Big Data, IoT poised to address water infrastructure gap
As much as 30% of water utility operating expenditures can be improved almost immediately through more dynamic and real-time system monitoring.
Cutting-edge, smart water solutions are gaining traction with municipal water utilities, which see data and analytics as critical tools for overcoming the age-old issue of crumbling water infrastructure. In fact, over $20 billion is slated for metering, data management and analytics globally from 2016-2025, according to Bluefield Research, Boston, Mass.
At the root of this change is the mounting financial pressure that is forcing water utilities and municipalities to do more with less. This has sparked an uptick in demand for innovative solutions to more cost-effectively manage billing and customer management, leakage rates and energy consumption.
"By zeroing in on key drivers of operating costs, water utilities are optimizing their operations with smart technologies," says Keith Hays, vice president. "The solutions are not new, as they draw from existing equipment, software and analytics tools, but a significant hurdle will be integrating legacy systems with new software platforms."
In some cases, the results have been significant—halving non-revenue water leaks and billing errors and reducing energy consumption from 20% to 40%. As much as 30% of water utility operating expenditures can be improved almost immediately through more dynamic and real-time system monitoring.