IBM to streamline water distribution at Kerala Water Authority

IBM announced that Kerala Water Authority (KWA), Government of Kerala, has selected IBM Analytics and Mobility solutions to analyze, monitor and manage water distribution in the city of Thiruvananthapuram.

With a population of more than 33 lakhs in the city, providing 2.1 lakh households connections with equitable water supply across divisions / subdivisions was a challenging task, due to aging pipes, leaking infrastructure and unauthorized use of water.

There were huge losses in water distribution with close to 45 percent of fresh water unaccounted for or wasted due to leakages. Also, without systems in place to monitor and provide real-time visibility into water consumption, it was difficult to track the performance of water treatment facilities and the effectiveness of the water supply network.

Under this partnership, IBM will help KWA establish the necessary infrastructure and monitoring and analytics capabilities to help identify potential issues proactively, in an effort to dramatically reduce water waste, improve customer satisfaction and increase the efficiency of maintenance and business operations.

TVM water supply faces crisis
TVM water supply faces crisis- A file photo from Asianet

IBM will help KWA establish a Water Management Center using the IBM Intelligent Water Software to bring all the distribution and consumption data from meters to a central dashboard where water usage can be effectively and predictively monitored and managed.

The solution provides the city’s water supply networks and KWA management with a unified and real-time view of the transmission and consumption of water across the city of Thiruvananthapuram. With the help of smart sensors, working in conjunction with the IBM Intelligent Operations Water software, IBM helps workers receive alerts through their mobile or smart devices or laptops so they can respond in near real time to get the problem fixed.

With these solutions, KWA aims to achieve 100 percent success in equitable water supply with the ability to monitor and flag irregularities in water usage, using sensors and intelligent meters, IBM said.

Another challenge was with revenue collection as the billing system was unable to accurately track water consumption by consumers.

IBM smart water metering and analytics will help KWA in tracking water meters across the city on consumption, thereby reducing billing anomalies and improving revenue collection by more than 10 percent.

Additionally, sensors can be installed throughout water treatment process, which will help KWA measure water turbidity, salinity, conductivity, pH and chlorine levels in real time. Using the IBM Intelligent Water Software, workers can instantly visualize operations and receive alerts and notifications when readings stray from norms or when analysis indicates that water quality has changed.

“With a loss of close to 45 percent of the current water supply and lack of proper water management in the city, we decided to deploy IBM’s advanced Analytics and Mobility solutions to overcome these challenges,” said Ashok Kumar Singh, MD, Kerala Water Authority.

“We will now have real time information and will be able to assess and manage our supply effectively. We are happy to have partnered with IBM in our endeavor to make water distribution in the city equitable and fair,” Singh added.

“The increased focus on Smarter Cities by the government of India provides IBM with the opportunity to use its proven capabilities to make people’s lives better,” said Prashant Pradhan, Director – Smarter Planet Solutions, IBM India/South Asia.

“With the rapidly growing population, it is becoming more essential than ever for us to conserve water. We are happy to have partnered with KWA to provide them the power of Analytics and Mobility and help them transform the water distribution and management systems in Thiruvananthapuram in an effort to help make it a Smarter City,” Pradhan added.

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