Smart City Water

As managing urban water supplies has become increasingly complex, municipalities are turning to smart city water initiatives to aid with conserving resources, protecting supply, detecting leaks and developing prediction models for future water demand and consumption.

Smart city water programs use sensor technology, networking, data analytics and automation to transform the way cities manage water distribution systems and aging water infrastructure. Smart water sensors provide real-time visibility into water flow data, including information about pressure, distribution, temperature and quality, as well as the possibility of flooding.

Sensors also include smart water metering technology. Smart meters installed in homes and businesses provide constant data about consumption, helping cities to more accurately understand and plan for demand and to develop conservation programs for commercial buildings and private homes. Smart metering also enables more accurate billing, as meters are read far more frequently than traditional meters which are checked monthly or bimonthly.

The enormous volumes of data collected from smart city water systems is transmitted via a high-performance network to a data analytics platform that aggregates and analyzes it, turning raw data into actionable intelligence that smart city water officials can use to improve management of existing resources and to develop models and scenarios for future usage.

The advantages of a smart city water initiative

With a smart water management plan in place, municipalities can:

• Prevent water shortages by better forecasting demand, planning for growth, alleviating stress on distribution networks and proactively maintaining assets to ensure an uninterrupted supply of clean water.
• Identify and stop water leaks and potential water theft that contribute to water shortages.
• Improve water quality by monitoring things such as bacteria and pathogen levels, providing early detection of potential quality problems.
• Reduce costs by eliminating leaks, optimizing pumping operations to reduce energy and using the remote read capabilities of smart meters to minimize overhead expenses.
• Increase public safety by monitoring flooding potential and by repairing issues in water infrastructure before they cause harm.

The elements of smart city water infrastructure

To build an effective smart water grid, cities require a network infrastructure that can manage the massive amount of data produced by smart city water technology. With a fiber network that already stretches 840,000 miles, Spectrum Enterprise is a trusted partner for smart city initiatives in many communities. A $25 billion investment in additional capacity by 2021 will further enable Spectrum to deliver the foundation of connectivity that smart city water projects and other smart technologies require.

To enable smart city water technology to quickly and reliably transmit data, Spectrum offers:

• A two-way, fully interactive digital network with symmetrical connection speeds up to 100 Gbps for local governments and enterprises.
• Cellular connectivity through Spectrum Mobile, one of the nation’s largest LTE cellular networks.
• Thousands of WiFi hotspots that will soon incorporate technology to offer wireless connection speeds up to 1 Gbps.
• Gigabit Internet connectivity for homes and businesses.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.