Open-Source Application for Water Supply System Management: Implementation in a Water Transmission System in Southern Spain

Sustainable water use has become a critical issue for the future of the planet in face of highly probable climate change. The drinking water supply sector has made significant progress over the last 20 years, although improvements in the management of urban hydraulic infrastructures are still required. The proposed system, Integrated Tool for Water Supply Systems Management (ITWSM), built on three interconnected modules (QGIS database, Epanet hydraulic model, and Google My Maps app), was developed on open-source software. The core of ITWSM allows analyzing the behavior of water supply systems under several operation/failure scenarios. It facilitates decision making supported by the mobile application ITWSM-app. Information flows easily through the different decision levels involved in the management process, keeping updated the georeferenced database after system changes. ITWSM has been implemented in a real public water supply company and applied to manage breakdown repairs in water transmission systems. The use of the proposed methodology reduces the average cost of failure repair by 13.6%, mainly due to the optimal planning of the resources involved

New memory-based hybrid model for middle-term water demand forecasting in irrigated areas

The energy demand and their associated costs in pressurized irrigation networks together with water scarcity are currently causing serious challenges for irrigation district’s (ID) managers. Additionally, most of the new water distribution networks in IDs have been designed to be operated on-demand complexing ID managers the daily decision-making process. The knowledge of the water demand several days in advance would facilitate the management of the system and would help to optimize the water use and energy costs. For an efficient management and optimization of the water-energy nexus in IDs, longer term forecasting models are needed. In this work, a new hybrid model (called LSTMHybrid) combining Fuzzy Logic (FL), Genetic Algorithm (GA), LSTM encoder-decoder and dense or full connected neural networks (DNN) for the one-week forecasting of irrigation water demand at ID scale has been developed. LSTMHybrid was developed in Python and applied to a real ID. The optimal input variables for LSTMHydrid were mean temperature (°C), reference evapotranspiration (mm), solar radiation (MJ m−2) and irrigation water demand of the ID (m3) from 1 to 7 days prior to the first day of prediction. The optimal LSTMHybrid model selected consisted of 50 LSTM cells in the encoder submodel, 409 LSTM cells in the decoder submodel and three hidden layers in the DNN submodel with 31, 96 and 128 neurons in each hidden layer, respectively. Thus, LSTMHybrid had a total of 1.5 million parameters, obtaining a representativeness higher than 94 % and an accuracy around of 20 %

The paradox of irrigation scheme modernization: more efficient water use linked to higher energy demand

In recent years, many modernization processes have been undertaken in irrigation districts with the main objective to improve water use efficiency. In southern Spain, many irrigation districts have either been modernized or are currently being improved. However, as part of the modernization process some unexpected side effects have been observed. This paper analyzes the relative advantages and limitations of modernization based on field data collected in a typical Andalusian irrigation district. Although the amount of water diverted for irrigation to farms has been considerably reduced, consumptive use has increased, mainly due to a change in crop rotations. The costs for operation and system maintenance have dramatically risen (400%) as the energy for pumping pressurized systems is much higher now compared to gravity fed systems used previously. Then a regional analysis in ten Southern Spain irrigation districts of the relationship between energy requirements and irrigation water applied has been carried out. Results show that to apply an average depth of 2590 m3 ha, the energy required was estimated to be 1000 kWh ha�1. A new approach is needed that involves efficient management of both water and energy resources in these modernized systems. Finally, some energy saving options are identified and discussed

Literature review on rebound effect of water saving measures and analysis of a Spanish case study

The hypothesis of a rebound effect as a consequence of water saving investments is taken analogically from the Jevons paradox models in energy economics. The European Commission (EC) alert about the consequences in water stressed regions that are investing heavily in modernization of irrigation networks and systems. This paper reviews the literature, linking water savings with water diversion and water depletion, both from theoretical models and empirical evidence from the published research. In order to increase knowledge of this phenomenon, a new empirical case study is presented based on a survey of 36,000 ha of recently modernized irrigated areas in the Guadalquivir basin (southern Spain). The results of the case study illustrates the conditions that may avoid rebound effect, although the results of the available empirical evidence and the published theoretical research are diverse and lead to contradictory results. Further research is therefore needed to determine the causes and solutions of water saving investment impacts and the possible speculative rebound effect

Incorporación de predicciones climáticas y medidas de sensores de humedad de suelo en el riego de precisión. Póster

La agricultura es el principal usuario de los recursos hídricos, aproximadamente el 70% de las extracciones totales de agua corresponden al sector agrícola. En Andalucía se prevé un escenario especialmente desfavorable como consecuencia del cambio climático, por lo que es imprescindible implementar sistemas de riego de precisión que mediante el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs) y los datos recogidos por los sensores instalados en campo permitan optimizar los escasos recursos hídricos disponibles. Sin embargo, los datos recogidos por dichos sensores se emplean en el control y la vigilancia, para conocer la respuesta del cultivo al riego aplicado y su análisis y tratamiento se realiza de forma externa e independiente para cada tipo de sensor por lo que aún no se ha extraído todo el potencial de esta tecnología.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto HUELLA DEL AGUA EN EL SECTOR ECOLÓGICO ANDALUZ, cofinanciado por la Junta de Andalucía y la Unión Europea a través del FEADE

Efectos de la modernización de regadíos en consumo de agua, energía y coste

En: XIII Congreso de Comunidades de Regantes, Huelva, 14-15 Mayo 201

REUTIVAR: Model for Precision Fertigation Scheduling for Olive Orchards Using Reclaimed Water

Olive orchard is the most representative and iconic crop in Andalusia (Southern Spain). It is also considered one of the major economic activities of this region. However, due to its extensive growing area, olive orchard is also the most water-demanding crop in the Guadalquivir River Basin. In addition, its fertilization is commonly imprecise, which causes over-fertilization, especially nitrogen. This leads to pollution problems in both soil and water, threating the environment and the system sustainability. This concern is further exacerbated by the use of reclaimed water to irrigate since water is already a nutrient carrier. In this work, a model which determines the real-time irrigation and fertilization scheduling for olive orchard, applying treated wastewater, has been developed. The precision fertigation model considers weather information, both historical and forecast data, soil characteristics, hydraulic characteristics of the system, water allocation, tree nutrient status, and irrigation water quality. As a result, daily information about irrigation time and fertilizer quantity, considering the most susceptible crop stage, is provided. The proposed model showed that by using treated wastewater, additional fertilization was not required, leading to significant environmental benefits but also benefits in the total farm financial costs

Spatio-temporal analysis of nitrogen variations in an irrigation distribution network using reclaimed water for irrigating olive trees

Fertigation management of olive grove is highly complex, especially when reclaimed water is used for irrigation. Nitrogen (N) is the main nutrient component of olive trees which, traditionally, has led to an excessive use in fertilization programs. This problem can be exacerbated if reclaimed water is used since it already contains N. For this reason, water quality must be considered in the fertilization plan. Both total content and N form arriving to the trees have implications in olive tree nutrient requirements as well as the environment. If reclaimed water particularities and the length of the pipes of water distribution networks are considered, the form and total concentration of N can change over space and time. In this work, both spatial and temporal analysis of the N content and form in a water distribution network using reclaimed water for irrigating olive trees was performed. This study proved that changes in N were evident both over time and across the irrigation water distribution network. Seasonally, N content was reduced during the summer period. Spatially, a clear nitrification occurred from the pumping station to the farms. These variations demonstrate the importance of a continuous water quality control in order to adjust the fertilization plan according to the N content in water

Reducing the energy demand in irrigation water supply systems. Experiences from southern Europe

In recent years, many modernization processes have been undertaken in irrigation districts with a view to improving water use efficiency. In southern Spain, many irrigation districts have either been modernized or are currently being upgraded. However, as part of the modernization process some unexpected side effects have been observed. This paper analyzes the relative advantages and limitations of modernization based on field data collected in a typical Andalusian irrigation district. Although the amount of water diverted for irrigation to farms has been considerably reduced, consumptive use has increased. The costs for operation and system maintenance have dramatically risen (400%), as the energy for pumping water is much higher now compared to the gravity fed systems used previously. Then a regional analysis of the relationship between energy requirements and irrigation water applied in ten irrigation districts, in Southern Spain, has been carried out. Results show that 1000 kWh ha–1 is the energy required to apply an average depth of 2590 m3 ha-1. Finally, energy saving options are identified and discussed