The launch of the American Water Works Association (AWWA)’s Water 2050 initiative is a bold and exciting step for the U.S. sector and should act as a springboard for the adoption of smart technology.
The multi-year exploration, launched at the ACE22 conference on 13 June 2022, will include a program of cross-sector think tank discussions and “chart a course for sustainability and success”.
AWWA past-President Melissa Elliot spoke with WaterWorld about the Water 2050 Initiative at ACE 22 in June. Watch the interview here:
Recommendations from each think tank will serve as calls to action, says the AWWA, which is inviting members to engage in Water 2050 discussions and provide input at events over the next two years.
Technology has been identified as one of the initiative’s five critical drivers by the AWWA, which says that advances in data, analytics, the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, and artificial intelligence will “increasingly empower consumers and influence water system operations”.
Now is a viable time to ramp-up smart water management and accelerate new technology roll-outs to address issues like leakage and pollution. Investment programs in the U.S. are expanding and water utilities and municipalities are building their resilience — deploying more innovative technologies for smarter networks.
Right now, IoT presents a massive opportunity for the water sector to strengthen its relationship with smart technology, providing robust solutions to current and future challenges. Scalable and robust, the technology transforms existing data into actionable insight, while increasing real-time and predictive capabilities.
Low-cost monitoring devices are making the capturing of real-time operational data, such as pressure, levels, water quality, pump status, battery voltage, and temperature much easier. Through IoT, users can interconnect sensors to see the complete picture across the entire sewer and water distribution networks.
This allows control rooms and operators to make quicker, more informed decisions based on real-time data, making it possible to run a more intuitive management system. These advances are supported by cloud computing technology, which enables IoT devices to capture, analyze, and store data on a huge scale.
The water sector has historically been conservative when it comes to the adoption of data-led solutions, with many utilities finding themselves data-rich, information poor; lacking the tools to bring network data together and look at the big picture. The last few years, however, have seen the sector start to embed IoT into their systems — a trend that is expected to accelerate as the full potential of the technology is realized, while solutions become more widely available and lower in cost.
As an innovation-led AWWA member, Ovarro looks forward to collaborating and offering insights into how smart technology can transform the sector in a cost effective and sustainable way.
With AWWA’s Water 2050 putting an even brighter spotlight on the capabilities of IoT and smart networks, we are ready to support the sector in building a sustainable water future. WW
About the Author: Chris Moore is an associate product manager for leakage at Ovarro.
