IoT 3 mins read

Using Technology to Save Water

On World Water Day, we want to help utilities to save water, drop by drop.

Tony Drewitt Tony Drewitt

Over 2 billion people live without safe water at home. Water shortages impact every aspect of life – health, commerce, the economy, education – making conservation and management a top priority globally.

“Whoever you are, wherever you are, water is your human right,” is the message from the United Nations’ World Water Day 2019.

There are many causes of shortages globally – from geography and mismanagement of resources to climate change. Some are preventable, some are not.

But one of the biggest conservation issues is one you might not have heard much about. It is called non-revenue water – water that never reaches its end destination – and is caused by leakages and human tampering with water systems.

Over 126 million cubic meters of water per year is considered non-revenue water, or more than 77 liters per person per day. Much of this arises from leaks. The World Bank estimates that, globally, leaks cost nearly $40 billion per year in waste and foregone revenues.

This is water that children in water-starved countries could drink; it could irrigate crops and feed the hungry. Lost revenues could be used to help utilities keep a community’s water supply cleaner and healthier, or to update contaminated lead pipes.

Water is life, in more ways than one. Here at Software AG we take water conservation and management seriously, and we are working toward a solution to help water utilities better manage their supply.

It is called digital automated water management. We are excited to be helping create a solution that will address this. In partnership with telecommunications and technology company Telstra, we are trialing a Cumulocity IoT-based solution at Western Australia’s Busselton Water.

Based on Telstra’s IoT platform and the Cumulocity IoT Solution Accelerator for Water Management, the solution allows utilities to manage and optimize their water distribution systems end-to-end. By combining digital meters, dedicated pressure sensors and Telstra’s NB-IoT network with our IoT analytics solution, we are able to deliver true water management-as-a-service.

By helping to detect leaks, both at customer premises and at non-revenue water points such as pipes and tanks, we can help utilities to benefit from lower operating costs, a reduction of non-revenue water (leaks) and increased customer satisfaction.

Telstra will offer the solution to water utilities around Australia either on a stand-alone basis or as part of their end-to-end “IoT for Intelligent Utilities” package for water utilities. At Busselton Water, where a proof of concept is underway, the solution will not only help to manage its water system, but will also allow the optimization of the power consumption associated with the utility’s water distribution system.

Chris Elliott, Chief Executive Officer of Busselton Water, said: “This is not just in the conservation of water, but in the provision of more reliable, cost effective water services to our consumer and business customers.”

The Cumulocity IoT Solution Accelerator for Water Management will be available to the rest of the world, depending upon clients’ needs. Stopping water leaks may be just a part of the solution to global water shortages, but it’s a start.

We want to help save the planet, drop by drop.

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