The Mexican utility Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey I.P.D. (SADM) received the Innovation Water Circularity Award 2024 at WEX Global, an international event held in Madrid (Spain) that promotes knowledge exchange and best practices among global leaders in the water and energy sectors.
This award-winning technology focuses on optimizing water supply, reducing water loss, digitally controlling pressures, flows, and water consumption, and enhancing real-time decision-making.
SADM implemented two digital solutions from the Xylem Vue powered by GoAigua platform, namely Leak Detection and Unified Network Management, in partnership with the international water technology company Idrica.
The Leak Detection solution was utilized to monitor pressure, flow rates, and consumption in SADM’s network in Monterrey, as well as to regulate pressure, while the Unified Network Management solution was installed to consolidate information from various dataloggers and the supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA).
The initiative involved fitting hydrometric instrumentation to 2864 circuits and 111 macro-sectors, as well as developing dashboards to display the main operating variables.
Additionally, the Leak Detection solution was configured with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence algorithms to optimize pressure, resulting in water savings of up to 37% in extreme drought conditions.
Water savings of up to 37 % in extreme drought conditions
The implementation of the platform allowed SADM to monitor, analyze, and make decisions regarding its water network operations in Monterrey.
The company established and assigned daytime and nighttime set points for its equipment to control user consumption and identified possible anomalies in nighttime water use that indicated visible and hidden leaks.
As a result, significant reductions were achieved in the average consumption of some macro-sectors and circuits in the Monterrey water network, with savings reaching as high as 34% to 37% in many sectors after the actions taken. This is a significant achievement considering Mexico’s recent severe droughts.
This project is part of SADM’s 2050 Water Supply Assurance Master Plan. Currently, Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey provides potable water for 99.22% of the population, with 96.07% having access to a sanitation system, and 99.99% having a wastewater treatment system in a metropolitan area with 5.3 million inhabitants.
Digital transformation, the key to the future
WEX Global 2024, themed “Water, Energy, and Climate Change: Integrated Solutions to Build a Water Positive Future,” brought together over 250 participants in Madrid to address pressing water and energy challenges in the face of climate change.
In the words of Mark Barker, CEO of WEX Global, “this year’s event consolidates WEX Global as one of the most important discussion forums in the water and energy sector, addressing crucial issues to improve resilience and sustainability against a background of severe climate stress”.
Pablo Calabuig, VP Americas at Idrica, underlined the impact of artificial intelligence as a major technology to bear in mind.
The executive pointed out that ” this is the best time in history to commit to innovation, collaboration and global action so we can build a more resilient, sustainable and equitable future for the water sector”.
Jean de Montal, Xylem’s Solution Selling Europe S&W Director, agreed, highlighting the importance of cooperation as the basis for digital transformation. However, he also highlighted the need for “a holistic, long-term vision to embrace digital transformation, focused on breaking down information silos within utilities. This is why we need to generate a digital culture in companies”.
Artificial intelligence was a frequently mentioned technology at WEX Global, with Pilar Conejos, Idrica’s Digital Twin Manager, and Chema Nebot, VP EMEA – APAC – Brazil at Idrica, both emphasizing its transformative potential in the water and energy sector. Public-private partnerships were identified as essential for advancing technology adoption in utilities.
Source :Idrica
