Sustainable Water Management for Smart Cities.

Technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence and Big Data can be leveraged to successfully bridge gaps in existing water and wastewater infrastructure in India, writes Sanjeev Sirsi. 

Smart cities are being designed to redefine the possibilities of modern infrastructure. In light of the pandemic, these cities are going to depend on strong urban planning to improve overall resilience to such unprecedented events and protect its residents to a large extent.

According to a report produced by the United Nations, India is expected to have more than 60 cities with over one million population and six megacities with over 10 million population by 2030 .This rapid urbanization and migration of population to nearby cities have induced considerable burden on its overall infrastructure.

It is critical to achieve water security as this will help to address the gap of supply and demand. It is important to cater to this influx of demand without having a deteriorating impact on the environment. Sustainability and urban development should be considered as two critical and equitable elements of a smart city.

Role of Sustainable Water Management

Access to water is a key building block of infrastructure in smart cities.  As cities grow, there will be a direct impact on their water consumption as well. It is important to provide this access to the residents in a sustainable manner by a streamlined water processes, exploring alternatives to conventional methods of consumption and minimizing wastage and energy usage of these systems.

Technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data can be leveraged to successfully bridge gaps in existing water and wastewater infrastructure in India. For example, Ahmedabad has automated water treatment and supply in the city with real time monitoring and maintenance alerts sent to concerned officials .

Considering that the majority of the country is water stressed, smart cities must ensure that there is sufficient water availability and accessibility for the community. For instance, In 2019, Chennai witnessed severe water scarcity with all its reservoirs running dry in the summer. The city authorities are now actively working towards adopting sustainable water processes by leveraging knowledge sharing and smart solutions.

There are several proactive measures including steps to improve the distribution network, desalination, wastewater treatment sites, and water-meteringthat canhave apositive impact on thecurrent water scenario.

A critical element in increasing water availability would be to explore alternatives to groundwater consumption.  Groundwater levels have been depleting rapidly over the last few years especially due to the poorly managed extraction and excessive consumption. Cities like Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Bangalore have witnessed a significant dip in their water table .

This has created an increased emphasis on the need for effective wastewater treatment in smart cities across the country. Currently, India has the capacity to treat approximately 37% of the total wastewater generated in the country on a daily basis .  Smart cities can adopt a circular approach of reusing water multiple times to reduce their dependency on freshwater. Wastewater plants with relevant technologies can be installed in the city to treat municipal waste efficiently.Individuals and organizations can also establish wastewater processes in their buildings at a varying scale on the basis of their respective volumes.  Singapore has been able to successfully adopt smart wastewater management to meet 40% of their water demand.

Additionally, in a tropical country like India, access to cooling has become a necessity. Increased purchasing power has also made air conditioning a normal feature in all buildings. Sustainable HVAC applications have become a major aspect of smart cities. It is important to thereby explore opportunities to significantly increase water and energy savings through more efficient HVAC systems.

Recent Water Management Trends

Demand Driven Distribution: A water approach designed on the principle of demand-based distribution can ensure equitable distribution of the resource. Intelligent water management solutions will be able to use sensors to analyze water demand for different areas in a smart city and allocate resources accordingly. 

Water leakages in the distribution network can be primarily attributed to excessive pressure. A demand-based pressure will be able to manage pressure without disruptions and minimize water wastage.

Water Metering and Governance: Generally, people underestimate the amount of water they use on a daily basis. A shift from traditional meters to smart meters will be able to provide real-time information and provide a clear understanding of the water consumption patterns in the smart cities. This will help improve the impact of water governance, management and budget allocation. Cities such as Chandigarh and Pune have been shifting to a smart meter-based system to manage water distribution. The Pune Municipal Corporation is currently in the process of implementing 275,000 smart water meters over the last three years .

These meters will also empower citizens to utilize water responsibly. They can be incentivized or penalized on the basis of the nature of their consumption. During droughts and other severe conditions, information from smart water meters can be used to restrict consumption of water to necessities and manage water usage for other activities such as car washing and landscaping.

These steps are also an instrumental step to drive sustainable digital transformation in the water infrastructure of smart cities.

District Cooling: This has emerged as an alternative method to cool large areas in a sustainable and energy efficient manner. Smart water solutions such as intelligent pumps with a variable frequency can be used to streamline HVAC applications in smart cities and adapt to the varying flow, speed and temperatures of the liquid.

Rajkot was the first smart city in India to implement district cooling at their GIFT city hub. This has helped them considerably save water and energy. Other cities like Amaravati and Thane are also working towards implementing district cooling.

Integrated Approach: An integrated approach to sustainable water and wastewater management can create a framework for smart cities. It promotes improved coordination and management of water resources and processes for various applications. It also creates an effective ecosystem that drives stakeholder engagement and encourages public-private partnerships for water infrastructure related projects in smart cities.

Besides investments in infrastructure and water processes, sustainable water and wastewater management is also dependent on the mindset of residents and stakeholders of the smart cities. As cities embrace sustainability and new technologies, it is also critical to create the right kind of awareness and sensitization to ensure that existing water resources are used judiciously.

Sanjeev Sirsi, Associate Vice President - Water Utility, Grundfos India

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