Global IT major IBM will work with the Bangalore Water Supply and
Sewerage Board (BWSSB) for effective water management in the city.
The
company will share its technology, IBM Intelligent Operations for
Water (IOW), with BWSSB and implement a pilot project free of cost. The
project will help in minimising unaccounted for water (UFW) by
preventing leakages through real-time monitoring of water flow.
BWSSB
additional chief engineer Narayana said, “IBM has entered into an
agreement to implement a pilot project to showcase IOW, which is used in
some smart cities across the globe. Besides helping BWSSB to monitor
the flow of water, IOW will facilitate the regulation of water as
required, which in turn helps in equitable distribution of water in
different areas.”
Around 45 per cent of the water supplied by the
BWSSB goes unaccounted and the BWSSB loses over `20 crore every month on
account of this. Narayana said IBM has agreed to install the devices
and software required to monitor the water flow in 284 of 784 bulk flow
meters in the city and the project is likely to take off in another two
months. After evaluating the benefits of implementing IOW, BWSSB will
consider implementing it in other areas of the city.
How it Works
Global
system for mobile communication (GSM) transmitters would be fitted to
the ultrasonic bulk flow meters installed by the BWSSB in strategic
locations in the city. Company officials explained that readings from
the bulk flow meters would be relayed by the GSM transmitters to a
mobile phone tower installed at one of the BWSSB offices. The GSM modem
installed in the BWSSB office will receive the real-time data through
the mobile phone tower and transmit it to a centralised server, which is
connected to different offices monitoring the data. The water
information hub that is part of IOW will also provide predictive and
historical analysis, which will help track leakages and other types of
transmission and distribution losses.
