In a world where
nearly 40% of the population have inaccessibility to clean water, technology
can play a quintessential role in ensuring the sustainable management of water
and its availability. Digital transformation can be an excellent opportunity to improve
the maintenance and management of water infrastructures and services. Technology
enables water utilities to optimize processes, streamline operating and
maintenance costs in integrated water-cycle services and infrastructures.
Collecting accurate asset data at water sites using remote sensors and IoT
devices, practical utilization of collected data and models to improve
operational efficiency, etc. are some of the advantages of digital
transformation in the water infrastructure services. Some statistics suggest
that the digital transformation is expected to grow 6.5% annually in the United
States and Canada. Ever since its arrival, 5G is making its mark in terms of
communications in all fields and applications. With the low latency and increased
ability of 5G technology to connect millions of devices in an area, managers
can enhance autonomous infrastructure operations while enabling remote driving.
The 5G technology is providing new opportunities for water utilities to achieve
greater water efficiency.
Here are some of the benefits
of the expansion of 5G networks for the water infrastructure for end users.
Proactive Water Management
The impact of climate change
can lead to severe droughts, which could significantly affect the
water-intensive industries, such as semiconductors, cotton farming, livestock
farming, oil & gas extraction action. Climate change and floods could cost
USD17 trillion to the global economies by 2030. Traditional ways of monitoring
water and control lacked automation could result in difficulty in predicting
issues. The real-time data transfer and a fleet of high-precision IoT sensors
can result in improved water management efficiency and faster recuperation of
investments at reduced operating costs. The 5G-based Smart Water-control and
Monitoring has been successfully installed at Baiyangdian Lake of Xiong’an
in China by China Telecom and ZTE. The aim is to identify foreign objects on
the water surface and eliminate it if they seem undesirable. Multidimensional
data collected from connected water quality sensors is aggregate on an
intelligent processing ZTE IoT platform, which provides prediction about
pollution and scientific basis for preventive and proactive water management.
Even the smart metering system are equipped with automated valves that respond
by shutting in areas affected by floods, which can lead to contaminated water.
The application of NB-IoT
technology, which uses the telephone operator’s network coverage and require
sim card to operate, is already producing outstanding results in the water
industry, mainly in the area of smart metering. Both the GSMA and 3GPP
standards association are adopting NB-IoT as a part of 5G network, which will
ensure it will have a long future. Some of the advantages that NB-IoT
technology can provide are extended range, more penetration and coverage, and
efficient battery management.
Manage Water Irrigation
Systems
Agriculture is one of the
most water-intensive sectors that consume around 70% of total water consumption,
according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Monitoring infrastructure
and irrigation water consumption in agriculture are key elements to achieving
efficient water resource management. The use of remote metering and smart
irrigation will make more data available for analysis, whose integration is
essential for decision-making. Since 5G is a much faster technology, it can
work with millions of sensors per sq.km., which facilitates the coexistence of
smart metering and the implementation of other intelligent devices. The
technology will be quite beneficial across remote areas where obtaining data is
relatively a difficult task. Digitally transforming irrigation distribution
networks would facilitate real-time control of what is happening and detect
leaks and fraud at early stages, which can lower the volume of non-revenue
water and lower production costs while promoting sustainability in environment.
The sensors installed in the
irrigation infrastructures can provide monitoring soil moisture and climate
date, which when coupled with weather forecast, can be utilised for the
calculation of optimal water needs for crops. The supervision will prevent any
significant personal and material damage. In addition, sensors for
infrastructure require stable communication and low latency, which can only be
achieved by very fast data transmission process provided by 5G.
Boost Sustainability in
Utilities Industry
Over the years,
the customer and utility relationship has evolved with increased interest in
sustainability. Hence, utilities and energy providers are tasked with
delivering safe and reliable services while operating in extreme conditions
like severe storms, record heat, historic droughts, etc. Grid and smart
metering are the top of mind for forward-looking utility companies to reduce
power outages, electrical spikes, reduce monthly energy bills for consumers and
give access to gas, electric and water readouts through remote mobile devices. With
5G cloud native network, telecommunication operators can support this market by
providing reliable connectivity. 5G will help in the advancement of smart grids
for tele-protection, load balancing, and fast energy rerouting.
The 5G
infrastructure will consume less energy to transfer data, which could help
industries in meeting their sustainability goals. Besides, the utilities can
meet government policies and regulations for renewable energy grids. The
initial 5G releases are likely to improve positioning accuracy, which could
facilitate pinpointing the exact location of devices, even in indoor
environments.
5G promises to
deliver a simple infrastructure with enhanced efficiency to improve coverage
for low-power cellular devices, which could allow utilities to operate large
smart meter and grid deployments at low costs. As grids are becoming smarter
and allow two-way communication and energy distribution, the substations need
to embrace automation and manage diverse power sources, including renewables.
Providing Remote
Support through AR
Technology can
play an essential role in the daily operation and management of the water grid
by supporting technicians that are deployed in remote areas. Using 5G Network
slice, technicians can deploy a high-capacity uplink/downlink through the use
of AR/VR devices. The remote technician will connect the AR/VR glasses to the
5G slice, and the high upload and download speeds enable the remote experts to
see in real time. The expert can then provide guidance through voice commands
or by annotations, which could result in reduced response time for closure of
the incident. High bandwidth can also result in the quick sharing of
engineering drawings to remote technicians.
Another
advantage of 5G for water management is enabling technicians to identify the
location of underground pipes through AR/VR handset and associated software. This
helps prevent digging in the wrong place or damaging some other utilities
infrastructure, which can happen if technicians interpret the physical location
of underground pipes in 2-D maps incorrectly.
Conclusion
In countries like
Middle East where the water stress is pushing utilities to implement digital
transformation due to inadequate water resources and extremely dry weather, the
government and local authorities are promoting the national program frameworks
to maximize efficiency in water management. The expansion of 5G networks can
help monitor and control processes through the entire water cycles, from
collection to discharging back into the environment. The optimal
decision-making and streamlining management of utility operations could help
simplify and speed up digital transformation.
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