Digitalization of Water Management Services Increases Efficiency and Reduces Operating Costs

• Process automation or the deployment of sensors in the field allow real-time access to consumption data, flows, pressures or information  on water quality
• Indra's technology company's solutions are aimed, among other things, at digitizing the operation of water networks and reducing the energy costs  of its facilities
• Sustainability is one of the fundamental pillars of  Minsait's proposal, which on February 9 celebrates the second edition of its Phygital Days to analyze the most innovative  technological  trends  aimed at preserving the planet

Madrid,  February 8, 2023.- Improving operations in supply and sanitation networks or reducing energy costs in companies dedicated to water management involves  having the use of tools that,  connecting the physical and digital world,  help to face the main challenges  that raise water resources  in the current context,  such as compliance with the quality assurance of drinking  water, emergency response, control of non-revenue water, energy efficiency or optimization of the resource in  agricultural use.

 Minsait, an  Indra company,  is  the  technological partner of more than thirty  utilities around the world that serve more than 50 million people in countries such as Spain, Italy, Portugal, Gambia, Bahrain, Argentina, Chile, Peru or   Mexicoor,   among others.

"Indra has been accompanying the different actors within the water sector for more than 20 years  (management companies,  hydrographic confederations,  WWTP operators, irrigation communities...) in its digital transformation, which has allowed us to have technical and functional knowledge to  be able to offer and give an optimal and efficient response to their needs", explains Ignacio Morcillo, global manager of  Ddevelopment of Negocio for the Water sector in Minsait.  

Minsait's proposal for a more efficient water management links with its Phygital concept to connect the physical and digital world (OT/IT) with a new digitalization approach to improve the efficiency, profitability and flexibility of operations on all types of assets, products or physical infrastructures, transforming the interaction of companies with their customers and contributing to sustainability objectives.

Currently, in order to offer the best guarantees in the provision of water services,  technological solutions allow to  control the quality  of this resource throughout the process and improve the efficiency of the hydraulic infrastructure. In this sense, Minsait has developed a suite of solutions,  specifically Onesait Utilities,  which allows covering and digitizing  the entire value chain, from the conservation of water resources to commercial management for end users.

This suite of  solutions is deployed on an advanced platform that optimizes  resources, facilitates the integration of functionalities and guarantees interoperability between systems and devices. Within Onesait Utilities there are solutions that are oriented, for example,  to water efficiency, collecting all the intelligent measurement of the network parameters (flows, pressures ...)  , or energy efficiency to monitor consumption and implement saving measures.

These modules can coexist on the same   platform deployed in the cloud, which allows the ingestion of data from all  the sensors of  the networks and  treatment plants and  external sources of information such as environmental variables. Allthis is processed with advanced algorithms  and  artificial intelligence tools and,  finally,  published via the web, allowing the operator to correctly track the activity (display information and receive alerts) and facilitate their decision making.

On the other hand, taking into account the present and future challenges involved in a resource as closely linked to the climate as water  ,  the Onesait Utilities proposal  also makes use of IoT -Internet of Things-, big data and analytics to  facilitate the prevention and management of floods and droughts and to allow a more rational use of water resources in smart city projects. 

Every drop counts

Intelligent asset management and sensorsfolded  in the field or the automation of remote work  processes  are some of the tools used in the digital transformation process of this key sector. 

Thus, the Onesait Utilities system, through itsasset management and Smart Metering solutions, allows users or operators to access real data on consumption, flows or water quality through an advanced algorithm; obtain a complete view of all the processes associated with the supply;      or  locate possible leaks in real time by monitoring distribution networks and transforming optical signals into alarms with an intuitive interface.

The objective of Minsait's proposal is to achieve a more efficient use  of water, facilitating  the resource to a greater number of people and reducing the volume of water captured from the environment;  allowing a reduction in operating costs thanks to its ability to anticipate breakdowns, extending the useful life of assets and facilities; and ensuring water  quality, with the consequent prevention of service interruptions.

Sustainability as a key pillar 

To address a challenge as important as sustainability, Minsait has developed a global solution designed to increase the operational and energy efficiency of industrial processes or plants.  These types of solutions incorporate advanced technologies such as hyperautomation or machine learning (ML), helping companies dedicated to water management to minimize their operational risks.

This solution therefore makes it possible  to monitor the energy consumption of all assets and locate their optimum operating points. The solution also shows the  main indicators with the aim of identifying operational and energy saving measures to be implemented to achieve cost reduction.

Specifically, Minsait, through its Oblysis solution,  allows to reduce the energy consumption of the biological process of activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) by up to 50% and reduce both the amount of sludge generated and theuse of additives.  Precisely, the  main challenge of WWTP operators is to reduce the energy consumption of their plants and be sustainable over time. 

The development of innovative solutions aimed at preserving the planet will be precisely the axis of the second of the Phygital Days. The forum where Minsait analyzes the latest technological trends  and addresses  the challenges of the industry with proposals that facilitate the connection of the physical and virtual world will show, this February 9, how to accelerate the digitalization of companies contributing to sustainability. 

The customer comes first 

Within the activity of water services, Minsait has been working with a leading product in the market and that is part of its Onesait Utilties suite. This is Onesait Customers, a system designed to cover the complete commercial cycle that guarantees the quality of service to end users. 

The system optimizes commercial operations, improves the attention of the end user by making an omnichannel service available to the client, integrates diverse services of high added value  and manages to provide intelligence to the information processed, generating dashboards and self-service reports that facilitate the decision making of managers. 

"The digitalization of processes in the water sector must become a basic pillar for the management of services and the search for water excellence, so it is essential that it is incorporated into the backbone of companies," says Ignacio Morcillo, who highlights Minsait's  extensive experience in the digital transformation of companies.  Performing an end-to-end accompaniment  with a clear focus on the management of the change of the organization in its digital transformation.

About Minsait

Minsait (www.minsait.com) is Indra's leading company in digital transformation and Information Technology. Minsait presents a high degree of specialization and sectoral knowledge, which complements its high capacity to integrate  the core world  with the digital world, its leadership in innovation and digital transformation and its flexibility. With this, it focuses its offer on high-impact value propositions, based on end-to-end solutions, with a remarkable segmentation, which allows it to achieve tangible impacts for its clients in each industry under a transformational approach. Its capabilities and leadership are shown in its product offer, under the name Onesait, and its transversal offer of services.

About Indra

Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technology partner for the key operations of its clients' businesses worldwide. It is a leading global provider of proprietary solutions in specific segments of the Transport and Defense markets, and a leading company in digital transformation and Information Technology in Spain and Latin America through its subsidiary Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive offer of its own products, with an end-to-end approach, high value and a high innovation component. At the end of 2021, Indra had revenues of 3,390 million euros, more than 52,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and commercial operations in more than 140 countries.