Water & Wastewater Asia September/October 2019

36 | INSIGHT
Improving water access
intelligently with technology
By Leong Chee Khuan, Area Managing Director for South Asia and General Manager for Grundfos Pumps Sdn Bhd
Water is the world’s most vital
resource. Beyond its core function
of sustaining life, it is also a precious
commodity – one that billions of people in the
world have trouble accessing.
While we cannot deny the impact climate
change has on our water supply, access
to water can sometimes be a question of
distribution as opposed to resources. Water
resources are unequally distributed on the
planet - countries can be surrounded by
water sources, but communities still struggle
to tap into them.
One of these resources include groundwater,
one of the most important sources of water
that we have, in particular for locations with
dry, arid climates. Sometimes groundwater
is the only supply of water they can access.
However, accessing groundwater is a more
complicated process, as surface pumps
that use atmospheric pressure to draw
water are not able to support the weight
of groundwater deeper than a few metres,
making it impossible to pull water up to the
surface from the source.
Today’s technology and intelligent design
in the area of water transportation can
empower communities in countries like
the Philippines to navigate the challenging
landscape of improving water access,
whether the source is groundwater or
surface water from rivers and lakes.
BUILDING RESILIENT WATER
NETWORKS
Whether it is drawing water from the
ground, or from a far-flung source
inaccessible from the community,
submersible pumps can play an
important role in supporting the
water supply system, delivering the
water from source to user. Designed
to operate beneath the earth’s surface,
submersible pumps work differently from
surface pumps and are capable of moving
groundwater by pushing it up to the surface.
While submersible pumps can be an ideal
solution to delivering groundwater and
other remote sources of water, there are
several considerations to ensure the system
remains reliable and sustainable over time.
One of them is corrosion – a submersible
pump can be subjected to severe corrosion
in the long-term depending on what it is
submerged in and whether it is of a high
pH value, which could cause
the pump to gradually
deteriorate and affect
its performance.
Leong Chee Khuan, Area
Managing Director for
South Asia and General
Manager for Grundfos
Pumps Sdn Bhd
Submersible pumps today are designed to be
resilient against external environments. For
example, in addition to its high-performance
efficiency, thanks to its superior hydraulics
and motor, Grundfos’ range of SP submersible
pumps are built with AISI 304 stainless steel
inside and out, making the pump highly
resistant to corrosion. For sandy underground
environments, its octagonal bearings and
sand flush channels remove any sand
particles with the pumped water.
In addition to building robust pumps, advanced
monitoring systems can help monitor the
health of existing pump installations without
needing regular on-site inspections.
With intelligent technology, water
management can be pre-emptive
and predictive, ensuring that
we are constantly monitoring
the conditions of our water
systems and attending to
each and every change
adequately and addressing
any issue before it happens.
Water providers around
the world are increasingly
leveraging real-time sensors and
data analytics to support their
daily operations.
Water & Wastewater Asia • September / October 2019