Smart Water Control

Funding: This project is funded by the Climate and Energy Fund and is being carried out as part of the "Smart Cities" programme.

Klimafonds

Project partners: G. Bernhardt's Söhne Ges.m.b.H.
Processors: Robert SITZENFREI Michael MAIR, Carolina KINZEL, Martin OBERASCHER

Project duration: 07/2017 - 10/2018



Brief description:

In the exploratory project "Smart Water Control", the foundations are being laid for the successful implementation of an innovative, intelligent sensor and control network for urban water infrastructure (water supply, wastewater disposal and intelligent rainwater drainage). Through the smart monitoring of individual subsystems, an optimal control process is to be established with the help of sensor data in real time and therefore the water cycle of an urban region is to be optimised across systems in terms of efficiency and resource conservation.

SmartWaterControl

The general idea in this research project is that a large number of parameters (e.g. soil moisture, water level, temperature) can be optimised: Soil moisture, water level, temperature, pressure, energy demand, flow rates and discharges) are measured and transmitted at intervals with the finest possible temporal resolution (e.g.: every minute), resulting in significant added value in the operation and control of the systems but also for future implementations. On the one hand, the data obtained can be processed and used to raise consumer awareness. On the other hand, the measurement data represents an important step towards modelling the complex water infrastructure systems and can subsequently also be used as input data in model simulations. The latter are intended to predict the system behaviour and validate the currently measured data, which forms the basis for optimal control and fault detection in real time. To summarise, a desirable system consists of three main components, namely measurement, modelling and control.
Such a system has an impact on society and the environment as a whole:

  • ecological (conservation of resources, increase in efficiency)
  • economic (e.g: load management, new pricing of water infrastructure for the customer)
  • social (awareness-raising, multi-purpose use of water infrastructure, e.g. as a local recreation area)
  • technical (e.g: incident detection, improved cleaning services, supply and disposal safety, improved flood protection)
  • future-proofing (e.g. to meet future challenges such as climate change, population growth, changes in user behaviour, etc.).


However, there is a need for extensive research for successful implementation, also with regard to legal framework conditions and the identification of social and security policy barriers. In addition to the establishment of a "Smart Water Community" within Austria, this project will identify potential test regions and concretise the implementation of a sensor and control network with all stakeholders in these areas.

other links:

Articles in journals and conferences

  • Möderl, Michael; Sitzenfrei, Robert (2019): Water loss management in very small municipalities - bridging the gap from research to practice. In: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Reston: American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) (Weblink)
  • Oberascher, Martin; Zischg, Jonatan; Palermo, Stefania Anna; Kinzel; Carolina; Rauch, Wolfgang; Sitzenfrei, Robert (2019a): Smart Rain Barrels: Advanced LID Management Through Measurement and Control. In: Green Energy and Technology New Trends in Urban Drainage Modelling. UDM 2018, pp. 777 - 782. (Weblink)
  • Oberascher, Martin; Zischg, Jonatan; Kastlunger; Ulrich; Schöpf, Martin; Kinzel, Carolina; Zingerle, Christoph; Rauch, Wolfgang; Sitzenfrei, Robert (2019b): Advanced Rainwater Harvesting through Smart Rain Barrels. In: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Reston: American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) (Weblink)
  • Palermo, Stefania Anna; Zischg, Jonatan; Sitzenfrei, Robert; Rauch, Wolfgang; Piro, Patrizia (2019): Parameter Sensitivity of a Microscale Hydrodynamic Model. In: Green Energy and Technology New Trends in Urban Drainage Modelling. UDM 2018, pp. 982 - 987 (Weblink)
  • Zischg, J., Rogers, B., Gunn, A., Rauch, W., and Sitzenfrei, R. (2019). "Future trajectories of urban drainage systems: A simple exploratory modelling approach for assessing socio-technical transitions." Science of The Total Environment, 651, 1709-1719. (Weblink)

Presentations

  • Presenter: Oberascher, Martin Co-authors: Zischg, Jonatan; Palermo, Stefania Anna; Kinzel, Carolina; Rauch, Wolfgang; Sitzenfrei, Robert: Smart Rain Barrels: Advanced LID Management Through Measurement and Control. 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling - UDM 2018, Palermo, 26.09.2018.
  • Lecturer: Palermo, Stefania Anna Co-authors: Zischg, Jonatan; Sitzenfrei, Robert; Rauch, Wolfgang; Piro, Patrizia: Parameter Sensitivity of a Microscale Hydrodynamic Model. 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling - UDM 2018. Palermo.26.09.2018.
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