IBM Industry Solutions
Solution Brief
Highlights
• Provide comprehensive visibility and
situational awareness that spans water
and wastewater operations to improve
decision-making, enhance efficiency
and reduce risk
• Mitigate non-revenue water through
pressure optimization and pipe failure
prediction
• Deliver an integration platform for
addressing challenges in the
“water-energy nexus”
• Turn data from smart meters into
opportunities for recapturing revenue
and detecting fraud
• Harness insights from big data for better
irrigation and flood management
• Mitigate sewer overflows and gain more
value from smart devices
Infrastructure Services
IBM Intelligent Water
Delivering insights from data to better manage
water infrastructure, assets and operations
Overview
Around the globe, water is used for much more than just drinking.
Water is essential for agriculture and for cooling and cleaning industrial
equipment. It is incorporated into a wide range of products, and vast
amounts of it are needed to irrigate crops, parks and golf courses.
And, as growing consumer and industry demand strains water supplies,
society must manage the consumption and distribution of this precious
and finite resource with greater efficiency.
As populations rise and urbanization trends continue, water utilities
are finding it increasingly difficult to meet growing demand for
water resources. Utilities are also challenged by an aging and failing
infrastructure. Budgets are limited, and utility providers run the risk
of compromising service quality. Overall water consumption has grown
two times faster than the global population over the last century.1
Domestic and industrial water consumption quadrupled from 1950
to 1995, and it is expected to grow another 50 percent by 2025 as
populations continue to increase.2
The World Bank estimates that more than USD14 billion worth of
potable water is lost every year because of leaks, theft and unbilled
usage — what is known in the industry as non-revenue water (NRW).
A reduction of half the current levels of losses in developing countries,
where relative losses are highest, could generate an estimated USD2.9
billion in cash and serve an additional 90 million people.3
IBM can help governments, utilities, businesses and organizations address
water issues, such as loss, leaks and aging infrastructure. IBM Intelligent
Water solutions are designed to enhance infrastructure visibility to deliver
an advanced level of situational awareness, event and incident management,
informed decision-making and stakeholder collaboration.
IBM Industry Solutions
Solution Brief
The challenges of aging water infrastructure
The average age of water mains in the US and Canada is
47 years old. Of all water mains, 47 percent are between 20
and 50 years old, and 22 percent are more than 50 years old.
Based on a detailed survey, the average expected life of pipe
being put in the ground today is 79 years. Non-corrosive
materials such as PVC have an estimated life of more than 110
years; however, installation practices affect the actual life that
can be achieved. Aging pipes are often corroded and subject
to leaks and breaks that increase water loss. In addition,
because average supply pressure is 77 psi with pressure
fluctuations less than 20 psi, pressure events can contribute
to water main breaks for pipes that have internal corrosion
(tuberculation) or have areas that are weakened by corrosion.
Pressure is an important component of pipe design and
material selection. A well-controlled system that is operated
below design limits can lead to extended pipe life.4
2
Infrastructure Services
Providing a comprehensive water
view from rain to drain
Water utilities and industrial water users manage many
different water infrastructure components, such as supervisory
control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, sensors and
meters. It is often hard to establish a single cohesive view of
operations. When data is available, it can be in multiple
formats and scales. For example, data can come from
geographic information systems (GIS), enterprise asset
management (EAM) systems (such as IBM Maximo® Asset
Management solutions), and enterprise resource planning
(ERP) systems (such as customer information and billing).
The data can also be scattered among devices and stakeholders.
Furthermore, the increasing amount of information available
from external sources, such as weather and dam and river
levels, makes comprehensive correlation vital. Integrating
disconnected and isolated data and visualizing it holistically
can provide rich insights that can improve effective decision-
making (Figure 1).
IBM Industry Solutions Infrastructure Services
Solution Brief

The IBM Intelligent Water solutions can help organizations:

• Deploy a scalable, flexible platform that is based on industry

standards and is designed to provide enhanced situational
awareness of operations and access to a range of advanced
applications.
• Integrate data from nearly any kind of data source to view
relationships, patterns and correlations that were hitherto
hidden and to help bridge the gap between the physical
world of control systems and the realm of business decisions.
• View the contextual relationship between systems, such as
pipes, that are connected to a particular pump, which
enables users to foresee the potential impacts of events on
multiple systems.
• Run and monitor standard operating procedures (SOPs)
from the operations dashboard, which can enable rapid and
proactive response to potentially disruptive events. SOPs also
help capture and document vital contextual and experiential
information from an aging and retiring workforce.
• Add and remove systems and devices without being
Figure 1: Gaining geospatial-based and asset-based insight to inform better
concerned about compatibility.
decision making
• Set up business rules that can provide alerts when
certain conditions are true (for example, urgently address
a potential sewer blockage as a storm approaches).
• Identify correlations and patterns by comparing data in
current and historical reports.

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IBM Industry Solutions
Solution Brief
Addressing water loss and infrastructure
issues
Issues with water loss and infrastructure are almost universal.
Utilities lose 10 - 60 percent of the water they pump to
consumers.5 And, in the UK, leaks result in yearly losses of
3.4 billion liters of water.6 The average leak rate in Latin
American cities is 35 percent and in China, more than 400
cities have reported losses of 20 percent.7 Inadequate water
and sewage treatment facilities put more than half of Brazil’s
cities at risk of water shortages by 2015.8 Such infrastructure
issues affect water quality. Aging water or sewer pipes are
more prone to failures that can contaminate water. They
also contribute to water stress because they are not able to
balance supply and demand, and they can worsen the adverse
effects of flooding.
Enhancing and expanding infrastructure to address these
issues is expensive. An estimated USD1 trillion is needed to
fix aging water infrastructure problems in the US, where, for
example, 5365 dams will have exceeded their design life by
2015.9 South Africa needs SAR700 billion in the next decade
to prevent water demand from outstripping supply by 2025.10
Massive investment on the scale required is not viable for
most countries, either because of tight budgets or because
the construction might not be able to keep pace with growth.
4
Infrastructure Services
Addressing leaks and other water loss issues related to
aging infrastructure requires greater visibility into what is
happening throughout the water network. By using existing
information from a utility’s hydraulic model, SCADA systems,
asset management systems and meter data, IBM’s holistic
water efficiency solution for NRW management can help
reduce the amount of water lost and help address other water
infrastructure issues. Not only does the utility save the value
of water that would have been lost, but also more recaptured
water means less wastewater to treat, pump and store.
The IBM Intelligent Water Efficiency Analytics solution
helps customers:
• Reduce leaks and energy consumption by optimizing the
pressure in their networks.
• Reduce the incidence of disruptive and expensive pipe
bursts by providing advanced analytics to identify the pipes
most at risk.
• Respond proactively to potential network disruptions
through deeper links to asset management systems.
In addition, clients can reduce operational costs, lower their
operational risk profile and recapture revenue.
IBM Industry Solutions
Solution Brief
Providing an integration platform for
hydropower facilities in China
China is on the verge of building smarter cities, and smarter
water or hydropower is one of the key areas of this initiative.
Founded in 1998, Chengdu SimuTech Incorporation (referred
to as SimuTech) is a high-tech certification enterprise in the IT
industry. SimuTech is focused on product lifecycle management
(PLM) but does not have an integration platform for all the
silos in a hydropower facility to interact with each other.
By combining the IBM® Smarter Water® solution and
SimuTech’s industry solutions, SimuTech will provide a
“Smarter Hydropower” system to users. By using IBM
Intelligent Operations for Water, Simu Tech can build a
reliable platform to enhance the value of SimuTech’s
hydropower solution. Intelligent operations at a hydropower
plant can provide a decision support dashboard on several
levels. These levels extend from the planning phase of
hydropower operations to monitoring the state of the
reservoir (water levels, silting and more) and energy
production and even beyond. Such decision support can help
SimuTech determine when and how much water to discharge
from the reservoir. The SimuTech solution is one of several
others at the intersection of the water and energy domains
that are commonly referred to as the “water-energy nexus.”
5
Infrastructure Services
Flood control and management of the
Dutch water system
With 55 percent of the Dutch population living in areas
that are prone to large-scale flooding, the Netherlands has
immense experience with preventing floods and managing
water. Every water-related event in this country is critical and
can affect businesses, agriculture and the daily life of its citizens.
The ongoing cost of managing water, including anticipating
flooding, droughts and low water levels, adds up to EUR7
billion each year. These costs are expected to increase
EUR1 - 2 billion by 2020, unless urgent action is taken.
Digital Delta has initiated a breakthrough innovation
program in collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat (Dutch
Ministry for Water), local Water Authority Delfland, Deltares
Science Institute and the University of Delft. The goal is to
harness insights from big data to transform flood control and
the management of the Dutch water system (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Using big data to transform management of the Dutch
water system
IBM Industry Solutions
Solution Brief
At Digital Delta’s core is an intelligent, cloud-based system
that is built on IBM Intelligent Water software and the
Smarter Water Resource Management solution and includes
consulting expertise. The new management system is expected
to address concerns that range from the quality of drinking
water to the increasing frequency and impact of extreme
weather-related events to the risk of floods and droughts.
With better integrated information, water authorities believe they
can prevent more disasters and environmental degradation, while
reducing the cost of managing water by up to 15 percent.11
Ensuring a cleaner river and avoiding
capital expense
South Bend, the fourth largest city in Indiana, uses the IBM
Intelligent Water software platform to improve its wastewater
management. As a result, citizens and the environment have
been protected by reducing wet weather overflows by 23
percent and virtually eliminating dry weather wastewater
overflows from 27 percent to 1 percent in the first year of
operation. The new system also enabled the city to improve
storage and water conveyance performance while helping it
avoid USD120 million in infrastructure investments and more
than USD600,000 in potential government fines. Further,
city officials are able to implement the Intelligent Water
solution for Combined Sewer Overflow mitigation quickly
and with minimal IT investment costs. The solution is hosted
on the IBM SmartCloud® through a software-as-a-service
(SaaS) model.12
6
Infrastructure Services
Tracking and monitoring water
consumption levels using smart meters
Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces
Department has one of the largest and most diverse park
systems in the US. This department is implementing a
predictive analytics and smart metering project to help
remotely monitor consumption and identify water leaks
throughout the county park system. The department
deployed an IBM Intelligent Water solution that tracks and
monitors water consumption levels by gathering consumption
data from smart meters. Operators are alerted to events and
potential problems by using geospatial maps so they can
further investigate issues with web-based dashboards that
employ drill-down analysis.
This solution is expected to reduce water consumption by 20
percent and generate up to USD1 million in savings per year,
which can be reallocated to park services for residents.13
Selecting a flexible deployment option
IBM Intelligent Water solutions offer multiple deployment
models to provide options for cities of all sizes with varying
levels of IT resources. Cities with robust IT capabilities or
strong interests in “behind-the-firewall” implementation can
deploy this solution in their own data centers. Alternatively,
deploying IBM Intelligent Water on the IBM SmartCloud
can help cities capitalize on the latest technology advances
while controlling costs.
IBM Industry Solutions Infrastructure Services
Solution Brief

Building Smarter Cities

30%
IBM is well-positioned to address your water management
Serving
needs. IBM’s approach to improving city operations is
100,000
based on insights that are drawn from thousands of client
implementations worldwide. By working with inspiring
of the pipes are between leaders to solve difficult challenges, IBM has developed
40 and 80 years old in repeatable, proven practices that can be applied to cities
of all sizes. Those practices are combined with expertise in
water systems that serve
advanced analytics, data integration, cloud deployment
100,000 or more people.
options and IBM Smarter Cities software solutions to truly
transform city operations.

Teaming with industry leaders For more information

IBM Smarter Cities solutions use a variety of data streams
®
To learn more about IBM Intelligent Water, visit: ibm.com/
and services already found in city environments to provide software/industry/intelligent-water.
cross-organization and cross-city capabilities. IBM is teaming
with the providers of those data streams and services to Additional reference material
develop an ecosystem of IBM Business Partners who are
Peter Williams, “Information engineering: An integrated
committed to delivering Smarter Cities solutions with IBM. Such
approach to water system management.” Journal - American
solutions span different capabilities, metering analytics, sensor
data analytics and acoustic leak detection. By combining
Water Works Association, Vol. 105, No. 6, June 2013.
technology and industry expertise with world-class systems,
software and services, IBM and IBM Business Partners are
helping leaders deploy Smarter Cities solutions worldwide.

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 © Copyright IBM Corporation 2013
Integrated Marketing Communications
Systems and Technology Group
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Somers, NY 10589
Produced in the United States of America
August 2013
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, IBM Maximo, IBM SmartCloud,
Smarter Cities and Smarter Water are trademarks of International
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Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or
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legal/copytrade.shtml.
This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may
be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every
country in which IBM operates.
The client examples cited are presented for illustrative purposes only.
Actual performance results may vary depending on specific
configurations and operating conditions.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED
“AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-
INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms
and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided.
The client is responsible for ensuring compliance with laws and
regulations applicable to it. IBM does not provide legal advice or
represent or warrant that its services or products will ensure that the
client is in compliance with any law or regulation.
1 “Water and poverty, an issue of life and livelihoods,” Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UN-
Water: www.fao.org/nr/water/issues/scarcity.html.
2 Rosegrant, Mark W.; Cai, Ximing; Cline, Sarah A.; Global Water
Outlook to 2025: Averting an Impending Crisis, International Food
Policy Research Institute (2002): www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/pubs/
pubs/fpr/fprwater2025.pdf.
3 Kingdom, Bill; Liemberger, Roland; Marin, Philippe, The Challenge of
Reducing Non-Revenue Water (NRW) in Developing Countries How
the Private Sector Can Help: A Look at Performance-Based Service
Contracting, World Bank, Washington, D.C (2006): www.
wsiteresources.worldbank.org/INTWSS/Resources/WSS8fin4.pdf.
4 Steve Folkman, P.E.,, Ph.D., “Water Main Breaks in the US and
Canada.” Utah State University, April 2012.
5 Number provided by RP Williams, Distinguished Engineer - Chief
Technology Officer, “Big Green” Innovations.
6 ‘Drought: First desalination opens in mainland Britain as water bosses
warn of price rises,” The Telegraph, 14 Mar. 2013: www.telegraph.co.
uk/earth/earthnews/9141282/Drought-first-desalination-opens-in-
mainland-Britain-as-water-bosses-warn-of-price-rises.html. Accessed 31
Jul. 2013
7 Latin American Green City Index: Assessing the environmental
performance of Latin America’s major cities.” Siemens. 2010. www.
siemens.com/entry/cc/features/greencityindex_international/all/en/pdf/
report_latam_en.pdf; Zhang, Yue and Zheng, Xingcan. “The Status and
Challenges of Water Infrastructure Development in China.” 2008
www.ecowaterinfra.org/knowledgebox/documents/China%20-%20
country%20report%20by%20Zheng.pdf.
8 Hornby, C. “Brazil needs $42 billion of water and waste investment by
2015.” The Sign Post. 23 March 2011. www.blogs.terrapinn.com/
investment/2011/03/23/brazil-42-billion-water-waste-investment-2015.
9 “Buried No Longer: Confronting America’s Water infrastructure
Challenge.” American Water Works Association. 2012. www.awwa.org/
files/GovtPublicAffairs/GADocuments/BuriedNoLonger CompleteFinal.
pdf; “2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.”American Society
of Civil Engineers. 2009
10 “R700bn needed for SA water infrastructure,” MoneyWeb. 30 Jul.
2012: www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-south-africa/r700bn-needed-for-
sa-water-infrastructure. Accessed 31 Jul. 2013
11 “IBM harnesses power of Big Data to improve Dutch flood control
and water management systems,” IBM (25 June 2013): ibm.com/press/
us/en/pressrelease/41385.wss.
12 “IBM, Notre Dame, Emnet Help South Bend, Indiana Protect Public
Health, Reduce Pollution with Smarter Cities Cloud Analytics,” IBM
(27 June 2012): ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/38153.wss.
13 “Miami-Dade County and IBM Establish Public-Private Partnership
on Smarter Cities Initiative,” IBM (04 March 2013): ibm.com/press/
us/en/pressrelease/40497.wss
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