Smart Water Technologies and Techniques

Data Capture and Analysis for Sustainable Water Management

David A. Lloyd Owen

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781119078661
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Hydrology

An Insightful Examination of Smart Water Systems and Technology

Inland water supplies are under increasing pressure. Climate, social, and demographic change have begun tipping the balance toward demand management, as supplies begins to dwindle. Water and wastewater infrastructure will play a central role in the management of this increasingly valuable resource, and Smart Water Technologies and Techniques: Data Capture and Analysis for Sustainable Water Management provides insight on a key part of the solution.

Smart water applications optimise the way water and wastewater services are used, allowing more efficient allocation of limited resources while adding flexibility to the system. Automation, real-time data capture, and rapid interpretation allow utilities and users to monitor, manage, and act on the part of the water cycle that matters to them, minimizing costs of providing service through optimal use of extant assets.

This book brings together the core principles, key developments, and current state-of-the-art into a single resource that:

• Considers smart water within operational, economic, policy, and regulatory contexts
• Provides a comprehensive overview of the smart water concept and the latest advances in the field
• Examines key considerations and objections raised to date
• Discusses the potential value of smart water, from perception to policy
• Shows how smart water systems can optimize efficiency and flexibility of water and wastewater management
• Explores future directions for smart water development in the pursuit of balanced supply and demand

Although primarily designed for water supply and sanitation, smart water systems may be applied to irrigation, reservoir and dam management, inland water flows, and more, making it a valuable asset as water scarcity begins to spread around the globe. This book answers the questions, assuages concerns, and explains the technology that could revolutionize the way water is accessed and supplied.

Chapter 1
What do we Mean by ‘Smart Water?’

Introduction

This chapter considers and defines the terms and expressions associated with ‘smart water’ and places them in the context of water management in the broadest sense. It also presents a range of estimates and forecasts of smart water’s market size and its share of the markets associated with water management and environmental goods and services in general.

1.1 Defining ‘Smart’

1.1.1 ‘Smart’ and Utilities and Public Services

When applied to utilities, environmental and public services, a working definition for ‘smart’ would be the application of data monitoring, transmission, management, and presentation to services in a manner that enhances the efficient use of their operating assets.

It covers data management and communications systems and services (ICT – information and communication technologies) for utilities public and environmental services. It can be seen as a catchier alternative to ‘intelligent’ which has also been applied here.

1.1.2 Smart Consumer Goods

In addition, ‘smart’ has been adopted for a wide variety of consumer goods. In November 2002, Microsoft announced that it was developing the Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) Initiative, for ‘improving the function of everyday objects through the injection of software’ (Microsoft, 2002). While a range of devices were released by third party manufacturers (wristwatches, GPS navigation systems and weather stations) SPOT was discontinued in 2012, in particular due to the development of WiFi as a more efficient data transmission system (Gohring, 2008). Since then, ‘smart’ mobile phones, tablets, watches and cameras have been launched, along with TVs and cars under development.

As will be discussed later, the migration of ‘smart’ into consumer goods such as washing machines, showers and lavatories is set to become a factor in domestic water demand management as the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) connects domestic devices into broader data networks.

1.2 ‘Smart Power’ and ‘Smart Grids’

Smart power management for electricity utilities has not been driven by one or a small series of dramatic or disruptive events; it stems from a gradual continuation of demand management approaches. Electricity metering for measuring electricity used was introduced in the 1880s and has been developed ever since, including the introduction of digital metering in the 1990s (Anderson and Fuloria, 2010). Smart electricity metering is being driven by utilities and legislation, especially in the European Union, where at least 80% of meters are meant to be smart by 2020 (European Union, 2009).

Smart electricity meters inform electricity consumers how much power they are using and how much this is costing. Differential daily tariffs can be exploited to take advantage of when it is cheaper to use electricity (the lower the peak level of demand, the cheaper it is overall to produce each unit of electricity) which in turn means that the utilities can smooth out their power generation more than when there is only a single tariff. This approach is a modern refinement of night storage heaters, which have been used for some decades, assisting users to consider when they use electricity for light, heat and hot water and to optimise the time when these are used, to smooth their power demand profiles.

1.2.1 Smart Grids

Electricity grids, whereby utilities link up various power generators into a network offering greater security of supplies and flexibility of capacity were developed in Europe and the USA in the first three decades of the 20^th century. In the UK, the Electricity (Supply) Act of 1926 brought about the Central Electricity Board, which rationalised 600 local power generators into regional networks by 1933 which in turn were integrated into the National Grid in 1938 using the 132 most efficient power generators in the UK.

The smart grid is concerned with ensuring the most efficient use of electricity across a network, so that no more generating capacity is deployed at any one time than is needed, matching demand with supplies as closely as possible and ensuring that both the most appropriate generating capacity is deployed (using generators at their optimum output) and with minimal transmission losses. They are also intended to provide the most reliable service under given circumstances and more recently to lower the utility’s environmental impact through renewable energy sources.

According to the Smart Grid Forum (Smart Grid Forum, 2014), a smart power grid is ‘a modernised electricity grid that uses information and communications technology to monitor and actively control generation and demand in near real‐time, which provides a more reliable and cost‐effective system for transporting electricity from generators to homes, businesses and industry.’

Smart electricity grids were made possible by advances in data capture, communication and management through advances in computing, data transmission and metering in the 1980s and 1990s. The first major deployment was in Italy, where the Telegestore programme was launched in 1999 and ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Series Editor Foreword – Challenges in Water Management
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: What do we Mean by ‘Smart Water?’
• Chapter 2: Why do we Need Smart Water?
• Chapter 3: The Technologies and Techniques Driving Smart Water
• Chapter 4: Domestic Water and Demand Management
• Chapter 5: Optimising how we Manage Water and Wastewater
• Chapter 6: Appropriate Technology and Development
• Chapter 7: The Other 70%: Agriculture, Horticulture and Recreation
• Chapter 8: Policies and Practicalities for Enabling Smart Water
• Chapter 9: Obstacles to Adoption
• Chapter 10: Towards Smart Water Management
• Conclusions
• Index
• End User License Agreement