IoT platform for failure management in water transmission systems

• Published in: Expert systems with applications Vol. 199; p. 116974
• Main Authors: Pérez-Padillo, José, Puig, Francisco, García Morillo, Jorge, Montesinos, Pilar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Algorithms; Artificial intelligence; Breakdown; Decision making; Decision support system; Digitization; Information and communication technologies (ICT); Pressure sensors; Repair time; Service life; Water pressure; Water supply systems; Web services; Wireless sensors; GSM; API REST; NB-IoT; Decision support system; SPA; wAIter; PaaS; LoRaWAN; Wireless sensors; HTTP; Information and communication technologies (ICT); MRT; IoT; SQL; WTN; SF; Web services; LPWAN; Digitization; MDT; AWS; Artificial intelligence; SCADA
• ISSN: 0957-4174; 1873-6793
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2022.116974

•An IoT platform for failure management of water transmission networks is proposed.•The system is composed by some wireless sensors and a real-time alert system.•It has been implemented in a real case achieving acceptable water savings.•An algorithm classifies the failure into 4 types, depending on the water pressure.•The low cost of the system leads to a short payback period of the investment. In aging water supply systems, many components have exceeded their service life. Consequently, tools are needed to efficiently manage the failures in these systems. This work describes the development and implementation of a web tool for the management of breakdowns in water transmission networks. The proposed tool, called wAIter, consists of a network of wireless water pressure sensors that send real-time data to an IoT platform. The core of the platform consists of a rule-based decision algorithm, which detects and classifies failures based on the recorded pressure values and then sends an alert to repair them. In addition, wAIter uses the mathematical model of the hydraulic network to estimate the maximum repair time without causing supply interruptions. This information is key in the decision-making process to repair breakdowns and facilitate repair work management. Finally, the results of the implementation in a real water transmission network are presented.