The Waterschapsbedrijf Limburg (WBL), one of the 21 Dutch regional water authorities, is focusing on the digitisation of its 17 wastewater treatment plants and 149 sewage pumping stations. Royal HaskoningDHV Digital will advise the water authority on this digital transformation which will make operations and maintenance smarter, more future-proof, and more efficient. Royal HaskoningDHV Digital will contribute digital expertise and 140 years of experience in the water industry to this process.
There are substantial challenges in wastewater treatment management: climate change, an urgent need for sustainability, and stricter regulations make transport systems and treatment plants increasingly technically complex. At the same time, a growing number of digital technologies can convert data streams into valuable insights. That is why WBL is focusing on the digital transformation of its wastewater treatment infrastructure, which will include the application of data science technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The digital transformation will enable the water authority to make better decisions, take appropriate action more quickly, ensure that it continuously gets the most value out of its wastewater infrastructure, and optimise the cost efficiency of its operational management. Digitisation will also make business operations future-proof.
Remy Sleijpen, Board Member: “Over the years to come, WBL will take an essential next step in the development of data-driven business operations. By choosing Royal HaskoningDHV Digital, we have gained a partner with a valuable combination of expertise: in-depth knowledge of wastewater treatment management and digital know-how.”
Self-Learning Algorithms
The new collaboration between WBL and Royal HaskoningDHV Digital will consist of two parts. One part is the development and implementation of a big data platform, which will collect data from the source systems at WBL.
The other part will be the implementation of an Aquasuite machine learning application on this big data platform. This will monitor the performance of all 149 WBL sewage pumping stations and will detect abnormal behavior at an early stage. It will show the information to the process operators in the Central Control Room of WBL in an intuitive manner.
By using machine learning for the entire system, its performance will improve continuously. It will also allow for more efficient management and anticipate the need for maintenance — the largest expense for water authorities. The Aquasuite application and the big data platform will be fully operational for all 149 pumping stations from September 2021.
Together they will form part of a digital twin, a virtual copy of the entire wastewater treatment system managed by the water authority. In the future, WBL and Royal HaskoningDHV Digital will add many other data science applications, including modules of the Aquasuite platform developed by Royal HaskoningDHV Digital.
