Water supply services in India are dependent on a few limited sources such as surface water and groundwater. Their scarcity is compounded by other major challenges such as high revenue losses, ageing water infrastructure and intermittent water supply. Only a few cities have achieved 24×7 water supply; most are plagued by issues such as high non-revenue water (NRW) usage. Similarly, the provision of piped water supply to rural areas is also in its infancy. These impediments have given rise to the concept of digital water. The application of digital water is in two verticals – engineering, procurement and construction, and operations and maintenance (O&M) phases. The data flow must take place between these two phases for effective project outcomes. The phases would include proper asset management, efficient customer services, safety and quality health environments, and sustainability of the water network.
Digital transformation
The initiation of digital transformation helps in increasing the analogue time and achieving better user and customer experiences. It also enhances decision support systems and analytics with the use of a data dashboard. It allows the connection of isolated data systems and maintains a confidential and secure data framework. Many private players working in the water sector are devising ways to be technologically adept. For instance, JWIL Infra Limited has created a roadmap of its information technology-based digital architecture, where different processes from contract to planning, procurement to payment, planning to execution, billing to collection, award to closure and execution to O&M are covered. In the initial processes, enterprise resource planning, integrated project management and other digital solutions are used, while metering and billing, water quality and audits and a productive human resource or manpower are included in the O&M phase. Moreover, computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS), geographic information systems (GIS), scanners and remote monitoring systems (RMS) are also being used.
Amongst other aspects of water network management, JWIL is deploying secure mobility for the safety of customer data, smart metering, automated meter reading (AMR) and human resource management system to measure the productivity of the working team. Various digital solutions are also being rendered for customer care such as contact centres, customer care portals, self-support customer portals and self-service bots or doorstep services for house service connections.
Along similar lines, Swach Environment Private Limited has explored different digital interventions for smart water management. These have been implemented for legacy infrastructure and digital transformation has to be further expanded through a step-by-step approach. This approach can be applied from the intake/source to the delivery of services. It includes supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), internet of things (IoT) and a communication plan that covers the entire network.
Case studies of digital deployments
Chandrawal water supply project
The Chandrawal package 2 project for the west zone of Delhi has been recently awarded to JWIL, which involves water supply distribution with the construction and maintenance of new water supply facilities, rehabilitation of the old ones and reduction of NRW to 15 per cent. As a part of the project, a customer relationship management (CRM) server, 24×7 smart contact centre and mobile applications have been developed and connected to a central server, and the CRM server is connected to the CMMS. In case of a service breakdown or the need for preventive maintenance, an SMS or a WhatsApp message is sent to the customer. A special helpline number is also dedicated for raising concerns related to water supply disruptions.
On the CMMS side, asset management, preventive maintenance, breakdown maintenance and ticket assignments are taken care of. All the assets are tagged into the system through a QR code, which is integrated into the SCADA system for asset health monitoring. Besides, special database systems are used on GIS to monitor and survey the entire network and identify customers. Similarly, on the human resource side, systems such as attendance monitoring, shift monitoring and productivity of the people have been incorporated.
Haldia Water Services project
The project involves the management and operation of entire water works that ensure water supply to customers of industrial, commercial and municipal segments in Haldia, West Bengal. Haldia Water Services, an SPV of Swach Environment Private Limited and ION Exchange is transforming this entire old asset into a new asset under the project. It is also implementing leakage detection systems and metering systems for end customers. A water treatment plant of 50 million gallons per day (mgd) is being set up, while a water supply of 25 mgd is being done using dissolved air floatation technology. A huge factory with high tension motors and pumps is being used, which needs a tremendous amount of accuracy.
In the past four years of the concession period of 15 years, the project has involved the reduction of NRW through existing pipeline infrastructure without the need for pipe replacement. In this project, valves, the entire pressure monitoring system and the metering system have been changed. The number of customers has increased to over 94 per cent in terms of billing and water contamination has been reduced with continuous water supply.
Nangloi Water Services project
It is one of the largest public-private partnership projects in India, being jointly carried out by Swach Environment Private Limited and Veolia. Nangloi is a semi-rural area with a very old water system and no water service connections. A pipeline network of 1,500 km has to be laid and almost 700 km of old pipeline has to be replaced under the project. Certain key performance indicators such as improvement of NRW and service coverage, power efficiencies and billing in terms of tariff collection systems are a part of the project.
As a part of the project, AMR-compatible meters are being used in almost 35 district-metered areas (DMAs). Of these 35 DMAs, 15 have been earmarked for automation on the IoT-based system and others are in the transformation process. These 15 DMAs have exhibited good results; however, the administrative mechanism controlling the pilferage in each household is still a challenge.
Barriers to digitalisation and the way forward
Most of the metro cities in India have intermittent water supply, lack bulk metering systems and suffer NRW and operational losses. owing to operational gaps. There is also a lack of data availability and the data that is available is only in silos. There are a few ways to improve this dire situation. Private companies, along with water utilities, need to provide an enhanced experience to last-mile customers for them to pay for these services. At the private operators’ end, a clear digital strategy needs to be developed by the management and leadership.
Support and participation from the entire team and staff are necessary to bring about this change. Further, digital systems and processes need to be laid properly. Similarly, the mindset, culture and skillsets need to align with the new era of technology adoption. Staff needs to be trained for the use of new technologies. Moreover, the important aspect of finance and the cost involved in the digitalisation of water projects need to be tackled through new funding mechanisms.
Going forward, digital twins, artificial intelligence and machine learning are some of the emerging digital systems that private players are looking to deploy for project monitoring and O&M services.
Based on remarks from Prasenjit Mukherjee, Senior General Manager (Head IT and Digital), JWIL Infra Limited; and Sourav Daspatnaik, Managing Director, Swach Environment Private Limited, at a recent India Infrastructure conference
