Salfeet, a small Palestinian town in the center of the West Bank, faces significant challenges in water supply management. With over 15,000 residents relying on the municipal water system, conventional water management methods are stretched thin due to limited resources. This is a daily challenge for both the town’s residents and the municipality.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
In this case study, we explore how Salfeet Municipality managed to decrease water losses in their water network, saving 10 million liters of fresh water on a monthly basis. The secret lies in active utilization of emerging tech solutions.
Salfeet used Flowless leak detection system to track leaks in the network and actively fix them as soon as they emerged. But technology is not a magical solution! While water tech promises for great potential in improving water supply for the local communities, there are other important ingredients in the secret sauce used by Salfeet:
• Active decision making
• Agile implementation
• Smooth tech adoption
BRIEF OVERVIEW
Salfeet Municipality is on track to achieve the best water networks operational efficiency. The annual water losses due to non-revenue water (NRW) in Salfeet were previously estimated at 109,310 cubic meters, accounting for more than 80,000 USD of annual financial losses.
Through active leak detection, operations monitoring, & data interpretation, Salfeet Municipality was able to save more than 10 million liters of water every month. Salfeet utilized Flowless system to collect real-time data from the field, then used the analytics to track and detect leaks in the network, ultimately reducing losses and improving operational efficiency.
Reducing water losses can partially solve water stress, so Flowless actively works with water utilities to support their work in efficient water management. The goal is to contribute to communities’ resilience by providing more reliable water supply.
THE CHALLENGE
As the population grows, so does the thirst for fresh, clean water. Salfeet's network operators are feeling the pressure from the growing demand for water, and raising concerns about the system's efficiency. To make matters more challenging, Salfeet utility relies on conventional water management methods.
These traditional approaches have served the city well in the past, but they are now stretched to their limits. The need for fresh ideas and innovative solutions is pressing.
THE SOLUTION
Flowless team worked with Salfeet Municipality on deploying Flowless smart system to monitor water supply and control operations. Flowless interventions included network assessment, data transmitters installation, and providing Flowless web platform for the Salfeet Municipality to monitor water flow and pressure in real-time.
The aim was to:
1. Collect real-time data on water supply and water quality
2. Monitor water flows for active leak detection
3. Monitor and control pumps operations and reservoirs.
Water network operators in Salfeet utilize Flowless’ web platform to track network operations, detect issues as they emerge, and control water pumps for effective water supply.
Enhancing Supply Efficiency
So, how does water networks operators in Salfeet utilize Flowless’ platform to manage their daily operations?
• Night flow analysis: Analyzing flow data during low-demand periods helps detect leaks that aren’t easily noticeable during the day. Flowless platform automatically performs minimum night flow analysis and report leaks in the network as soon as they emerge
• Alarms & alerts: Setting up automated alarms or alerts to notify operators when certain thresholds are exceeded, helping them respond promptly to potential issues. E.g., if the pressure in a DMA drops below a predefined threshold, an alarm can be triggered, indicating a possible leak or pipe burst.
• Anomalies detection: Flowless algorithms identifies consumption patterns based on historical data. AI-aided analytics utilize flow predictions to spot anomalies in pressure and flow data to detect leaks in each zone of the network.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Operations monitoring
Enabling remote operations for pumps and valves control.
Process optimization
Automatic optimization of water distribution based on flow and consumption data.
Detecting operational abnormalities
Immediate detection of any fault or anomaly that arises in the water networks.
Automated & accurate leak detection
Automated leak detection and accurate leak localization through AI-aided analysis.
Powerful analytics & reporting
Highly customizable reports are generated automatically with a minimum human invention to meet the user's needs.
