Smart Water Utilities

Today there is increasing pressure on the water infrastructure and although unsustainable water extraction and wastewater handling can continue for a while, at some point water needs to be managed in a way that is sustainable in the long-term. We need to handle water utilities “smarter”. New and effective tools and technologies are becoming available at an affordable cost and these technologies are steadily changing water infrastructure options. The quality and robustness of sensors are increasing rapidly and their reliability makes the automatic handling of critical processes viable. Online and real-time control means safer and more effective operation. The combination of better sensors and new water treatment technologies is a strong enabler for decentralised and diversified water treatment. Plants can be run with a minimum of personnel attendance. In the future, thousands of sensors in the water utility cycle will handle all the complexity in an effective way. Smart Water Utilities: Complexity Made Simple provides a framework for Smart Water Utilities based on an M-A-D (Measurement-Analysis-Decision). This enables the organisation and implementation of “Smart” in a water utility by providing an overview of supporting technologies and methods. The book presents an introduction to methods and tools, providing a perspective of what can and could be achieved. It provides a toolbox for all water challenges and is essential reading for the Water Utility Manager, Engineer and Director and for Consultants, Designers and Researchers

Benchmarking a sustainable energy engineering undergraduate degree against curriculum frameworks and pedagogy standards from industry and academia

There is an urgent need for educational institutions to produce graduates with appropriate skills to meet the growing global demand for professionals in the sustainable energy industry. For universities to stay at the forefront of meeting this global demand from industry, universities need to ensure their curricula and pedagogies stay relevant. The use of benchmarking is a key means of achieving this and ensuring any gap between university curricula and the practical needs of industry is minimized. The aim of this paper is to present an approach to benchmarking a sustainable energy engineering undergraduate degree with respect to curriculum frameworks recommended by industry and pedagogy standards required and recommended by academia and education research. The method uses the Murdoch University renewable energy engineering degree major as a case study. The results show that the learning outcomes of the renewable energy engineering units, in general, align well with the recommended learning outcomes for a complete sustainable energy degree, as prescribed by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. In addition, assessment task and marking criteria for the capstone unit of the major were at Australian Universities’ standard. A similar approach to benchmarking can be adopted by developers of new or existing sustainable energy engineering degrees in order to align with curriculum frameworks and pedagogy standards required by industry and academic peers

Sewage Treatment Plants

Sewage Treatment Plants: Economic Evaluation of Innovative Technologies for Energy Efficiency aims to show how cost saving can be achieved in sewage treatment plants through implementation of novel, energy efficient technologies or modification of the conventional, energy demanding treatment facilities towards the concept of energy streamlining. The book brings together knowledge from Engineering, Economics, Utility Management and Practice and helps to provide a better understanding of the real economic value with methodologies and practices about innovative energy technologies and policies in sewage treatment plants

Smart Water Utilities

Today there is increasing pressure on the water infrastructure and although unsustainable water extraction and wastewater handling can continue for a while, at some point water needs to be managed in a way that is sustainable in the long-term. We need to handle water utilities “smarter”. New and effective tools and technologies are becoming available at an affordable cost and these technologies are steadily changing water infrastructure options. The quality and robustness of sensors are increasing rapidly and their reliability makes the automatic handling of critical processes viable. Online and real-time control means safer and more effective operation. The combination of better sensors and new water treatment technologies is a strong enabler for decentralised and diversified water treatment. Plants can be run with a minimum of personnel attendance. In the future, thousands of sensors in the water utility cycle will handle all the complexity in an effective way. Smart Water Utilities: Complexity Made Simple provides a framework for Smart Water Utilities based on an M-A-D (Measurement-Analysis-Decision). This enables the organisation and implementation of “Smart” in a water utility by providing an overview of supporting technologies and methods. The book presents an introduction to methods and tools, providing a perspective of what can and could be achieved. It provides a toolbox for all water challenges and is essential reading for the Water Utility Manager, Engineer and Director and for Consultants, Designers and Researchers

A Strategic Digital Transformation for the Water Industry

This book is a compilation of the knowledge shared and generated so far in the IWA Digital Water Programme. It is an insightful collection of white papers covering best practices, linking academic and industrial studies/insights with applications to give real-world examples of digital transformation. These White Papers are designed to help utilities, water professionals and all those interested in water management and stewardship issues to better understand the opportunities of digital technologies. This book covers a plethora of topics including: Instrumentation and data generation Artificial intelligence and digital twins The digital transformation and public health Mapping the digital transformation journey into the future With these topics, the aim is to present an all-encompassing reference for practitioners to use in their day-to-day activities. Through the Digital Water Programme, the IWA leverages its worldwide member expertise to guide a new generation of water and wastewater utilities on their digital journey towards the uptake of digital technologies and their integration into water services