WaterPrime: Artificial Intelligence to help cities detect water leaks
Together with scientists from the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, AIUT has been working on an intelligent solution that will help cities minimize water losses. This will be achieved by quickly and accurately detecting leaks in water networks. The solution is called WaterPrime, and it is a new analytical platform that is based on artificial intelligence technology. Its purpose is to diagnose and solve problems that water supply companies have to face. This will be accomplished by processing information from the Municipal Water and Sewage Company in Piekary Śląskie, and others in the future. The first data had been fed to the system and has already become the subject of an analysis that the result of which would be used for the further development of this new tool.
The project involves an economically, socially, and ecologically important area of reducing water losses in water systems. A self-learning platform supported by artificial intelligence algorithms is to help in the supervision of the water supply network and effectively reduce water losses. This particular solution will have unique functionalities that go beyond the capabilities of similar systems. One of its objectives is to alert even on a small leak, indicating the area where the malfunction occurs. All in no more than 24 hours.
- The problem of water availability applies to the entire globe, therefore new solutions are needed to help reduce water losses and improve resource management. It is this breakthrough solution, based on artificial intelligence technology, that we want to make available to water supply companies. The system will support analysts in the effective detection of anomalies and malfunctions in an incomparably shorter time, which is needed today to locate failures and repair them. We have over 30 months of work and research ahead of us, but the preliminary analyzes are very promising and bring us closer to the right stage of implementation - says Andrzej Madej, deputy director of the Smart City IoT industry at AIUT. The new solution is co-financed by the European Union and is to be ready by the end of 2023.
The main objective of WaterPrime will be quick and precise identification of leaks (even the small ones), including the so-called hidden leakages. Also, its purpose is to support the work of analysts in the selection of proper e-tools, consulting, alerting about any anomalies, imbalances, and other non-conformities that may be regarded as the symptoms of upcoming problems. The platform will be taught various patterns of action to later evaluate whether they were effective. If the patterns fail, the system will suggest guidelines for changes to be introduced.
WaterPrime began its learning process at MPWiK in Piekary Śląskie
The key to achieving the goal is to cooperate with the industry, therefore water companies were invited to participate in the project. The first stage of the research is being carried out with MPWiK in Piekary Śląskie, where for over a year one of the most modern and at the same time the largest IoT platform in Poland has been operating. Implemented by AIUT, the platform performs remote readouts of water meter states based on the energy-saving, wireless LoRaWAN communication technology.
- We are implementing a research project that is based on cooperation with the expected recipients of the system. In order for the system to learn properly, an extensive database of current and historical data is needed for analysis, and this is exactly what the water company in Piekary Śląskie has at their disposal - explains Andrzej Madej.
As stated by Izabela Małota, technical director of Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji (Municipal Water and Sewerage Company) in Piekary Śląskie, the technical infrastructure of water distribution systems requires constant supervision: - The use of currently available IoT solutions, where the system transmits the status of water meters without the participation of an operator or inspector, is the best way to reduce losses and costs. That is also the first stage for the implementation of more advanced solutions. This new research project is yet another step towards full control of the water supply network in the city - emphasizes Izabela Małota and adds:
– Among water supply companies, the need for automated network monitoring is enormous, therefore investments in remote readouts of water meters are being made on an increasing scale. We have already implemented such a modern readout platform with AIUT over a year ago. It allows us to manage risk throughout the whole water supply chain, and is not just limited to sole data acquisition. An intelligent analytical system that independently processes this data and almost immediately alerts on anomalies and leaks would be a great complement that the entire industry is waiting for. We are all more than pleased to participate in the project - says director Izabela Małota.
Artificial intelligence to count a single drop of water
Will WaterPrime reduce water bills? That is possible. Rapid detection and repair of leaks and breakdowns can benefit your city and its residents by reducing fees or at least limiting price increases.
– The ecosystem that has currently been under development, where AI algorithms process data and analyze it for irregularities and differences in water intake to detect even a small leak, will allow operators to react very quickly. In the long run, this may have a direct impact on the lower cost of water for residents – Andrzej Madej from AIUT points out.
It will take a total of three years to work on the solution under the name of "WaterPrime - Ecosystem Intelligence Augmentation for water distribution network analysts" (2021-2023). The project is co-financed under sub-task 1.1.1 of the 2014-2020 Intelligent Development Operational Program that is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the National Center for Research and Development.