As has been clearly highlighted by the current drought in the Western
Cape, a regular, uninterrupted water supply cannot be guaranteed.
By Teresa Huysamen at Duxbury Networking
O
ne of the challenges that will
face many South Africans in the
years ahead, is water security.
According to the Department of Water
and Environmental Affairs, the demand
for water will outstrip supply in South
Africa by 2025.
Addressing the demands of
a n e v e r- i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a t i o n
and delivering the water quality
standards to which South Africans
have become accustomed, is proving
to be an ongoing series of tests for
the experts within water utilities
and municipalities tasked with
maintaining water security.
Compounding the problems are
increasing challenges associated
with the processing and delivery
of water. Not only do these include
sourcing, filtering, and supplying
f r e s h w a t e r, t h e y a l s o i n v o l v e
collecting and treating wastewater,
efficiently managing stormwater,
monitoring treatment facilities, and
the supervision of remote dams and
reservoirs.
Faced with these challenges,
it is imperative for water utilities
and municipalities to operate as
efficiently and cohesively as possible.
Consistently providing safe water
requires connecting the people,
places, and ‘things’ most important
to water security and sharing vital
knowledge and information.
For example, it is increasingly
difficult for municipalities to maintain
the quality of their water without
accurate measurement. Many do
not have the tools needed to make
accurate assessments or, if they
do, they do not have access to IT
connectivity solutions to enable them
to share their findings and have them
professionally analysed.
While water security and quality
are acknowledged multifaceted
problems, one of the key areas of
concern is the widespread lack of
data reporting. Needless to say, this
presents a serious obstacle when
it comes to delivering water to the
communities who depend on it.
One of the solutions is to connect
the right people, places, and ‘things’
associated with water security. To
achieve this, entire water ecosystems
will ideally have to be unified with
Optimising water resources
with technology
The IoT has a key place in utilities such as water management.
12
Water Sewage & Effluent January/February 2018
communication links offering data,
voice, and video connectivity in a
nationwide digital water management
network.
How might this work? Because
of the vast distances involved,
wireless links would be the most
appropriate. They would, for instance,
join treatment facilities with remote
reservoirs, enabling real-time
information to be sourced on issues
such as water pressure, flow rates,
and water levels.
Employees, even those who are
remote, could then easily track
water usage and remotely manage
centralised valve and pump controls.
Importantly, water leaks would
be easier to identify. This would
assist municipalities like the City of
Ekurhuleni that has embarked on a
campaign to reduce its significant
water losses by 34%.
An IP (Internet Protocol)-
based wireless communications
infrastructure would enable water
utilities to ‘see the bigger picture’,
optimise quality and efficiency for
normal operations, and respond far
quicker when there is a crisis.