WATER PAGES
already identified resourcemonitoring information systems as a technology that is gaining traction.
Six water planning trends
Demographics, population and climate change are increasingly prompting the implementation of initiatives that lead to more sustainable use of water resources. Along these lines, Idrica highlights six areas that are driving the efficient management of water resources through sound water planning:
1. Efficient aquifermonitoring and management. According to the UNESCO, groundwater accounts for 99%of all liquid freshwater on Earth. Of this, 25% of all water withdrawn is used for irrigation, while half of the volume of water used for domestic purposes also comes fromgroundwater.
Therefore, aquifers are a key resource that is currently being tapped inmany parts of the world, although growing pressure on these aquifers places them at risk of
overexploitation.Moreover, in many cases, there is insufficient knowledge of the available resources and a notorious lack of networks to monitor them.
“Sustainable and efficient resource management requires control systems based on comprehensive sensor networks”, saidMiren Aldecoa, Operations PMO at Idrica. These provide real-time information on themajor levels and quality parameters of the water bodies, also enabling their integration
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with surface water control systems, where both types of resources are jointly managed.
2. Increasing distribution system efficiency. According to Idrica, this is an effective driver in achieving other objectives: better performing distribution systems bring greater resource availability, enhancing water security andmaking itmore accessible, thus cutting the distribution and treatment costs of the water supplied.
3. Reuse. In a world of diminishing water resources, wemust turn our attention to the potential of water reuse as an alternative. The advantages of this approach are obvious: adding value to water treatment and purification processes (promoting the circular economy in the entire water cycle), reducing the water and carbon footprint ofmany of our activities, and improving the water security of uses where recycled resources are a feasible option. “Here the challenge is twofold: to ensure not only the quantity but also the quality of the effluent to be reused,” saidMiren Aldecoa
4. Use of non-conventional resources. Undoubtedly, the use of non- conventional resources (particularly desalination, given its importance) has become a necessary trend in water planning.
Itsmajor handicap, i.e., high implementation and operating costs, can bemitigated by the use, once again, of technology. “The use ofmachine learning techniques and digital twins in
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plants, combined with automatic and operation support systems, applied to the huge flow of data provided by operating plants, has huge potential, pointed out the Idrica expert.
5. Information systems for water weather forecasts and warnings. The management of extreme events, such as droughts and floods, is a fundamental part of water planning processes. According to Idrica, “the effective use of historical and real-time information and its analysis using conventional water analysis techniques, approaches based on the use of data science tools, or a combination of both is key to improving decision-making in challenging environments to conserve and protect resources.”
6. Citizen information systems. Technological advances provide access to tools that supply information to users quickly and directly. The availability of data on consumption and savings obtained through the application of specificmeasures such as gamification, together with basic information on available resources (reservoir levels, etc.), is a complementary tool tomore traditional planningmeasures.
These trends are part of the water management transformation analysis presented by Idrica in its latest report "Water Technology Trends 2023: the impact of innovation in the water sector", together with early warning systems, security, water reuse, and process automation and optimization.
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