Monitoring water networks digitally

Providing each of the town’s 19 districts reliably with water is therefore a top priority for the local water supplier. Four water masters make sure that the water supply network is running smoothly at all times. In the past, they spent a large portion of their workday driving around to the 19 facilities spread out over 165 km² to gather and process information for water treatment and storage – time they couldn’t spend on more important tasks.

The municipality instructed Endress+Hauser to digitalise the water networks. Using the Netilion IIoT ecosystem, Endress+Hauser delivered a fully digital solution. Netilion provides all the basic data needed for creating and programming individual dash- boards that display the entire process of water treatment and storage. This is implemented in the online service Netilion Water Network Insights. Using this service, the water networks can be monitored as well as optimized while no leak goes undetected.

Even the lack of stable cellular service coverage in rural Germany could be overcome. A long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) allows for secure wireless data transmission that needs little to no energy.

From now on, the water masters can retrieve all relevant information on their smartphones, tablets and laptops: data from 35 flowmeters, 17 level meters, 7 pressure meters and 2 analysis panels for quality monitoring. Time-consuming daily visits to the reservoirs and water treatment stations are a thing of the past. The highly qualified experts can now use their time much more effectively ensuring a reliable water supply for the town of Oberzent.