to over 19 million Olympic size swimming pools.

That is a crazy metric.  To put the number in further context, in a study conducted by the World Bank, over 60% of water utilities in develop countries lose over 30% of water transported  through their system to leakage and theft. Even worse: 40% lose over 40% – and over 15% lose over 50%.

Here are my top three reasons why non-revenue water loss (the utility definition for leakage and theft) should be a top dinner table candidate.

1. It Costs a Lot of Money

One of the least understood aspects of the water distribution utility business is that it consumes a tremendous amount of energy to run – and energy costs money.  All of the water plants and pipes that move water to the end consumer use water pumps.  Pumps to rise, treat, move and clean the water at the end of the cycle.  On top of the energy costs of the pumps, is the cost of the losses themselves. When you experience water loss of between 30-50% of the total amount being distributed, it equates to large amounts of money – over $14 billion dollars a year.

2. Savings don’t Reach Customers

A little known fact outside of those who have worked within the utility sector is that operational savings are rarely passed onto the customer.  While this may seem odd at first glance, there is actually a good reason for this practice.  Utilities are charged with providing a public service within a regulated environment.  In the case of most water utilities across the world, there is never enough money to address water quality initiatives, waste-plant efficacy, reliability improvements and geographical service extensions.  Developing a water efficiency plan focused on loss improvements will provide them with operational savings that they can re-invest back into operations.

3. 3. Regulators are Watching

Regulators, policy leaders and elected officials are looking at utilities as key partners in the development and roll out of “smart city” initiatives.  Developing these capabilities will be critical to establishing trust and confidence with their stakeholders.  They are looking to IoT and analytics technology vendors to help give them operational insights with secure, scalable and open architectures.

This is why Software AG has launched its Cumulocity IoT Solution Accelerator for Water Management. The solution, created in partnership with Telstra, provides utilities with a quick way to gain insights from meter data to minimize costs involved with supplying water to customers.

Let us show you how our Cumulocity IoT Solution Accelerator for Water Management makes Digital + Water = Operational Transformation.