Intelligent Management of the Integral Water Cycle: Experiences from Hidraqua and Aquona

Image from the film “Le ballon Rouge”

This was the second talk of the event: “Technology, Big Data and Sustainability: proposal for a Smart City definition”, which we were fortunate enough to attend at the BBVA innovation center.

We try not to miss any meeting between Smart City enthusiasts, as they are occasions where we learn, discover, and share points of view. The Smart City is such a living, recent concept that it demands similar attention to that which must be given to a baby. We know, we know, we are parents and perhaps we exaggerate, but you understand me!

Listening to Antonio Sánchez was a pleasure, there is no exaggeration there. Antonio really knows his field very well, he is a great man with an enormous career. For those who do not know him, we are copying the bio with which he was presented at the event.

Telecommunications Engineer, MBA and head of Telecontrol of Aguas de Alicante, the first public-private company in the world in the water sector (according to the World Bank). He has more than fifteen years of experience in the Agbar Group and has participated in international research projects (Chile, China), as a collaborator in the UENetwork network “@qua ICT for Water Efficiency” (http://www.a-qua.eu/). Since May 2013 he has coordinated the Smart Cities area of the portal www.i-ambiente.es.

Unfortunately, we cannot attach the video of his presentation because the streaming failed and his talk was not recorded, but we promise to ask him for his presentation to see if it is possible to share it via slideshare.

Antonio began his talk by commenting on terms as popular today as “Big Data” and “Smart Things”. We really agree with him that on too many occasions more is said about the concept than the reality they are trying to represent. Losing reality to focus on the concept is the reason why we are slowly moving further and further away from the practical side of ideas. It is similar to looking at a helium balloon that moves further and further away from the hand that held it on the ground. If we only look at the balloon moving away (it is true, it is red, it is attractive), we lose the frame of reference that tells us that we are no longer on the ground, that we have moved away, that we are already talking about things that do not necessarily conform to reality.

This phenomenon, so common in areas such as Smart Cities, is not necessarily wrong. Sometimes it is necessary to chase balloons to achieve more spartan and practical realities. We, as engineers, try to combine both aspects. But just like Antonio, when it comes to translating projects, we have no choice but to look for the shapes and leave aside the shadows, aware that those shadows can form better shapes. That is progress! Chase shadows to achieve new shapes! Reach balloons to return them to the hand that let them escape!

Image from the film “Le ballon Rouge”

Antonio spoke of the importance of intelligent management. It is that really managing the resources we already have intelligently makes the resources themselves more intelligent. Concepts such as Smart Water, which we ourselves talk about on our website, is nothing more (or less) than turning the use of this resource into an efficient use. And how is this achieved? By making use of advanced technologies that allow optimizing these resources. Technologies that also allow managing them with real-time data. Can you imagine if we suffered a sprain and did not realize it until two days later? The human body, as you know, does intelligently manage its resources. Let’s imitate it. To the extent that we can do it, we will achieve an improvement in the life of the citizen, the environment, the economy…

Antonio has a lot to show about intelligent water management. He told us about the two Aquona and Hidraqua management projects:

1. Aquona: leader in water management in CastillaLa Mancha and Castilla y León, participates in the Smart City Valladolid and Palencia consortium.
2. Hidraqua: benchmark for water management in the Valencian Community, participated in the @aqua project.

Really, Antonio affirms, we have nothing to send to the water management of other countries. We have solutions at our fingertips, such as:

1. Public Administration Smart Synergies: System of collaboration with the administration: Flood management (SIPAID) based on sharing information from control stations and data monitoring.

1. Bathing water quality: iBeach App, real-time publication of access data, and weather conditions of beaches, prediction of bathing water quality. (E.g. San Juan beach…)
2. Drinking water quality: We share water management data between companies and administration in different territories.
3. Virtual construction fence

2. Smart Citizen information: Virtual construction fence, with real-time data on the status and situation of the work.

1. Information on scheduled outages. improvement of the company’s commitment to its users.
2. Remote reading for the citizen: Offer information to the citizen that can be configured according to the citizen’s needs. With real-time alerts aimed at the citizen.

3. Smart Asset Management:

1. Intelligent network renovation.
2. Water regeneration.

4. Sustainability and circular economy
5. Infrastructure design in flood zones on San Juan beach, in Alicante.

Antonio finished his presentation with a quote for reflection:

“The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet”

William Gibson

UPDATE

And the video arrived!