Water & Wastewater Asia September/October 2021

FOCUS WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
In China, severe river pollution has
become a major issue, with algae
blooming in water bodies such as
the Chao Lake. In fact, the Ministry
of Water Resources in China recently
released an investigation report
claiming that over 80% of shallow
groundwater sources in the country are
polluted. The Water Pollution Action
Plan and the New Environmental
Protection Law issued in 2015,
prompted a wave of wastewater
treatment plant upgrades across the
municipal and industrial sectors. Plant
operators also had to work towards
minimising wastewater discharge
and increasing reuse efficiency to
support the country’s push for greater
sustainability.
How will you describe the role of
digitalisation in water, and what are
some of the digital water trends you
foresee taking place in the industry
over the next decade?
Debruyne: With digitalisation, the
water industry can move towards
pre-emptive asset management and
optimisation, and in the process drive
a significant shift from reactive to
real-time monitoring. This can reduce
the risk of unplanned disruptions and
improve operational resilience for both
municipals and businesses. Leveraging
on the potential of real-time data and
analytics capabilities that digitalisation
offers, companies in the water industry
can better serve their customers.
Decision makers can also utilise the
insights generated from digital water
technologies to deliver more desirable
outcomes.
In many cities across Asia,
urbanisation has brought about an
extensive growth of towns and cities,
and the local authorities have had
to expand existing water facilities in
order to meet demand. According
to the United Nations’ World
Urbanisation Prospects: The 2018
Revision report, an estimated 55% of
the world’s population lived in urban
areas, but this number is projected
to increase to 68% by 2050. Besides
bringing about greater investments in
physical network infrastructure and
treatment technologies, this growth
Recent and historical contamination
events are driving utilities to consider
real-time digital monitoring of the
quality of water in their pipelines.
Thomas Debruyne
Head of Digital Transformation – Asia-Pacific,
Veolia Water Technologies
Hubgrade offers
operators access to
all of Veolia’s water
cycle expertise for
the optimal and
continuous monitoring
of their installations
also provides utilities the opportunity
to establish smart technology in
their new water networks to allow
for network monitoring and control
in the longer term. This gives utilities
an advantage over their developed
counterparts, which may often wait
until the existing infrastructure needs
to be replaced or try to build smart
solutions that fit within the existing
infrastructure.
Recent and historical contamination
events, such as the November 2020
crisis in Selangor, Malaysia, are
driving utilities to consider real-time
digital monitoring of the quality of
water in their pipelines. The fear
of bio- and chemical attacks on
water distribution networks is also
a driver for real-time water quality
monitoring in these regions. Veolia
has joined forces with two partners,
namely IAGE and Phytocontrol, to
detect and quantify the Delta variant
of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in
France.
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