Dubai: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is keeping up its efforts to expand its infrastructure by demand projections for the ensuing years given Dubai’s rapid population and economic expansion. By doing this, Dubai hopes to strengthen its standing as a major world metropolis and a top spot to live, work, travel, and do business.
DEWA can now produce 495 million imperial gallons of desalinated water per day (MIGD). DEWA is striving to enhance the automation and efficiency of operations, as well as the dependability of water supplies, and to raise the visibility and management of the water distribution network.
This has consolidated its global excellence in water network losses through various innovative technologies and smart systems including:
Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) pipes
DEWA uses Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) pipes for water distribution, which offer many benefits including erosion resistance compared to traditional pipes.
Water Smart Distribution Management System
The Water Smart Distribution Management System increases the visibility and management of the water distribution network. It also improves the automation and efficiency of operations, and the reliability of water supplies and has consolidated DEWA’s global excellence in water network losses.
The Water Smart Distribution Management System has a centralised round-the-clock system for remote control and monitoring, as well as innovative smart equipment and systems. The system also uses Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) installed at interconnections between the transmission and distribution pipelines. These are connected to the advanced water SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) and hydraulic-management systems. The system improves fault location and isolation, leading to lower costs.
Water leakage simulator
DEWA has innovated an advanced, smart facility to simulate various leakage cases of water transmission pipelines. This allows evaluation, development and testing of new leak detection techniques. DEWA developed the facility using software and hardware, based on the Internet of Things (IoT), allowing for complete remote monitoring and control of the facility.
The facility includes smart transmission pipes equipped with sensors to monitor hydraulic indicators, collect data on water pressure, flow, and temperature, as well as control an IoT platform that stores data. The developed algorithm was able to identify leakage events with 94.4 percent accuracy.
Smart ball technology
The smart ball system consists of a small diameter sphere that is inserted into the water network where it travels freely, driven by the water flow. A smart program detects and captures sounds generated by a leak, gas pocket, or anomalies inside the pipeline to locate the leak. Since its utilization in April 2021 and until the end of 2023, the Smart Ball technology detected 81 leaks in the water transmission network in Dubai. This technology reduces operational expenses, as small cracks in the water transmission pipelines are treated before they increase in size and cause further water wastage.