Applications

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At a glance

• Coverage: 315 km² urban water-supply area
• Scale: 355 data-collection sites; >1,200 km of mains monitored in real time
• Distinction: First in China, second worldwide to deploy large-scale intelligent management of an urban water network
• Go-live: Late 2021 (fully operational)

Overview

Shanghai Lingang built a city-scale, smart water-network management system that unifies high-frequency monitoring, anomaly detection, localization, and classification. With 355 sites streaming data across a 315 km² service area, the platform provides continuous visibility and fast, actionable insights for operations and planning.

Objectives

• Detect pressure transients (water hammer) and abnormal usage quickly and reliably
• Localize suspected bursts and transient sources precisely—beyond “which sensor tripped”
• Classify events (e.g., burst vs. valve operation) to guide response
• Optimize regional pressures to improve safety, efficiency, and sustainability

Solution

• Real-time monitoring: High-frequency telemetry across 355 sites for continuous situational awareness.
• Anomaly detection: Robust algorithms surface true events under noisy, complex conditions.
• Localization: Multi-sensor coordination narrows the source location (≈50 m accuracy) for faster field response.
• Classification: Event signatures (e.g., bursts, valve operations) are identified to prioritize actions.
• Hydraulic optimization: DMA (District Metered Area) flow data feeds a real-time hydraulic model to enable scientific, dynamic pressure adjustments.

Results

Economic benefits

1. Actionable event volume: Within the monitored area, the system detects ~130–160 water-hammer events/day and flags ~10–30 abnormal-usage incidents/day (e.g., hydrant draws).
2. Faster response: Real-time monitoring with accurate localization of water-hammer and suspected pipe-burst events shortens time-to-intervention.
3. Hotspot intelligence: Identification and statistical analysis of high-incidence zones guide proactive maintenance.
4. Operational efficiency: A real-time hydraulic model—integrating DMA flows—supports dynamic pressure adjustments, improving network safety while reducing energy use and emissions.

Societal benefits

1. City-scale visibility: Real-time oversight of >1,200 km of mains across the 315 km² Lingang Area.
2. Resilience: Improved detection and localization of pressure anomalies at city scale; optimization of the high-frequency pressure smart-hub.
3. Risk reduction: Big-data analytics support pipe-life assessment and disaster prevention (including burst mitigation), enhancing reliability.
4. Data-driven governance: Provides a trusted data foundation for the intelligent management of the urban water-supply network.

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