Jacqueline L. Mulhern
Florida is affected by seasonal dryness, and the periodic shortage of water forced a local utility to rethink its service strategy to reach downstream customers. “Every spring and autumn, we have dry periods, and the population growth has just been off the charts, and so the demand has grown, too,” explained an engineer. Meeting the growing demand and building community sustainability required adjustments to how the utility operates. And more specifically - adding constant monitoring of the water network and adding situational awareness to events that happen in the network.
As a starting point for addressing the water supply challenge - a plan was put in place to address complaints about water shortages from residents and golf course owners.
In total, private homes use more water than golf courses, and they both use reclaimed water. But reclaimed water is not an endless resource. Its availability is limited and the network capacity to deliver it is limited as well. Homes can water their lawns anytime, but the utility strongly encourages them to do it between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. For golf courses, the recommended time was 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for pond filling. Once the water goes into the pond, it’s the golf course’s responsibility to apportion it as needed.
To make sense of the resource allocation, the utility needed better visibility of what is going on around the clock in their network. And Ayyeka's solution is the perfect answer for their needs.
Ayyeka’s Wavelet technology is an essential part of monitoring in Florida.
“We use the Ayyeka Monitor to determine what to do,” explained the utility. "Ayyeka monitors our key areas, and the state plans to install it on many more sites".
Ayyeka’s monitoring of flow rates and pressure across the network showed an anemic supply system, i.e., there is too much demand for the system as it is built today. The introduction of the technology showed that a section of pipe needed to be expanded and replaced for adequate flow rates to downstream consumers. That stretch of pipeline is scheduled to complete construction in 2022.
“The big benefit is that it allows us to adjust operational strategies. If we tell them to make some changes on Monday, by Wednesday, we’ll see the impact of any operational changes,“ the engineer added.
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