Veolia’s own water data management system, Waternamics, has been developed to integrate all data sources collected at water utilities in the same platform, and enhance ‘situational awareness’ of network and operations.
Waternamics is based on IBM’s Integrated Operations and Analytics platform (IOC), which is used by a number of utility companies in the UK, US and Asia, and has been adapted by Veolia to address the needs of water operators.
Why is a water data management system such as Waternamics required?
The Australian and New Zealand water industry is facing numerous challenges such as aging infrastructure significantly increasing the risks of failure/crisis, maintenance costs, and the need for large investments to renew assets.
The levels of legal constraints and reporting requirements are constantly increasing, and the water utilities continue to face the impact of climate change, especially increasing risks of drought and the resulting water scarcity.
By law, all water utilities are required to meet Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reductions set by governments, and the population growth in Australia and New Zealand is forcing water utilities to augment infrastructure to increase their capacity to produce and distribute drinking water, and collect and treat wastewater.
What is Veolia’s water data management system, Waternamics?
Waternamics is composed of a base platform allowing visualisation of integrated data and automation of standard operating procedures (SOP).
Additional modules offer more advanced and specialised functionalities to ease operations for the entire water cycle such as:
- Drinking water network module - identifying sections of the network with high potential of failure to design a prioritised pipe renewal program
- Wastewater network module - assisting water utilities in operating wastewater treatment plants, identifying surrounding areas affected by wastewater odours and detecting emerging pollutants in wastewater
- Water resources management module - optimising the management of water resources to minimise risks of water scarcity and treatment costs
- Energy management module - identifying energy management issues in the entire water cycle in order to optimise energy procurement contracts and minimise energy costs
- Wastewater treatment module - detecting inflows and infiltrations, optimising the management of network storages to minimise overflows and prioritise asset renewal.
Where has Veolia previously implemented its water data management system, Waternamics?
Supporting a population of 1.3 million people, Lyon, France, required a smart water solution that included online sensors on the drinking water network and a platform integrating data from internal and external systems. Waternamics played a major role in this success.
The city was facing the following challenges:
- Aging infrastructure - approximately 400 leaks per year
- Heterogeneous water demand - while the water demand was decreasing in the South East districts of Lyon, the water demand increased in central areas;
- Increasing customer expectations
- Climate change - the increasing occurrence of freezing episodes and the increase of associated risks of blowing pipes
- Emerging chemical pollutants - the Rhone River (one of the main sources of drinking water in the area) was no longer considered as a sustainable water source.
Together with the implementation of thousands of sensors (including acoustic leakage sensors, water quality sensors, and digital meters, the team has dramatically increased the performance of the network, improved the efficiency of the field teams, and has successfully upgraded service levels to customers.
Locally, in Australia, Veolia is currently trailing the solution with a Victorian water authority and is due to be implement Waternamics in a phased approach across the state.
Want to learn more about Veolia’s water data management system, Waternamics?
In Australia
Please submit an online enquiry to our customer service team or call us at 02 8571 0000.
In New Zealand
Please submit an online enquiry to our customer service team or call us at 0800 325 542.