REWADIG

Increasing resilience of urban water system through digitalisation

Abstract

The potentials and effects of an intelligent (digital) drinking water supply system are still largely unexplored or only tested in ideal test areas (e.g., on university campuses, in industrial estates). Additionally, control options in the water distribution network are mainly limited to the main points (e.g., transfer points between pressure zones, storage inflow and outflow), which means that early detection of possible problems in the network is only possible to a limited extent and on a large scale.

In the "REWADIG" project, the urban drinking water distribution network of an existing municipality is being transformed into an intelligent drinking water supply system. This allows to measure all water flows in the supply area in real time, using this information for early detection (e.g.: pipe network losses, water quality - residence time of drinking water in pipes). The implementation of smart monitoring and control will trigger a significant increase in quality and resilience to short- (incidents) and long-term (climate change) impacts. Technological approaches and the involvement of the public in the operation (e.g.: targeted or conscious water use), lead to a reduction in water demand and ultimately to a conservation of water resources.

Through this intelligent system, even short-term incidents and consumption deviations (caused by leakages, contamination, terrorist attacks, output restrictions, ...) can be detected promptly and appropriate measures can be implemented quickly. In addition, extensive life cycle and cost analyses are carried out with the data to evaluate the ecological and economic effects of an intelligent water supply and to be able to derive recommendations for future projects in the field of a modern and sustainable drinking water supply.

Additional information:

• Projektseite Klima- und Energiefonds 

Articles in journals and conferences

• Oberascher, Martin; Andreas Halm; Torsten Ullrich; Sitzenfrei, Robert (2022): Analysing the influence of different temporal resolutions of water consumption data for leakage detection and localisation. In: Geophysical Research Abstracts. EGU General Assembly, EGU22-7399. (Weblink) 
  
• Oberascher, Martin; Maussner, Claudia; Truppe, Dietmar; Eggeling, Eva; Sitzenfrei, Robert (2023): Using digitalisation and open data for future planning of water resources. In: The 19th International Computing and Control for the water Industry Conference (CCWI). De Montfort University (Leicester) (Weblink) 

Prasentation

• Speaker: Oberascher, Martin; Co-Authors: Claudia Maußner; Andreas Halm; Torsten Ullrich; Sitzenfrei, Robert: Analysing the influence of different temporal resolutions of water consumption data for leakage detection and localisation. European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2022, Vienna, 25.05.2022.
• Speaker: Oberascher, Martin; Co-Authors: Maussner, Claudia; Truppe, Dietmar; Eggeling, Eva; Sitzenfrei, Robert: Using digitalisation and open data for future planning of water resources. 19th International Computing and Control for the Water Industry Conference (CCWI) 2023, Leicester, 05.09.2023.