In the Chilean city of Talca, the Essbio-Nuevosur waterworks company has improved a neighbourhood’s water supply and cut water losses by approximately 15 per cent. At the same time, energy consumption has been reduced by 32 per cent. The gains have come through the implementation of an intelligent pressure management solution, which is stabilising and adjusting pressure to meet demand, and, at the same time, reducing excess pressure condition in the network. Real-time data from pressure sensors is relayed back to a control unit in the pump station, where pumps and frequency converters adjust to meet the needed pressure and flow.

This technology can be applied on local pump controllers and is recently also developed for data cloud platforms. This simplifies implementation and enables the use of enhanced control strategies, where elements such as leak detection and water quality management can be included. Cloud-based control systems allow for the introduction of new business models e.g., performance-based contracts, where savings generated by the pressure management solution finance the entire project.

Contributors: Grundfos, Essbio-Nuevosur Waterworks Company