Water analytics and Intelligent Sensing for Demand Optimised Management (WISDOM)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Information and Communication Technologies
Destination: ICT for a low carbon economy
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: France,Italy,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Spain,Italy,Italy
Call:  (FP7-ICT-2013-11, 2013)
Start date: 2014-02-01
End date: 2017-01-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4403405.0
EU funding (EUR): 2952964.0
Participants: 11
Project status: CLOSED

Growing water demand caused by climate change, urbanization and population growth requires new business and technology platforms to manage the increased level of diversity and complexity of urban water resources management. The increasing variability of both supply and consumption will also require more sophisticated and optimized decision making. To achieve a step change in water and energy savings we propose to apply and test an intelligent ICT system for "real time abstraction & discharge monitoring". This will create an open, scalable, marketable and user-friendly system to optimise water resource management and replace the current licensing system. An innovative "just-in time" ability will be applied to create substantial water savings, whilst also enhancing delivery on EU Water Framework Directive obligations. The WISDOM approach will combine different innovative technologies (including smart ICT components and decision support system) to integrate water distribution, real time sensor monitoring and high power computing networks to (a) improve household, business and societal awareness, (b) induce changes in consumer behaviour, (c) enable the introduction of innovative resource and demand management schemes, (d) pave the way to adaptive pricing incentives, and (e) develop and demonstrate widely applicable concepts for energy recovery from water use, enhancing the water-energy nexus. The WISDOM project strategy fundamentally relies on a comprehensive R&D and demonstration approach. The proposed integrated concept will be first modelled and simulated for different typologies of buildings and water distribution network, then tested at an intermediate level in a full-scale experimental facility in France (AQUASIM) before being finally installed, monitored and evaluated in two pilot projects (including residential and non residential buildings) in the UK (Cardiff - Wales) and Italy (La Spezia). These demonstrators will be used to assess the societal, environmental and economic benefits of the new integrated concept and also to validate models and technologies in order for the concept to be easily replicable throughout all countries and differing European areas. The major resultant impact from WISDOM will be (a) increased user awareness and modified behaviours concerning the use of water, (b) quantifiable and significant reduction of water consumption, (c) peak-period reduction of water and energy distribution loads, (d) improved resource efficiency and business operations of water utilities due to ICT, and (e) contribute to the improvement of the environmental performance of buildings. In addition, WISDOM will promote the development of a complete value chain covering all stakeholders in the water usage cycle including the establishment of strategic partnerships between ICT equipment providers, software companies and water authorities to pave the way to a Europe wide, and beyond, exploitation of the WISDOM technology.

Keywords: water analytics,demand processing,user awareness,behavioural change,flexible pricing management,predictive ict platform