Climate-KIC: Rotterdam first to implement Smart Urban Water data network

With the help of Climate-KIC innovation project Smart Urban Water, an extensive data network has been developed to collect data on sewer capacity in urban areas.

After successful pilots in Delft (the Netherlands), London and Paris, the Smart Urban Water data network will now be implemented on a large scale in the city of Rotterdam.

Smart Urban Water, coordinated from TU Delft in the Netherlands and led by Prof. dr. ir. Nick van de Giesen, relies on sensors, plugged into the internet.

Van de Giesen: “Thanks to the internet we can make optimal use of the available infrastructure, such as pumps and storage space, to regulate sewer capacity effectively. This allows cities to operate their sewers as one integrated system.”

Adapting to climate change

By providing urban areas with an extensive data network Smart Urban Water helps cities to face the impact of current extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and long periods of drought by making better use of their sewer system.

Saving costs

The Smart Urban Water data network not only offers cities a means to deal with the hydrological impact of climate change, in the long run, it also helps to reduce the costs.

Van de Giesen: “Take the Dutch sewer system as an example. Sewer life span now is 40 years. By 2040 we should replace 110.000 kilometres at a cost of €1 million per kilometre. Prolonging the life span with 10 years by using them in a more efficient way means a saving of 25 per cent – a great deal of public money.”

Urban areas

Currently, more than 50 per cent of the world population is living in urban areas, with over 10.000 cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants. Many of these cities have old sewer systems.

For Rotterdam to be the first to implement Smart Urban Water data network therefore has, according to Van de Giesen, been “a logical choice”. Van de Giesen: “Rotterdam is a typical lowland delta city with a sewer system that has very small slopes and is thereby prone to failure by small disturbances. Through better monitoring techniques, combined with advanced modelling, the maintenance can be taylor-made.”