Water-Futures Shines at WDSA/CCWI 2024 in Ferrara

KWR and the Water-Futures team had a strong presence (with 15 people from KWR and 10 from Dutch water utilities) in this year’s WDSA/CCWI 2024 conference, held in Ferrara, Italy, from July 1 to 4. Through a series of presentations and our participation in the Battle of Water Demand Forecasting, we and our partners (from KIOS CoE, Bielefeld University and AUEB) had the chance to share our latest work and progress in the context of the Water-Futures project, an ERC Synergy Grant project that aims to develop a theoretical and practical basis for designing the urban drinking water systems of the future.

Presentations from the Water-Futures Team

The Water-Futures team presented work addressing various challenges within urban drinking water systems, including future scenario generation, adaptive design, operational flexibility, and water quality.

On the second day of the conference, Christos kicked off the morning session on “Design, Analysis, and Modeling of Water Distribution Systems” with a review of scenario-based approaches in water systems design and stressed the importance of considering deep uncertainty in the design of water networks. Following him, Lydia presented her work on utilizing reinforcement learning for the lifecycle design of water distribution networks and showed how this methodology performs compared to heuristic algorithms. In the same session, Dennis discussed his research on operational flexibility, highlighting how operational considerations can influence design optimization.

In the afternoon session on “Water Quality”, Konstantinos presented his experimental setup for measuring the effect of biofilm buildup on heat transfer in drinking water pipes, a novel proposed method for estimating biofilm accumulation in water distribution systems.

1. Lydia Tsiami presenting her work “Staged design of water distribution networks: a reinforcement learning approach”.

2. Christos Michalopoulos presenting his work “A review of scenario-based approaches in water systems design”.

3. Dennis Zanutto presenting his work “Incorporating flexibility in the long-term design of water distribution systems using operational variables”.

4. Konstantinos Glynis presenting his work “Experimental setup for measuring the effect of biofilm build-up on heat transfer in drinking water pipes”.

Best Young Presentation Award

On the final day of the conference, we were thrilled to learn that Konstantinos won the Best Young Presentation Award for his talk titled “Experimental Setup for Measuring the Effect of Biofilm Build-up on Heat Transfer in Drinking Water Pipes”. His research peaked the audience’s interest and was voted by the attendees as the best presentation among young presenters at the event.

This marks the second consecutive year that KWR and Water-Futures have won such an award, following Lydia’s recognition for Best Student Paper/Presentation at last year’s CCWI in Leicester, UK.

Konstantinos Glynis receiving the Best Young Presentation Award. Photo Credit: WDSA/CCWI 2024

Battle of Water Demand Forecasting

One of the most anticipated moments of the conference was the announcement of the Battle of Water Demand Forecasting results. The Water-Futures team, a collaborative effort among all partners of the ERC Synergy Grant project, secured an impressive second place out of 31 teams! The results were presented by Prof. Stefano Alvisi, and during the presentation, Elad Salomons humorously explored how ChatGPT might perform in such a competition (spoiler: not very well!). This achievement underscores the strength of our collaborative research and innovative approaches.

The rankings of the Battle of Water Demand Forecasting, with the Water Futures team on the second place of the podium

Other WDSA/CCWI Highlights

KWR’s impact at the conference extended beyond the research conducted within the Water-Futures project with KWR colleagues giving presentations on various topics. One of the highlights was when Mirjam Blokker delivered an invited keynote speech titled “The Complexity of Drinking Water Temperature,” sharing insights from her extensive research on the subject.

Additionally, Mirjam, along with Karel van Laarhoven, Ralph Beuken and Amitosh Dash, organized one of the short courses offered for conference attendees this year titled “How KWR Bridges Science to Practice and Vice Versa.” This course explored the progression of research initiatives across technological readiness levels, offering practical examples from the Dutch landscape.

Mirjam’s Q&A session after giving her keynote speech. Photo Credit: WDSA/CCWI 2024

The KWR-organized short course on bridging science to practice. Photo Credit: WDSA/CCWI 2024

Closing Thoughts on WDSA/CCWI 2024

As another successful WDSA/CCWI conference comes to an end, we are reminded of the invaluable opportunities these gatherings provide to engage with the water research community, share insights, and foster new collaborations. Our sincere gratitude goes to the organizers of the WDSA/CCWI conference at the University of Ferrara for their incredible organization this year. From every organizational detail at the conference, including the memorable farewell dinner at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara, every aspect was thoughtfully planned and executed.

The KWR delegation in front of Castello Estense in Ferrara

KWR colleagues inside the prestigious Teatro Comunale di Ferrara

Below, we are closing with an overview of the presentations given by KWR colleagues at this year’s WDSA/CCWI conference.

We are also excited to announce that the Water Futures team has put forward an informal bid to hold the next WDSA/CCWI 2026 Conference in Cyprus.

The full bids will be submitted after the call for the host is announced by the organising committee. In the meantime, we eagerly anticipate the next gathering and look forward to seeing everyone at the CCWI 2025 in Sheffield!

Overview of KWR’s Contributions at WDSA/CCWI 2024

A REVIEW OF SCENARIO-BASED APPROACHES IN WATER SYSTEMS DESIGN	Michalopoulos C., Vertommen I., Makropoulos C. and Savic D.
STAGED DESIGN OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS: A REINFORCEMENT LEARNING APPROACH	Tsiami L., Makropoulos C. and Savic D.
INCORPORATING FLEXIBILITY IN THE LONGTERM DESIGN OF WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS USING OPERATIONAL VARIABLES	Zanutto D., Castelletti A. and Savic D.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP FOR MEASURING THE EFFECT OF BIOFILM BUILD-UP ON HEAT TRANSFER IN DRINKING WATER PIPES	Glynis K., Blokker M., Kapelan Z. and Savić D.
THE LOTUS INTERNATIONAL MULTIFUNCTIONAL DIGITAL TWIN	Lewis G., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L., Chen A., Djordjević S. and Savic D.
EMPOWERING WATER ENGINEERS TO DEVELOP XR LEARNING APPLICATIONS WITH THE WATERLINE PROJECT	Lewis G., Johns M., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L., Chen A., Djordjević S. and Savic D.
A QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW (CSO) MODELLING ON THE WATERVERSE PROJECT	Lewis G., Evans B., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L., Chen A. and Djordjević S. and Savic D.
A WATER FUTURES APPROACH ON WATER DEMAND FORECASTING WITH ONLINE ENSEMBLE LEARNING	Zanutto D., Michalopoulos C., Chatzistefanou G.-A., Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L., Tsiami L., Glynis K., Samartzis P., Hermes L., Hinder F., Vaquet J., Vaquet V., Eliades D., Polycarpou M., Koundouri P., Hammer B. and Savic D.
UNDERSTANDING RESIDENTIAL END USES OF WATER: EVIDENCE FROM AROUND THE WORLD	Mazzoni F., Alvisi S., Blokker M., Buchberger S., Castelletti A., Cominola A., Gross M.-P., Jacobs H., Mayer P., Steffelbauer D., Stewart R., Stillwell A., Tzatchkov V., Alcocer Yamanaka V.-H. and Franchini M.
SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF WATER TEMPERATURE IN A DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION	Cincotta C., Blokker M., Bragalli C. and Kapelan Z.
REINTERPRETATION OF WATER TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS	Galama-Tirtamarina A. and Blokker M.
HOMEWATERLAB: A VERSATILE PLAYGROUND TO INVESTIGATE PHENOMENA IN RESIDENTIAL PREMISE PLUMBING SYSTEMS	Dash A., van Summeren J. and Blokker M.
LEGACY PIPES UNEARTHED: DECRYPTING THE ENIGMA OF PRESSURE DYNAMICS AND BURST EVENTS IN LIMBURG, NETHERLANDS	Zeidan M., Hillebrand B. and Blokker M.
AN INNOVATIVE MODEL-BASED METHODOLOGY FOR RAPID RESPONSE TO DRINKING WATER CONTAMINATION EVENTS	Paraskevopoulos S., Vrachimis S., Kyriakou M., Blokker M., Smeets P., Eliades D., Medema G. and Polycarpou M.
WATERVERSE: STRATEGIES IN STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FOR DIGITALIZATION OF A WATER DATA MANAGEMENT ECOSYSTEM	Torello M., Seshan S., van der Meulen S. and Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia L.
REPLACEMENT STRATEGIES FOR SERVICE LINES: FAILURE REGISTRATION ENABLED PRIORITIZATION	Dash A., Galama-Tirtamarina A., Rombouts J., van Laarhoven K. and Beuken R.
CT-SCANS: GAME CHANGER IN THE MAINTENANCE OF PVC DRINKING WATER MAINS.	van Laarhoven K. and Dash A.
REHABILITATION PLANNING OF WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK USIGN OPTIMIZATION IN PRACTICE. AMSTERDAM CASE STUDY	Mitrovic D., Hillebrand B. and van Laarhoven K.
CALCULATING AVAILABILITY OF PRODUCTION PLANTS	Beuken R., Drolenga P. and Jong R.
TRANSIENT FLOW DYNAMICS IN TESLA VALVE CONFIGURATIONS: INSIGHTS FROM COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS.	Zeidan M., Yondonjamts D., Nemeth M., Abhijith G.R., Wéber R. and Ostfeld A.