Integrated Solution for a Smart Water Network

Acqua Novara.VCO is a water company organized into 14 operational headquarters managing the integrated water service in 139 municipalities of the provinces of Novara and VCO (Verbano-Cusio-Ossola), which correspond to an area of 3,600 km² and a population of 450 thousand inhabitants (700 thousand in summer) for 38 million m³ a year. Only 1% of water consumption is intended for households, 50% for agriculture and 49% for industrial uses and energy production. The water supply network consists of more than 4,000 km of pipes, 833 sources, 191 treatment plants, 568 tanks and 97 pumping stations. The needs of Acqua Novara.VCO were the optimization of energy consumption, the reduction of network losses, the centralization in a single control room of the various plants built over the years with different technologies, and the quality and reliability of the data. In order to meet these needs, Schneider Electric collaborated with Acqua Novara.VCO, providing technical support and implementing an integrated solution that includes: ClearSCADA, a centralized supervision and remote-control system; RTU SCADAPACK for integration and concentration with DNP3/IEC104/Modbus protocols; PLC for the integration of purification systems; Telemecanique sensors for remote access control; Aquis for modeling and analysis of hydraulic networks; and WMS for leakage management and integration with ERP, GIS and billing systems. The realization of this complete Smart Water System allowed for the control of leakages in districts and distribution networks and the creation of automatic water reports and business intelligence, and will also reduce energy consumption by 20% and recover 6 million m³/year of water.