Project
Águas do Porto (AdP) manages the entire urban water cycle of the city of Porto, Portugal, including water supply, wastewater drainage and treatment, and stormwater drainage. AdP delivers an average of 45,490 cubic meters of water daily to over 150,000 customers and collects approximately the same amount for treatment. As the utility’s hydraulic infrastructure grew increasingly dense and complex, system data was housed in dozens of siloed applications. To access this information, AdP developed a sustainable and integrated method to manage the water cycle, forecast flood risks and water quality issues, and improve decision-making and system resilience.
Solution
To develop the smart water platform, known as H2PORTO, AdP retained a consortium of vendors that included Bentley Systems. Together, AdP and the consortium integrated all data sources, including geospatial information systems, real-time network sensors, household meters, SCADA, laboratory, billing, work orders, and logistics into a single platform. AdP helped create a digital twin of the water system that could automatically model water levels and flow based on real-world conditions and weather forecasts to predict flooding, service interruptions, or water quality problems.
Outcome
With H2PORTO fully operational and integrated into all parts of the water system, the city of Porto has seen significant improvements to its water supply. Supply interruptions fell by 22.9% and the number of sewer collapses decreased by 54%. Repairs for pipe bursts and sewer and service connections improved as well, by 8.3% and 45.5%, respectively. These improved repairs allow for a consistent water supply in the region. Also, the volume of non-revenue water dropped by 3.6% By providing access to water system conditions in near real time, AdP experienced operating gains of 23%. Automated water system modeling allows AdP to quickly respond to potential problems. By unifying the data produced by formerly siloed systems, AdP has improved the accuracy of the data produced from sensor readings to nearly 99%. With more accurate data, the organization has improved overall decision-making. AdP also reported an increase in employee and customer satisfaction.
Software
Bentley’s OpenFlows applications were used as the basis of Águas do Porto’s H2PORTO platform. OpenFlows FLOOD helped the team use spatially distributed numerical models to simulate all hydrological processes in the natural environment, including rivers and coasts. OpenFlows SewerGEMS provided engineering capabilities for managing wastewater systems, as well as the ability to model what-if scenarios. The two applications formed the basis of comprehensive flood modeling of the entire water system. OpenFlows WaterGEMS also provided numerous capabilities for water network analysis and decision-making.
Project Playbook: OpenFlows FLOOD, OpenFlows WaterGEMS, OpenFlows SewerGEMS