Leaking pipes, impure water and aging sewerage systems is a reality India deals with. The country loses 60 per cent of its water while it is distributed. Though it is not the only country facing these challenges, it could learn from the experiences of countries that have used technology for water management.

Dr Cameron Brooks, Director, Smarter Water Management at IBM, throws light on some of the technologies being made available by the IT major under its Big Green Innovations initiative to conserve the vital resource.

Excerpts from the interview:

Can you throw some light on IBM's water management solutions?

In just the last 100 years, global water usage has increased at twice the rate of population growth. Today, one in five people lacks access to safe drinking water, and the United Nations predicts that nearly half the world's population will experience critical water shortages by year 2080. In addition to issues such as groundwater contamination and climate change, time is also taking its toll on this vital resource: up to half of any given water supply is lost due to aging, leaky pipes.

IBM's water management technologies help companies reduce pollution, improve drinking water quality and increase the supply of usable water overall. This is done through an analytics system that tracks and reports on the condition of infrastructure — from filtration equipment, water pumps and valves to collection pipes, water storage basins and laboratory equipment.

The ability to monitor these systems in real-time means that potential problems such as a burst water main, a slow leak, a clogged drain or a hazardous sewage overflow can be quickly identified and resolved — or even predicted and prevented. The system even taps into geospatial data to pinpoint the exact location of problem areas.

For example, IBM is working with utility companies around the world, including DC Water, the Fukuoka District Waterworks in Japan, Power and Water Corporation in Australia, the Sacramento Area Sewer District, the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to modernise the management of water and sewer infrastructures.

And as part of our Smart City project in the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang, we're analysing data from the city's sewage and plumbing systems to determine where water is being wasted and how access to clean drinking water can be improved.

We've also teamed up with the Environmental Protection Agency in Ireland to safeguard more than 130 of Ireland's beaches and lakes.

We collect and analyse large amounts of environmental data from Ireland's coastline and lakes on water quality, tides, weather forecasts and more. In the US, we're collaborating with Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries on a technology-based monitoring and forecasting network for New York's Hudson River and with The Nature Conservancy to build Web-based tools for river basin management.

We are also working with the Sonoma County Water Agency to collect and analyse data including water usage and quality, weather and climate, and environmental considerations. This enables SCWA to make better decisions about resource allocation based on near real-time information. The system includes geographical and system map views so SCWA can address specific issues such as low chlorine residual or low storage tank levels, in minutes rather than hours.

And we've got our eye on the future: IBM's Research division is working with Central Glass, KACST and the University of Texas, Austin, on a new nano-membrane that filters out salts as well as harmful toxins in water while using less energy than other forms of water purification.

While a prototype today, this membrane could revolutionise water purification by providing a low-cost, low-energy, high- throughput alternative for processes such as water desalination and the removal of toxins such as arsenic and boron from groundwater.

IBM's push into water management is part of its $100-million investment to expand into environmental fields under its Big Green Innovations initiative. Here, we apply advanced materials science, physics, modelling tools, materials science, and integration expertise to manage the environment.

What are the efficiency gains realised in places such as Iowa (where digital water meters have been put to use) and San Francisco (sewer management software used), where specific IT intervention has been attempted?

IBM has built the IBM Smarter City Sustainability Model, which is a Cloud-delivered asset that provides Dubuque with an integrated view of its water consumption and energy management. This system is being piloted in 311 residences in the city.

The smarter meter system monitors water consumption every 15 minutes and communicates to the IBM Research Cloud. The data being collected is anonymous and will contain no confidential information. In the cloud the data will be analysed with triggers to spot potential leaks and anomalies, and help volunteers understand their consumption in greater detail.

Volunteers can only view their own consumption habits while city management can see the aggregate data.

In San Francisco, the Public Utilities Commission treats an average of 80-90 million gallons of wastewater per day during dry weather and up to 370 million gallons of combined wastewater and storm runoff per day during the rainy season. It is using IBM software to develop smarter management of the city's 1,000 miles of sewer system and three treatment facilities.

Already, IBM software has improved the organisation's ratio of preventive to corrective maintenance by approximately 11 per cent, meaning that the organisation has been doing more preventive and less corrective maintenance.

The software also integrates with the city's 311 and 28-CLEAN Customer Service systems — dispatch centres that handle non-emergency problems, such as potholes, abandoned vehicles, loose manhole covers and overflowing storm drains.

When DC Water implemented its asset and maintenance management programme, its goal wasn't to simply automate existing processes.

Instead it sought to improve business models to better serve the community. Results to date include 36 per cent reduction in customer calls through increased preventive maintenance and implementation of automated meter readings; Increased percentage of emergency investigations dispatched within 10 minutes from 49 per cent to 93 per cent; and, the ability to generate reports for regulatory compliance and management review in seconds versus days; The number of fines received from the District's Department of Transportation for failing to restore public spaces following a repair has dramatically decreased now that projects can be tracked to completion and supervisors alerted of potential violations.

Apart from this, nearly 70 per cent of DC Water's customers have signed up for notification services via phone, text, email or other methods of usage rates with over 10,000 notifications having gone out to date potentially resolving and/or preventing thousands of dollars of damage for each customer.

What are the implications for countries such as India, where water shortages abound?

Regardless of industry or geography, smarter water management remains an issue faced by everyone on the planet. While the world's population tripled in the twentieth century, the use of renewable water resources has grown six-fold.

Within the next 50 years, the world population is expected to increase by another 40 to 50 per cent. With this population growth — coupled with ever-growing industrialisation and urbanisation — the demand for water could soon outpace the supply. There is a high socio-economic cost associated with water shortage or lack of access to clean, drinkable water.

According to some estimates, for every per cent of water that becomes unusable, 2,00,000 jobs may be lost, which could lead to a 5.7 per cent drop in disposable income on a per capita basis and a 5 per cent increase in government spending. Also, lack of usable water would have a negative impact across all industries and in all corners of the world. Water deficits, which are already spurring heavy grain imports in numerous smaller countries, may soon do the same in larger countries, such as India and China. Smart water grid can help overcome water availability as well as water quality issues — two areas critical for India.

While it is a given that many municipalities in India lose more than 50 per cent of their water through leaks, and in most cases there's no way to detect these leaks preventively, the pricing of water at the consumer level is well below its economic cost of production.

Doesn't this make efficiency improvement interventions difficult unless pricing of water becomes viable?

This is really a question of cost, not of price. For every gallon water that is captured from natural sources, and then treated, there is a real cost.

The more of this water lost before ever getting to the tap, the greater the cost. So every gallon saved through leak reduction is a cost savings for that utility that can be used to upgrade infrastructure, and pay for the move to smart grids, etc.

Are there any specific IT interventions from IBM that can be implemented in improving water management in India? Can this be done in a cost-effective manner?

Sure. Our solutions help reduce non-revenue water (NRW) by almost 60 per cent. NRW refers to water that a water utility does not receive any compensation for. It includes water not billed as a result of leakage, inadequate measurement, illegal use, and free (authorised) use. Estimates in Asian cities show that 50-65 per cent of NRW is due to apparent losses. In India, 60 per cent water is lost owing to distribution. Hence, it is vital to minimise the same.

Is IBM in talks with Indian municipal agencies for these?

Yes, we are in talks with various municipal bodies; agencies, urban local bodies, along with a couple of metros. However, we don't have client concurrence in place now to talk about it.

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