Water resources are essential for every development activity, not only in terms of available quantity but also in terms of quality. Population growth and urbanisation are increasing the number of users and uses of water, making water resources scarcer and more polluted. Changes in rainfall patterns threaten to worsen these effects in many areas. Water scarcity, due to physical lack or pollution, has become one of the most pressing issues globally, a matter of human, economic and environmental insecurity.
Sources : Contributions of recycled wastewater to clean water and sanitation Sustainable Development Goals | npj Clean Water (nature.com) What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Definition, Benefits and Use Cases (techtarget.com)
Strong AI, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), describes programming that can replicate the cognitive abilities of the human brain. When presented with an unfamiliar task, a strong AI system can use fuzzy logic to apply knowledge from one domain to another and find a solution autonomously. What I like in this definition of Artificial Intelligence is the positive view we have of this technology. Indeed, we often have a negative view of the development of artificial intelligence for fear that it will completely replace human intelligence. But in many situations this is not the case. Artificial intelligence is a tool for humans, a way to simplify their work and to delegate work so that they can concentrate on other things. So talking about how AI can help with sustainable development issues is very interesting in my opinion to change the way we look at it.
The city of Seoul has announced that it will modify its four wastewater treatment centres by implementing "intelligent water reuse centres" in order to save employee time and reduce operational costs. To this end, an automated wastewater treatment system will be implemented in the South Korean capital by 2030. The aim of this intelligence is to quickly collect and analyse the quality of wastewater, and then quickly know how to treat it.
Presently, water recycling centres are fully managed by human workers who have to sift through and analyse the data manually for each of the treatment centres before determining what to do next. So, thanks to this technology, the people working in the centre will have less boring work to do. In turn, the city of Seoul will be able to reduce the number of jobs offered in this sector, thus saving costs. In addition, the results obtained will be more operational for the centre managers. In general, all the people of Seoul will benefit from this technology, as they will have more control over the treatment of the water they consume on a daily basis.
The only users of this technology are the employees of Seoul's wastewater treatment plants.
The first need is to reduce the costs of wastewater treatment plants by using less human intelligence for such simple tasks as data analysis. The second need is to get water quality data quickly and as transparently as possible, for better control.
The integrated database infrastructure is a server that collects and saves necessary data for the surveillance and management of the whole sewage treatment process. The central surveillance system gathers the data collected from the four centres and keeps a watch on it in one place.
The data is collected through sensors and large data bases. And are analysed through specific AI programming.
Seoul adopts artificial intelligence to transform water reuse centres - Smart Cities World
The bad news is that water is a finite resource, but happily, it also happens to be renewable. Unfortunately, more than 25% of water is wasted due to leaks - and that’s in commercial buildings alone. Water intelligence company, WINT, developed an AI to detect and stop leaks at the source.
Thus, the services of this company are intended for public bodies that manage water supplies in cities, but also for all kinds of companies that use a large quantity of water in their production.
The users of this technology are, in the same way, all entities that have to manage large water flows. As we have said, this can be public bodies, such as public companies (e.g. nuclear power plant managers) or private companies.
More than 25% of the water carried by humans is lost through leakage. This implies water damage (which can be very expensive), implies a cost (it is water we have paid for but not used) and implies environmental consequences (depleting water tables more than necessary for example).
It alerts you when water is leaking and can automatically shut it off. Intelligent real-time monitoring identifies sources of leaks and waste preventing damage, reducing consumption and cutting the resulting carbon emissions. Cette technoloig epeut détecter le lieu de la fuite et la stopper.
This technology has several brains located at different points in the water flow that analyse different data and compare the data obtained. The different brains communicate with each other via the cloud through a connected network. Once an anomaly is detected as a result of the communication between the different brains, a message is sent to the customer's application, which will have access to the data from its telepbone and will be able to cut off the leak if possible or regulate the water flow to limit the loss and damage.
How 4 Companies Are Using AI To Solve Waste Issues On Earth And In Space (forbes.com) WINT - Water Intelligence
When it comes to stormwater management, predictability and timing is everything! Opti’s Platform incorporates real-time data and weather forecasts to automatically control the timing and rate of stormwater flow through upstream storage facilities, helping transform passive stormwater assets into smart, efficient and resilient systems.
The beneficiaries of this technology are public water treatment agencies.
There can be several types of users. Also, users may be the same persons as beneficiaries, but not necessarily. The users are also the public water treatment organisations. But we can extend our thinking and think that the users are also the companies and people who are going to buy water from these public bodies because thanks to this technology they will be able to buy cheaper water (more water available so lower price).
The problem with heavy rainfall is that rainwater treatment plants cannot treat a large amount of water at the same time. So when there is heavy rainfall for a period of time a lot of this water is lost.
Le système surveille en continu les prévisions météo et le niveau d'eau dans le bassin. Lorsqu’une pluie est prévue, la vanne de sortie du bassin se ferme automatiquement. Après la précipitation, le logiciel mesure le niveau d'eau dans le bassin et ouvre la vanne pour libérer graduellement l'eau à un débit optimal que le système d’assainissement peut traiter.
This technology combines data collection and analysis of weather forecasts and, based on input parameters and mathematical probabilities, artificial intelligence will tell the water supply management valves of the rentention ponds how much water to send to the rainwater treatment plant.
About | Opti (optirtc.com) L’intelligence artificielle s’intègre dans tous les secteurs de l’eau | Actualités - HYDREOS
The city of Philadelphia used the OptiNimbus system and in the first 212 days after installation, approximately 51 cm of rain fell on the site. Thanks to the Opti system, the city prevented 10,000 m3 from entering the sewer system during the storm. All of the measures taken by the city prevented 5.6 million m3 of untreated effluent from being discharged directly into the environment.
BioAlert is an automated and connected device, installed directly on the water system, that allows real-time monitoring and just-in-time intervention to prevent outbreaks of disease, including outbreaks of Legionella, an aerosol bacterium that originates in the air near open water treatment areas. These bacteria can be breathed in by humans and can cause pneumonia which can have serious consequences for individuals.
The beneficiaries are humans who might be located near the reprocessing plants (the bacteria can fly up to 12km). In general, it is all humans, as the spread of this type of epidemic in society will be prevented by this technology.
The users are the wastewater treatment organisations.
The need is for a limitation of the impacts of wastewater treatment on the external environment (and especially on humans) In addition, a major problem of wastewater treatment plants at present is the inaccuracy of the data obtained (because the tests are done by humans), the long time it takes to process the data, and the non-transparency of the data which is not presented and processed in the same way depending on who is doing the analysis.
The unique approach of the BioAlert Lp15 solution, which consists of daily monitoring of the water system, optimises the use of chemicals and leads to a significant reduction in costs and environmental impact. BioAlert is also a safety feature that confirms the absence of health risks associated with the building's operation, helping to make our cities safer and greener.
This technology involves testing the amount of chemicals in the water and the presence or absence of pathogenic bacteria. Artificial intelligence then compares the results obtained with other types of results already obtained and determines whether or not, in view of the quantity present, the degree of chemicals used, and the external weather conditions, the risk of spreading the bacteria is high or not.
BioAlert Lp15 - Une solution efficace pour Solar Impulse Le gouvernement canadien finance un système de traitement de l'eau basé sur l'intelligence artificielle (actuia.com)
Beyond the actors we have previously identified, the public authorities are an essential actor in this project. Indeed, the whole population is concerned by this technology because it is the daily quality of the water they consume that can be improved and the risk of pneumonia epidemics that is greatly reduced in society. Thus, in view of the general interest in which Bioalert participates, it seems normal that the public authorities push for the development of this technology. This was the case in 2021, when the Canadian government granted $900,000 in funding to BioAlert Solutions. The announcement was made by François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and Élisabeth Brière, Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke. According to them, this investment is aimed at advancing the company's technology.
How can we ensure safe and qualitative water treatment at a time when the demand for water treatment is high and the risk of epidemics is at its peak?
This project is the one that fascinated me the most because I learned a lot about the risk that existed in water treatment and, consequently, about the essential place of artificial intelligence. The risk of epidemics due to the spread of bacteria is a problem that is raised today in many areas, but I had no idea that even the treatment of water (which is the most essential element for life on earth) involves risks for society. I found the solution provided by Bioalert to be cutting-edge and a good example of how artificial intelligence can be a great help.
Although the users are mainly public wastewater treatment agencies, this technology can also be very useful for companies that use a lot of water in their manufacturing process and need to reprocess this water. It is mainly companies in heavy industry that would need this technology as they are the ones that use a large amount of water and are obliged to reprocess this water. For example, there was an epidemic from November 2003 to January 2004 in the former Lens mining basin around the Noroxo petrochemical plant in Harnes. The only source of contamination clearly identified and since dismantled by its owner, the American group ExxonMobil. This epidemic claimed 83 victims, including 18 deaths, in late 2003 and early 2004 in the Pas-de-Calais. This epidemic could undoubtedly have been avoided with Bioalert's technology.
This solution aims to provide a practical and cost effective solution to secure cooling towers and hot water systems against legionella contamination. Indeed, the lack of rapid on-site screening tools leads to reactive responses and are not suitable to prevent Legionella contamination.
BioAlert is an automated and connected device, installed directly on the water network, which allows real-time monitoring and just-in-time intervention to prevent epidemics. BioAlert is the best management tool to reduce associated intervention costs, production downtime and ensure business continuity. The unique approach of the BioAlert Lp15 solution, which consists of daily monitoring of the water system, allows the optimisation of chemical use and leads to a significant reduction in costs and environmental impact. BioAlert is also a safety device that confirms the absence of health risks associated with the operation of the building, helping to make our cities safer and greener.