Wastewater Management in Smart Cities Using IoT Technology

Water is one of the most essential natural resources for all living beings to survive on earth. But our precious natural resource, fresh water, is getting depleted and scarce day by day. Many people in this world face and suffer from water scarcity for at least one month each year. Our current wastewater management systems have certain loopholes, like complex installation, higher costs, and maintenance issues, because of which these systems cannot meet the increasing demand for freshwater. Water utilities have devised some more effective and smart freshwater wastewater systems that can reduce water wastage.

This world relies on technology. The links between smart technology and sustainable development are leading to even greater demand for the Internet of Things (IoT) and more efficient technology-directed waste management. The world has adopted IoT technology for waste management processes, therefore smart cities are emerging for environmental reasons. Smart city waste management using IoT includes sensors for capacity and weight, WSNs, and RFIDs. Five smart cities are at the forefront of harnessing IoT to enhance waste management – Barcelona, San Francisco, Singapore, Seattle, and Seoul. An example of a smart waste management system is a sensor being attached to a trash bin measuring fill level, and a communication system transferring data to the cloud.

What is Smart Wastewater Management?

Smart wastewater management is defined as the use of technology to optimize sanitary network performance and wastewater operations to supply reliable sanitation for communities and pollution-free clean water. Smart wastewater systems perform by detecting and controlling combined sewage overflows and chemicals in wastewater with the help of IoT sensors to meet the demand for freshwater in smart cities. The major utilities of smart wastewater management are as follows:

• Remotely monitor and detect problems to prioritize and recognize maintenance issues.
• Consumers can be provided with tools and information to enable them to make informed choices about their behavior patterns.
• Comply with policies and regulations on water quality and conservation transparently and confidentially.

Why urban cities need smart wastewater management?

Clean water and sanitation is the key to living a good and healthy life. According to a recent survey, around 4.5 billion people across the world lack well-managed sanitation services. Moreover, around 2.3 billion even lack basic sanitation. 80% of the wastewater goes into the waterways without treatment. This is where smart wastewater management system2 comes into the picture. The tools from this system help the system operators reduce the amount of untreated discharge into the waterways and ensure that sanitation networks cater to the service level goals.

Process of Smart Wastewater Management Systems For Water Conservation

Reliable communication between administrators and wastewater management systems brings utility and cost savings together. It assists us with finding areas where water wastage is likely and taking quick decisions and actions to minimize wastage of water.

1.   Preventing combined sewage overflows:

In the monsoon season, rainwater results in an overflow of combined sewer systems. IoT sensors can help water utilities to detect overflows in real-time and take appropriate actions to minimize water wastage.

2.   Tracing chemical detection:

IoT plays a significant role in detecting chemicals in water pipelines. In the case of non-IoT wastewater management systems, researchers would have to detect chemical levels manually, which could be a tedious process. IoT sensors are smart enough to send alerts to a remote dashboard. Tracing chemical detection early will help optimize the wastewater treatment processes and will make sure the chemical release is within limits.

3.   Replacement of leaky pipes:

A leak in distribution pipes can result in a heavy loss of water. So, there is a need to change the pipes regularly. IoT sensors can collect data like topography and weather records. AI, on the other hand, can analyze the data to search for patterns to provide hints about which pipes are at risk for leakage.

Advantages of Using Smart Wastewater System

Integrating a smart wastewater system is a great way for water utilities to give new life to the investments they have already made. They have laid out their basic foundations in both assets and technology and now have progressed towards leveraging these expenses in the infrastructure in place.

1)   Real-Time Data Integration:

Real-Time Data can be transformed into valuable information for quick decision making in the areas of utility outside the control room. The utility team can stay aware of what is going on in the field every time and can respond immediately and appropriately to any problem by migrating the real-time information out of the control room. Whenever there is a pipe leakage or a faulty piece of equipment, the utility team can dispatch crews immediately to the spot with the specific information required.

2)   Enhancing Customer Satisfaction:

Having a flexible system in place allows utilities to set their future goals. They can gain a more precise view of production versus consumption by importing data from the Customer Information System (CIS) into the SCADA system. Utilities can even communicate with customers accurately by linking hydraulic model simulations with the CIS.

3)   Accurate Forecasting of Demand:

Utilities depend on historical data to create a demand curve so that they can properly adjust their production to make sure they are operating at peak efficiency. However, the process can be automated by using an AMI system so pumping regimens can be adopted to more appropriately fit the demand. A Demand Management System (DMS), on the other hand, can track the water demand where utilities can program pumps to cater to the specific needs of saving water and energy.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, we can say that the demand and advantage of IoT will keep on expanding in every domain. We can not only conserve and preserve our valuable resources, but we can also meet the demands and expectations of people adequately through IoT sensors. Most of the enterprises have already adopted IoT-based services after getting aware and acquainted with the water management issues. Consult SNDK Corp for IoT-based services in India and USA.

FAQs