World Water Day is celebrated on 22 March and each year it highlights a specific aspect of fresh water. This year’s theme is Nature for Water, and it will be amplified through the South African Department of Water and Sanitation’s National Water Week awareness campaign from 18-24 March 2018. “These campaigns serve as a powerful reminder of the value of water and the role it plays in Sustainable Development Goal 6, growth of the economy and the eradication of poverty,” says Marc Ramsay, vice president of Schneider Electric South Africa’s Industry Business Unit. “Memorably, this year’s Water Day will be marked by the launch of the International Decade for Action: Water for sustainable development (2018-2028), by the UN General Assembly.”
Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today 2,1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home, and this affects their health, education and livelihoods. Here are some of the realities:
• Water consumption is growing at 2,5% per year faster than world’s population
• 20% of the world‘s population is without access to safe drinking water
• Demand is shifting to regions with already scarce resources
• There is a rising need for sustainable infrastructure solutions
• Industrial and municipal wastewater need higher treatment standards
• Cities and urban regions will be competing on water quality standards
• Water is involved in the production of all other forms of energy
• There is increasing water scarcity
• Energy expenses for water treatment are rising
Schneider Electric’s water management expertise
Through its EcoStruxure solutions for water and wastewater, Schneider Electric has succeeded in giving major water customers around the world up to 30% in energy savings, increased operational efficiency up to 25% and reduction in the total cost of ownership up to 20%.
The Water Corporation in Perth, Australia is the principal supplier of water, wastewater and drainage services in Western Australia to hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses and farms, as well as providing bulk water to farms for irrigation. Its services, projects and activities span over 2,6 million square kilometres, making this the world’s largest geographic area of any water utility. Through its Schneider scada alliance, it has invested $A65 million over eight years, creating:
• 14 distinct schemes on full scale scada and 24/7 remote management
• 43 schemes on basic monitoring
• 3500 individual sites, of which 2800 have full scada (control, alarm monitoring, data collection capability)
• 280 000 measured control points
The Water Corporation’s data has now become a valuable asset. The company has achieved an excellent return on investment (ROI) in smart technologies such as critical control in complex process environments and management of water loss. EcoStruxure has also allowed it to keep controls such as high level alarms and chlorine alarms simple in remote locations.
Other international successes
Schneider Electric has helped a Chinese industrial water customer manage 14 wastewater treatment plants centrally, reducing its energy consumption by 52% and saving 5 GWh per year, with a ROI of 1,5 years.
In Qatar, Schneider Electric helped the Qatar Water and Electricity Corporation in Kahramaa to reduce its NRW by 39% between 2007 and 2011, resulting in savings of 14 million m³/year, with a ROI of six months.
With Schneider’s help, Las Vegas Valley Water District increased asset uptime by 15%, reduced maintenance costs by 25% and improved Regulation 6 compliance by more than 30%.
EcoStruxure systems allow customers to monitor their plants and pumping stations centrally, provide an energy benchmark and prioritise their capital and operational investment. This is achieved by field crew optimisation and prioritisation, using people as sensors to provide real-time update of IT/OT systems, with complete customer satisfaction.
With a global presence in over 100 countries and more than 36 000 customer installations, Schneider Electric is the leader in water and waste software and scada, with over 40 000 installed licences. It is a leader in telemetry, remotely controlling vast areas in many major markets. The company’s strong position in automation and control helps major cities such as Paris, London, Beijing, New York, Toronto and Sydney to achieve major savings in water and wastewater management.
For more information contact Jason Ullbricht, Schneider Electric SA, +27 (0)11 254 6400, jason.ullbricht@schneider-electric.com, www.schneider-electric.co.za
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