Water & Wastewater Asia May/June 2019

16 | GRUNDFOS SPECIAL
10 years will see innovation and technology
go in a very different direction.
While intelligent technology is already being
used to conduct pre-emptive and predictive
maintenance, according to Dr Gao, the pace
will be really picking up over the coming five
to 10 years, with pieces such as smart shower
devices becoming a mainstay.
“In the face of growing water demand amidst
rapid urbanisation, we expect the water
industry to greatly increase their adoption
of intelligent technology in ‘smart cities.”
Dr Gao continued.
“Intelligent technology will play a key role
in establishing interconnectivity across a
city’s water management systems, applying
advanced analytics to spot trends and
patterns, as well as make predictions ranging
from weather alerts to adapting water
pressure based on reported water usage
data.”
ENDEAVOURS
While there are increased efforts to control
and remedy issues such as water pollution,
regular monitoring of water sources is also
vital — though access to the necessary
technology may be limited in some parts of
the world.
But because water is such a vital part of
infrastructure, the industry has made great
strides in switching to newer technologies,
though adoption remains slow and in Dr Gao’s
opinion, companies need to do more to ensure
they limit their impact on the environment as
much as possible.
“What companies need to realise is that
while advanced intelligent technology can
cost more upfront, the benefits in the long
run will exceed the upfront investment,”
Dr Gao elaborated.
“As these innovations are further developed
on a larger scale and with affordable
distribution, cost will be less of a barrier, and
it is valuable to establish strong cases through
good quality pilot projects to demonstrate
the innovative features to increase the
acceptance level.”
Water security is another critical issue the
world is facing, with countries like Singapore
focusing on alternative water sources such
as water reuse and desalination, with Dr Gao
predicting that water reuse will eventually be
essential to meet global demand “especially
when approaches like water use efficiency
and consumption reductions are maximised.”
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The rapid industrialisation the water
industry is still undergoing has revealed an
ever-widening gap in technology between
countries, and, ever committed to their
corporate social responsibility, Grundfos
concentrated their efforts on closing the
technological gap.
“On top of that, the current wastewater
treatment and management methods are
highly energy-intensive as they undermine
water movement and treatment throughout
the production process,” added Dr Gao.
To that end, the company developed BACMON,
an intelligent, automatic microscope-based
3D scanning optics for monitoring bacteria
real-time in the field. The patented solution
classifies all particles as bacteria or nonbacteria
by automatically moving a digital
microscope over a flow cell.
Grundfos is also working together with
PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, to
innovate new solutions in water treatment,
water quality monitoring, efficient pump
solutions and digital water solutions.
“During our partnership, we tested Cake
Filtration, a new wastewater treatment
concept that used sludge generated from the
treatment process to filter the wastewater,
with BACMON++, a solution that offers online
monitoring of total bacteria concentration
in near real-time, improving bacterial
monitoring of the water network,” he said.
“At the same time, we are working on
innovative pump-based solutions to optimise
the water treatment process for both cost
saving and energy efficiency, especially on
the membrane filtration process. We have
successfully piloted the solutions in Europe
and are looking forward to leveraging these
experiences to solve water challenges in
Singapore.”
Moreover, with most of the operational cost of
water coming from the energy needed to move
the resource — pumps alone are responsible
for a staggering 10 per cent of global
electricity consumption — and other costs
incurred from water lost during the process,
such as through leakages in the system.
“One key solution is Grundfos’ Demand Driven
Distribution, an intelligent water management
pumping solution that automatically adjusts
water flow through the use of remote sensors
and reduces excessive pressure in the water
pipes, minimising energy used throughout the
day and also limiting water leakages and losses
to drives down costs,” Dr Gao continued.
“To date, Demand Driven Distribution has
helped countless cities address this issue,
such as tackling extensive leakage issues
for water authorities while ensuring minimal
disruption to citizens.”
THE FUTURE
According to Dr Gao, digitisation is the call
for future water technology developments,
with digital solutions such as big data and
analytics able to guide operations on-ground
and even enabling autonomous operations
in the future.
“As systems get more and more complex, the
water industry can benefit from data-based
technology to ease decision-making,” he
concluded.
“Digitisation also provides an effective way
to stimulate customer problems and test
solutions at controllable costs. It paves
the way for new business models that can
balance both sustainability and profitable
growth.” WWA
All images are credited to Grundfos.
Water & Wastewater Asia • May / June 2019