Smart networks for a sustainable water provision

Sphere of action and collaboration

The SW4EU consortium is made up of drinking water companies, universities, knowledge institutes and sensor manufacturers. Parts of the networks of four countries were equipped as ‘living labs’: the Netherlands (Vitens), Spain (Acciona Agua), France (University of Lille) and the UK (Thames Water). Thanks to these labs, experience could be gained and solutions elaborated. The research work’s main focus was on water loss management, water quality management, energy optimisation and customer interaction. The large-scale application of real-time sensors and data management (real-time acquisition, data analysis and visualisation) played a central part in this effort. KWR’s contribution has included the development of an optimisation platform for water distribution questions, a pilot installation as a test environment for sensor networks, and tools to determine suitable sensor locations, the detection of water quality anomalies and water losses.

Conclusion and final symposium

In this concluding phase of SW4EU, the results are being integrated over the demo sites and focus areas to arrive at an overarching implementation vision. The results, lessons learned and future vision will be presented at the ‘Smart Water Management – Unravelling the value of sensors and data’ final symposium, on 2 November, during the Aquatec trade exhibition at the RAI in Amsterdam. A book, collecting the outcomes of the research, will also be presented at the symposium: a must for all those who want to know or think more about smart water networks.