Water Infrastructure Planning - Planning urban water supply

Capital Planning

Optimatics has been creating optimal solutions for capital master plans for over 14 years. With the experience of projects in major cities around the world, Optimatics has the reliability to ensure your capital plan is the optimal design. When undertaking capital planning design factors such as cost, reliability, service levels, environmental impact and water quality need significant consideration.

Optimatics helps you quickly and accurately consider hundreds of thousands of different options to develop the best solution for your needs. Capital projects planned using Optimatics are typically 10-30% more cost effective and have greater hydraulic capacity than a similar hydraulic design derived from traditional modelling methods. The benefits don't end there. On completion of the capital master plan, you can continue to benefit from optimization for activities such as:

• Ongoing scenario analysis
• Operational optimization
• Water quality optimization
• Risk and redundancy studies

Empowering Engineers and Capitalizing on Hydraulic Models

Optimizer WDS makes use of the existing hydraulic model, allowing utilities to capitalize on the significant investments made to develop and calibrate the model. The optimization process builds on any existing planning studies which have been completed. It does not replace the hydraulic model, the hydraulic modellers or the engineering team but rather empowers them to make defensible decisions.

 

Benefits of Staging

After confirming a set of capital works, it is important to stage those works in the optimal order. Integrating staging requirements ensures that service levels for customers will not drop below a certain point at any time during implementation of the optimal design.

Recycled Water

When planning a recycled water distribution network, experience has shown that great efficiencies can be achieved when the design of the potable system and the recycled system are dovetailed. Using Optimatics' technology and methodology, you can optimize recycled water and potable water systems simultaneously with tremendous benefits.

For example, you can make substantial savings and increase efficiency by allowing for the potable water system to "top up" the recycled water system in times of peak demand. Optimatics will model the rules for optimal interaction between the recycled water system and the potable water system, and use optimization techniques to recommend new and improved infrastructure.

The drivers for recycled water use can be different from those of potable water.  Optimization routines can be used to design a system based on other parameters such as to:

• Maximize profit of a scheme
• Maximize revenue from a scheme
• Ensure maximum take-up of water for a cost neutral position
• Maximize water take-up for a set cost.

Bulk Water Transport

Optimatics has carried out optimization studies on bulk water mains in a number of cities, including Auckland, New Zealand; the Gold Coast, Australia; Detroit and San Diego, United States.

Whether planning a single transport main or the total bulk water distribution system, capital costs are always high. In larger cities this capital expenditure can easily reach into billions of dollars. Optimatics creates detailed optimization models of bulk water systems and ensures that designs achieve the highest levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Urban Water Infrastructure

The long term infrastructure requirements of a city are constantly being reviewed. By developing an optimization model at the outset, especially when forecasting long term development, you can quickly run multiple growth and emergency scenarios. As projects develop, new ideas can be incorporated into the optimization process for further improvements.

Optimatics has saved clients hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs by optimizing system planning needs, while simultaneously providing improvements in the overall hydraulic capability of the system. Optimization significantly enhances planning and design by creating a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Optimization achieves:

• Superior designs
• Lower costs
• Reduced risk
• Improved water quality
• Reduced leakage
• Improved fire flow
• Improved operations
• Faster solutions

Optimatics can customize optimization software to meet your individual requirements for any given project. We provide training and software licensing so you can run alternative scenarios in-house as they arise. The power of Optimatics' computational intelligence is now at the fingertips of those who need the information, as they need it.

Security of Supply

During a capital planning project, Optimatics has the ability to assess security of supply by analyzing multiple possible emergency conditions that a system may experience. As Optimatics' computational intelligence identifies the assets covering all possible emergency conditions, a level of redundancy is designed into the system to enhance the security of supply.

In addition to considering security of supply as part of a planning project, Optimatics helps you efficiently carry out a criticality review of your existing networks using our purpose-built software, OptiCritical.

Pipe Criticality and Rehabilitation and Renewals

Optimatics enables clients to better understand their pipe network risks and maintain supply to customers. We help our clients perform pipe criticality analyses and optimize pipe renewals programs to minimize disruption to their customers and reduce cost. This is achieved by determining the best mix of rehabilitation and replacement alternatives.

Meeting customer demand

Optimatics understands the importance of ensuring that your assets are upgraded appropriately to meet customer demand. Incorporating optimization techniques into your pipe replacement program assists in the planning process by identifying the optimal mix of replacement, relining and abandonment for any particular system. We offer custom configured software to make this process more efficient and cost-effective for you.

Optimatics' OptiCritical and Optimizer WDS software takes into account industry-specific workflow procedures and allows you to:

• Identify the highest risk pipes within a distribution system
• Prioritize pipes for replacement
• Determine the optimal replacement plan over a given timeframe.

Your mains replacement strategy can now:

• Prioritize pipes for replacement based on both probability and consequence of failure 
• Minimize distribution system risk associated with pipe breaks 
• Minimize infrastructure investment required to achieve risk reduction and also maintain or improve system hydraulic performance 
• Avoid unnecessary replacement of aged pipes that have a low risk profile 
• Consider risk, system hydraulics, cost and staging all in the one framework 
• Be undertaken in a transparent and objective process

Pressure and Leakage Management

There is a direct link between the pressure in a water distribution network and the incidences of leakage, bursts and changing usage patterns. High and fluctuating pressures can result in burst mains and large volumes of leaks. Reducing pressure in water pipes allows you to:

• Reduce background leakage
• Reduce the frequency of bursts
• Extend the lifetime of assets
• Encourage lower consumer water consumption

Reductions in pressure however, have a related impact on customer service levels.  Optimatics helps water authorities find the right balance between adequate levels of service and minimal excess water usage.