How can technology promote water consumption in smart city?

We are in the era of smart cities due to hyper urbanization and globalization as people have migrated from villages to cities. In addition, people have been travelling from one country to another for business, vacation, religious tourism, medical tourism, etc.

That means the city today is not just the inhabitants and also the tourists and migrants. Hence, the consumption of power, gas, and water in a city has increased exponentially, creating scarcity.

Also, in the fourth industrial revolution, due to IPV6, sensors, microchips, embedded software, internet, and communication technologies have become intelligent and are able to communicate and work with people and other things in real-time.

As a result, hyper-connected smart cities have emerged. Industries, commercial buildings, hospitals, hotels, houses, schools, and vertical farms in the cities require power, gas, and water for their day-to-day operations.

In smart cities, every house gets connected to the internet and computer, IPTV and other intelligent devices that consume a lot of power. Blockchain technologies consume huge electricity today, and cloud data centres may consume around 25% of the global electricity in the coming years.

Gas has been consumed in cities to generate electricity, for home heating, transportation, Products (detergents etc.). Natural gas consumption is going up due to its less impact on the environment.

Water is a vital resource and is being consumed in households, industries, and agriculture. It is expected that more than a billion people will live with absolute water scarcity in the coming years.

Hence, responsible consumption of Power, Gas and Water is essential without which, it creates massive scarcity for the next generations. It requires enormous mindset change, attitude and a culture that must be promoted in schools, households, industries, government, and society.  This is a huge task and takes considerable time.

However, there is a solution with which we could use digital technologies like IPV6, sensors, actuators, IoT, data processing, analytics, cloud, edge, GPS, AI, communication networks, mobile, and Cyber Security to measure, monitor, control and regulate the usage of power, gas, water resources, and maintain the infrastructure effectively.

For example, Google has been using Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence to reduce its energy consumption in data centers by 30%. Every 5 minutes cloud-based AI takes data of the cooling system from thousands of sensors and feeds into deep neural networks which predict different combination of potential actions, that will be verified and implemented to effectively manage the energy consumption.

While the distribution, measurement and controlling infrastructure varies for power, gas, and water resources, the following are essential areas in which technologies play a crucial role in responsible consumption in smart cities.

These technologies help in identifying and regulating overly excessive usage and waste points, identifying correct usage patterns, and making prediction for future consumption.

For responsive consumption of power, gas and water, digital technologies can used effectively in the following areas:

Digitalize and Measure

A variety of sensors, smart meters, Automated Meter Reading (AMR), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Meter Data Management (MDM) are available today to collect the data from the power, gas and water infrastructure and consumption locations (households, industry, commercial buildings etc.) in real-time. Identifying enough data points and digitalizing by installing corresponding sensors and smart meters is essential to collate the data regularly. In brownfield cities it is important to digitalize the traditional infrastructure.

Diagnose and Act

Leveraging cloud, edge computing, data processing and GPS technologies analyse the measured data to find various trends like which region, at what time in a city the per capita consumption, leakage and wastage are high? Then, using multiple data visualization techniques, identify the causes of why the consumption, wastage and leakages are high? This helps in taking the right decisions at the right time to optimize consumption.

Predict and Prevent

The beauty of digital technologies is to predict the future and prescribe actionable recommendations. For example, artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning algorithms are used based on the various data points collected and multiple predictive models.

herefore, it predicts different scenarios well in advance, like high consumption, potential leakage, and wastage, etc. Not only that, but these technologies also provide recommendations to reduce consumption, eliminate wastage and regulate the supply. Digital Twin technologies are used today in cities for effective management of power, gas and water resources.

It is essential to educate and empower consumers to embrace responsible power, gas, and water consumption. Mobile apps and chatbots with communication technologies are available today to provide real-time consumption patterns and enable consumers to automatically regulate power, gas, and water from any remote location.

Motion sensors are being used to auto switch off the lights. Touch sensors enable to start and stop the flow of water from pipes. Auto stoppage of machines, equipment, air conditioners when the work is done or as per the timer.

While technologies play a crucial role in responsible consumption, it is essential to secure the digital infrastructure to avoid hacking of intelligent devices and malfunctioning.

Therefore, city administration must create a digitalization strategy, establish digital operating models, policies, enhance digital skills of citizen administrators and governance, and collaborate with suppliers and consumers to promote responsible consumption.

This article has been written by V. Srinivasa Rao, Chairman, Open Digital Innovation, IET Future Tech Panel, India