Water supply: pumps by tank level, uneven wells, thin nights

Pumps follow tank levels and wells are used unevenly

What happens. Pumps start and stop on tank levels, and some wells carry most of the load while others stand. Power prices and the permit for each well do not enter the decision.

What it costs. Power cost at the wrong hours and a pumping point that is not efficient. In several federal states a charge on water withdrawal makes each cubic metre more expensive (Rödl & Partner).

Why the usual fix fails. A fixed pump order is simple and ignores prices and quality. Moving tank levels by hand shifts the load without a plan.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From pump and well logs, tank levels, power prices and the permits I check how the pumping could be planned. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether an optimised pump and well schedule lowers cost within the permits, and what it needs.

Background: Economic predictive control

Sensors drift between calibrations

What happens. pH, oxygen, near-infrared and flow sensors drift between calibrations. The control reads values that move away from the truth, slowly enough that nobody sees it on the screen.

What it costs. Wrong control, rework and quality questions after the fact. Calibration takes staff time that is scarce.

Why the usual fix fails. Calibrating more often costs more time. Redundant sensors tell you that two readings differ and not which one is right.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the sensor signals, calibration records and the related process values I check whether a model running alongside can detect the drift. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you which sensors can be watched this way, and what that could save in calibration visits.

Background: Control that adapts to drift and wear

Night and weekend alarms with few staff

What happens. The utility is on call all night and at weekends, with few people. Alarms come for levels, pressures and pumps, and many of them have no consequence.

What it costs. Overtime and tired staff, and a risk that a real alarm is lost among false ones. Staff leave because of the on-call load.

Why the usual fix fails. Raising alarm limits reduces the noise and the warning. More staff are not available.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the alarm lists, the on-call log and the process data I check which alarms are repeated and which carry information. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether better detection can cut the number of alarms and whether predictive control can keep levels and pressures away from the limits.

Background: Predictive control of process plants

Raw water turbidity and organics jump after storms and drought

What happens. After heavy rain or a long dry spell the raw water changes: turbidity, organic matter, colour. The treatment works on the dose it had before and sees the change when the filter results arrive.

What it costs. Chemical dosing for coagulation that is too high or too low, and quality at the edge of the specification. Filters load faster and need washing more often.

Why the usual fix fails. A jar test in the lab is a point in time. A turbidity sensor at the inlet says what has come, not what is coming.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From inlet probes, dosing records, filter runs and the weather I check how raw water changes show up in the data and how early. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether feedforward dosing on a computed raw water state is feasible and what it takes.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control

Withdrawals are limited in time and volume

What happens. Permits for water and gas withdrawals limit the volume per day, per year and sometimes per well. The utility has to meet the demand within these limits.

What it costs. Supply risk when a limit is reached before the demand has passed, and fines or a withdrawn permit if it is exceeded. Staff spend time keeping the books by hand.

Why the usual fix fails. A margin on every limit keeps the utility safe and leaves capacity unused. A table by hand cannot follow the changing demand.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From withdrawal records, demand and the permit conditions I check how the withdrawal could be scheduled to stay inside the limits. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether an optimised schedule within the permit is feasible, and what the margin costs now.

Background: Economic predictive control

Wells are used unevenly

What happens. Some wells run most of the time because they are close to the works or switch on first, and others rarely. The water table around the busy wells falls, and their pumps wear.

What it costs. Withdrawal limits that are reached at some wells while capacity is left at others, and quality differences between sources. The pumping power differs from well to well.

Why the usual fix fails. A fixed rotation ignores the water level, the quality and the power cost. Tuning the switch-on order by hand holds until demand changes.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From well logs (levels, flows, power, quality values) and the permits I check how the wells could be shared. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether an allocation optimisation is worth it and what it needs to know about each well.

Background: Economic predictive control

Network pressure is kept high everywhere

What happens. Pressure is held at a level high enough for the most demanding part of the network, and so it is high in all of it. At night, with little use, the pressure stays up.

What it costs. More leaks and bursts under high pressure, and more power for pumping. The wear on pipes is worse at the high end.

Why the usual fix fails. Lowering the pressure by hand risks complaints at the highest points. Pressure-reducing valves with fixed settings do not follow the demand during the day.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From pressure and flow records, valve data and the network plan I check how far the pressure can be adapted through the day. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether pressure management by predictive control is worth it and where the first zones would be.

Background: Economic predictive control

Losses hide in the night flow

What happens. Leaks run all day and all night, but at night there is little use, so the night flow is where they can be seen. Without metering by zone, nobody knows where the leaks are.

What it costs. Water and power are lost, and leaks wear the ground around the pipe. Repair crews are sent without a clear target.

Why the usual fix fails. Searching by listening is slow and covers a few streets a day. A zone meter shows where, but not how large a part is leakage and how much is use.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the flow and pressure data of the zones and the consumption records I check whether leaks can be estimated by zone. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you how well a computed leakage can direct the repair crews, and what additional metering is needed, if any.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control

Hot, dry summers break peak records

What happens. In hot and dry summers the demand rises above the earlier peaks, for garden watering, pools and cooling. The utility finds out when the tank levels fall in the evening.

What it costs. Supply risk in the peak hours and pressure complaints. Tanks have to be run lower or higher than usual to stay safe.

Why the usual fix fails. The reserves were planned for earlier peaks. Building more storage is a project of years.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From demand records, weather data and the tank and pump logs I check how well the peak can be forecast and what the tanks could do in advance. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether predictive operation of the tanks lowers the supply risk with what you have.

Background: Optimal paths, schedules and setpoint plans

Chlorine and water age at the ends of the network are unknown

What happens. Water stays long in the outer parts of the network, and the chlorine decays on the way. How old the water is and how much chlorine is left at the end is known only from a few sampling points.

What it costs. Quality risk at the end of the network, and chlorine dosed higher than necessary at the start to be sure. Complaints about taste follow.

Why the usual fix fails. More sampling points cost staff time. A single dosing level at the works cannot fit both the near and the far consumers.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the network plan, flows, tank levels and the chlorine readings I compute the water age and the chlorine along the network. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether the computed values are trustworthy enough to guide dosing, and where an extra measurement would help most.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control

Filters are backwashed by timer

What happens. Filters are backwashed on a timer, whether they are clogged or not. The filter state is seen only in pressure loss and in the outlet turbidity.

What it costs. Wash water and power for backwashes that were not needed, and filters that clog before the timer calls. Both lower the output.

Why the usual fix fails. A shorter timer interval avoids clogging and wastes water. A longer one saves water and risks the quality.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From filter logs (pressure loss, flow, turbidity, run times) and the raw water data I check whether the filter state can be estimated and the backwash called when it is due. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you how much water and energy that could save.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control

Membrane fouling is unknown

What happens. Membranes foul slowly, and the pressure rises. The state of the fouling is seen only through the pressure and the flow, which also change with temperature and the raw water.

What it costs. Energy goes up with the pressure, and cleaning is done by calendar or when the pressure is already high. Cleaning chemicals and downtime cost money.

Why the usual fix fails. Cleaning on a timer wastes chemicals and damages the membrane; waiting for a limit costs energy for weeks beforehand.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From membrane logs (pressure, flow, temperature, cleaning dates) I check whether the fouling can be separated from other influences. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether a fouling estimate can set the cleaning time, and how much energy and chemicals that could save.

Background: Control that adapts to drift and wear

New links between suppliers

What happens. Suppliers connect their networks to help each other in drought or a fault. The new link changes flows, pressures and water quality in both networks, and the rules for who feeds whom are not clear.

What it costs. Operating rules that nobody has tested, a risk of mixing waters of different quality, and a cost split that is disputed.

Why the usual fix fails. Rules agreed on paper meet reality at the first use. Waiting for a first emergency to learn how the link behaves is expensive.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the plans of both networks, flow and pressure data and the demand I build a network model of the linked system. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you how the link behaves under typical and extreme cases, and what operating rules would be sensible before you rely on it.

Background: Replacing hand-tuned parameter tables by a model

Flow meters are missing

What happens. At many points in the network there is no flow meter. The balance between what is produced and what is billed has gaps that cannot be located.

What it costs. Without a balance, losses stay hidden and decisions are made on estimates. A meter is a cost for the hardware and for a shaft or chamber.

Why the usual fix fails. Installing meters everywhere is not possible within a budget. Estimating by hand from tank level changes is too rough.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From pump data, pressures, tank levels and the network plan I check whether the missing flows can be computed. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you which flows can be computed with which accuracy, and where a physical meter is still needed.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control

Pump efficiency loss goes unnoticed

What happens. Pumps wear slowly: impellers erode, seals leak, clearances grow. The pump still delivers, but it needs more power for the same flow, and nobody sees it in the daily operation.

What it costs. Power cost that rises every year, and a failure that comes as a surprise. Overhauls are done by interval and not by state.

Why the usual fix fails. A power meter per pump is a start but does not separate wear from changes in pressure and flow. An overhaul by calendar replaces good pumps too early and bad ones too late.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From pump logs (power, flow, pressure, speed) and the pump curves I estimate the efficiency over time. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether the wear of each pump can be tracked, and which pumps are the first to need attention.

Background: Control that adapts to drift and wear

Turbines in the network are not part of the control

What happens. Some networks have turbines in drops or in pressure-reducing stations that recover energy. They run on their own settings, separate from pumps and tanks.

What it costs. Lost energy when a turbine runs outside its best range, and pressure swings in the network when it trips. The yield is small per hour and counts over the year.

Why the usual fix fails. Each turbine optimised alone does not use the water that the network moves anyway. A separate controller for each plant part is the usual state.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the turbine, flow and pressure data and the network plan I check how the turbine could be integrated in operation. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether integrated control of pumps, tanks and turbines adds yield without risking supply.

Background: Economic predictive control

Telemetry from the last century

What happens. Old telemetry and controls still run many water systems. They deliver a few values at long intervals and take simple commands, and the people who can change them are retiring.

What it costs. Optimisation is not possible on data that arrives every few minutes at best, and spare parts are hard to find. A failure may mean a trip in the night.

Why the usual fix fails. Replacing everything at once is a large project that no budget carries. Patching the old system keeps it alive and does not make it more capable.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the plans of the telemetry, the signal list and the process documentation I check what a step-by-step renewal should include and what each step should enable. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you what a new concept for controls and telemetry should look like and in what order to build it.

Background: Replacing hand-tuned parameter tables by a model

New treatment steps for desalination and reuse

What happens. Some utilities add treatment steps such as membranes for desalination or reuse of water. The steps are new to the crew and tied to the existing works.

What it costs. A difficult start-up, energy cost above the plan and quality risk. The first year of operation sets the course for the following ones.

Why the usual fix fails. The supplier’s start-up settings fit the design case. Learning on the real works costs time and water.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From the process design, the supplier’s data and the existing works I check how the new step interacts with the rest. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you what a control concept for the new step should look like and which parts can be tested in simulation first.

Background: Replacing hand-tuned parameter tables by a model

Carbon filters must be exchanged at the right moment

What happens. Limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water apply since 2026 and become stricter from 2028, and in some regions raw water is close to them (GVW). Activated carbon and ion exchange remove them, but the filter material is used up and has to be replaced.

What it costs. Carbon exchanged too late means a breach of the limit; exchanged too early means money spent on carbon that could have worked longer. Membranes are an alternative and need a lot of energy.

Why the usual fix fails. Exchange by calendar follows the supplier’s service life, not the actual breakthrough. Lab results arrive too late to say when the filter is spent.

How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From online and lab data of inflow and outflow, flows and carbon ages I check whether the breakthrough can be predicted. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether scheduling the exchange and the regeneration on a computed breakthrough, and optimising membrane energy, are feasible for your works.

Background: Computing unmeasured states for control