On June 9, 2021, Idrica will be unlocking the secrets behind GoAigua’s Digital Twin, deployed at the company Global Omnium, a century-old Spanish utility which manages the water supply in over 400 cities. Through its collaboration with the Water Action Platform, Idrica will be giving a live demonstration of how this best-in-class technology works.
The online event is to be broadcast from the control room in two sessions, at 9:00 and 16:00 CET, to enable participants in different time zones to attend the demo. The webinar will be moderated by Piers Clark, Chairman of Isle Utilities, and will feature a keynote address by Jaime Barba, CEO of Idrica, and a demonstration of how the digital twin works, given by Pilar Conejos, Head of Network Control and Regulation for Valencia and its Metropolitan Area at Global Omnium. There will be a Q&A session after the event.
For Idrica, cooperation and innovation are essential to accelerate transformation in the industry. Last year, the company joined the Water Action Platform, a global initiative that emerged in the wake of the coronavirus crisis with the aim of building resilience in companies.
Throughout this period, Idrica has fostered a collaborative response in the industry, strengthening its commitment to all stakeholders involved in water management, including employees, citizens and health authorities. Over 1,300 experts from more than 780 organizations globally are currently participating in the platform.
A major strand of its activities is the coordination of webinars related to the entire ecosystem. Recently, Jaime Barba, CEO of Idrica, was invited to speak at one of the platform’s events, in which he highlighted the advances in water, energy and operational efficiency achieved by Idrica’s clients.
On this occasion, the firm’s digital twin technology will be taking center stage in the next webinar. Since 2009, GoAigua’s Digital Twin in Valencia has enabled the utility Global Omnium to monitor networks, anticipate events and implement highly efficient operating procedures. The tool is a virtual replica of the network, reproducing the real behavior of the system and simulating its response under a range of conditions, enabling different operating scenarios to be played out.
Today, the digital twin is used in the daily operation of the Valencia metropolitan area network, which supplies water to over 1,700,000 inhabitants. It includes over 900 km of pipelines, is connected to 600 hydraulic variables and provides pressure and flow information at 10,000 nodes. The tool offers a holistic, real-time view of the network, as well as information and actionable dashboards 24/7.
Its hydraulic model is the cornerstone for decision-making and is updated with 20,000 pieces of data per day, received in real time as well as on a deferred basis. The digital twin is capable of aggregating, standardizing and integrating data from remote reading meters, pressure and flow sensors, SCADAs, GIS, CMMS and other systems. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms enhance its capabilities through data filtering.
In challenging times, the digital twin is proving vital for Global Omnium. The simulation of past, present and future scenarios; forecasting network behavior for the next 24 hours, and the preparation of contingency plans are just some examples of how this technology guarantees a quality water service. Thanks to the digital transformation process undertaken in the company, Valencia has managed to reduce the volume of non-revenue water by more than 30%, and maintenance OPEX by 20%. In addition, the energy used in water treatment has fallen by 15%, and the system is saving more than 4 hm3 of water each year.
The GoAigua Digital Twin is a solution marketed by Idrica, an international company specializing in services and solutions for water utilities.
What are the benefits of implementing a digital twin in the water industry and why is it essential in today’s context? Idrica, through its partnership with the Water Action Platform, will be answering these questions on June 9. Contact megan.ford@isleutilities.com for an invite.
