Influx of stormwater and infiltration of groundwater into wastewater techniques is a continuing operational problem for managers. Now, Håbo municipality in Sweden is tackling the problem head-on with an progressive digital strategy, says Adam Wooden, chief product officer at water analytics firm Infotiles.
Water utility managers in Håbo, a small municipality north-west of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, started conversations with InfoTiles in 2023, after they suspected infiltration of wastewater and influx of groundwater into wastewater networks (I&I) was including large volumes requiring transport and therapy.
Managers wished to research I&I additional and wanted tangible proof to exhibit the necessity for funding however had been going through budgetary and operational constraints. Utilizing management system knowledge along with climate knowledge and evaluation of wastewater networks utilizing in situ sensors, the collaboration sought to find out when and the place I&I used to be occurring and determine on the suitable response.
Gathering proof
Influx is stormwater that flows into wastewater pipes by faults corresponding to holes, cracks, joint failures, and damaged connections. Infiltration happens when groundwater enters the wastewater community by faults in pipes, compounding the move.
Magne Eide, chief working officer at Infotiles, mentioned, “InfoTiles got down to present Håbo municipality what the price of not sustaining its wastewater community to stop I&I’d be, versus investing cash now. Water managers wished to know what the upkeep alternatives had been, so they may create a wider enterprise case to be put ahead for funding through the 2025 price range course of.”
Servicing a inhabitants of round 18,700, Håbo’s water utility treats about 4 million m3 of wastewater per yr. InfoTiles found that 18% of that water is incurred by I&I, resulting in SEK13 million (roughly €1.3 million) of additional working prices yearly equal to nearly SEK700 per inhabitant (roughly €61).
Vitality use is a major a part of the extra therapy and transportation prices concerned in processing I&I, which suggests decreasing power consumption represents a possible saving on operational expenditure once I&I is remedied. Further power consumption additionally represents the next carbon footprint, so precisely figuring out and stopping I&I can assist utilities meet carbon commitments, together with web zero targets.
Compounded move
For a lot of utilities and municipalities, I&I can account for a mean of 20-50% of the annual move in sewers, however throughout snow soften and moist autumns, this determine is far increased.
It’s extensively acknowledged that almost all I&I is attributable to ageing infrastructure that requires upkeep or alternative, however some can also be attributable to inaccurate connections corresponding to constructing drainage and rooftops linked to the flawed pipes. When this water penetrates the wastewater community, it could actually overload the system, which is a selected danger during times of heavy rain or storm occasions.
Within the worst instances, it could actually result in the discharge of untreated wastewater into the surroundings and air pollution of rivers and seas. It additionally will increase the danger of cross-contamination of consuming water, the place polluted water from the surroundings enters by faults in clear water pipes.
Will increase within the frequency and depth of rainfall on account of a altering local weather is exacerbating the issue, making wastewater networks ever extra susceptible to failure and placing the surroundings at higher danger. If left untreated, pipeline integrity will solely deteriorate over time, rising the amount of ingress water to be handled.
For Håbo municipality, the general objective of the collaboration with InfoTiles is to achieve a greater understanding of the causes of influx and infiltration into sewerage networks and to know the choices for remediation and impression discount. The municipality hopes it’s going to assist policymakers acquire a deeper understanding of decision-making round I&I and present how collaboration and digital options can be utilized as a catalyst for constructive change.
Correct pin-pointing
Influx and infiltration compounds wastewater working prices as extra water have to be pumped, handled and discharged.
The InfoTiles platform makes use of SCADA management system knowledge along with knowledge from the Swedish Meteorological Institute to analyse historic rainfall and the dry and moist climate behaviour of wastewater networks. For instance, how and when water hits the community and the way it impacts pump heights.
Sensor gadgets positioned at essential factors within the community can accumulate knowledge corresponding to precipitation, problematic thresholds of rain quantity, or seasonally diverse sensitivities. That feeds right into a central dashboard and these detailed measurements can then be analysed by water managers.
Through the use of info from pump stations in real-time, the mannequin calculates the overall and extreme quantity transported, permitting managers to see not solely weather-related developments but additionally the ensuing prices each by way of therapy and energy expenditure.
As soon as drawback areas have been recognized, the search space might be narrowed down utilizing compact internet-of-things (IoT) gadgets throughout the identical platform. Some pump stations have a number of inputs or lengthy upstream pipeline networks. By selectively measuring totally different branches, it’s attainable to establish precisely the place the water inflows and infiltrates or exclude areas that aren’t problematic.
Optimistic proof
Håbo operates 38 pumping stations, in a community the place a number of smaller pumping stations feed bigger stations earlier than the wastewater is finally transported to therapy.
InfoTiles and Håbo municipality decided that the pumps closest to the therapy stations had been receiving the biggest web quantity of water, which means that the biggest inflow was occurring within the components of the community instantly regarding the biggest pumps.
With this info, managers from Håbo went looking for harm within the recognized areas and had been in a position to shortly verify the findings of the evaluation. Important breaches of the pipe had been discovered upon visible inspection. In a single location, drained floor water from close by farmlands was penetrating wastewater pipes at excessive strain, inflicting massive and steady volumes of I&I.
Sara Frid, water and wastewater strategist, Håbo Municipality, mentioned, “The brand new perception into ingress water, corresponding to volumes, seemingly sources, and the ensuing prices actually sparked an curiosity amongst our operators to go on the hunt for it.
“Throughout the first couple of weeks, we had discovered damages to our wastewater pipelines that we might restore to scale back volumes and save therapy prices.”
Now, water managers cannot solely use knowledge to establish the areas with the best want of upkeep and repairs but additionally see the outcomes of their work in decreased volumes of influx and infiltration.
Frequently decreasing the overall volumes of I&I stays a excessive focus for Håbo municipality.
With the InfoTiles answer, they’ve been in a position to show that investments in wastewater upkeep should not solely a difficulty of environmental danger and value, however actually, the discount in volumes will finally result in decreased therapy prices in the long run.
