Optimizer for Hydraulic Performance

Optimizer™, a cloud-based optimization software solution, comprehensively analyzes water distribution and collection systems by evaluating hundreds of thousands of asset types (pipes, pumps, storages, and control facilities) and size combinations against multiple objectives such as cost, hydraulic performance, energy, and water quality. The software enhances an organization’s current hydraulic modeling experience by automating the traditional ‘trial and error’ planning approach, producing many potential combinations that meet the desired requirements. Optimizer™ allows planners and engineers to focus on results and avoid costly overdesigns.

Optimatics’ holistic methodology leverages algorithms, intelligent automation, and computational intelligence to simultaneously balance cost, risk, and level of service against an explosion of factors utilities must grapple with to better serve their communities. With the power of our platform, organizations are no longer limited by human capacity and can run any number of scenarios and combinations in just hours, not weeks. Solutions developed via the Optimatics platform regularly result in cost savings of 10-30% compared to manually developed strategies.

Asset Advanced (powered by Optimizer™)

You’ve already made an investment—how do you capitalize on it? Let us help you through your data journey – Asset Advanced (powered by Optimizer™) is a unique opportunity to break data silos across your organization and improve data quality. Dynamic links to common EAM, CMMS, GIS, SCADA, hydraulic models, allows you to have all the information you need in one place. A set of data engineering tools and the Optimatics + SUEZ experience will take over where your data is not enough. The average solution on the marketplace relies on a worst-first ranking system. Asset Advanced offers a dynamic, transparent, and multi-objective approach that allows you to consider multiple solutions backed by high-performance computing and intelligent automation. Understand the trade-offs. Useful for CAPEX, OPEX, and TOTEX calculations.

  • Considers your data from ALL angles with its holistic approach, using hydraulic, environmental, social, carbon, and other analyses in the decision-making process.
  • Helps you make defensible, dynamic decisions that facilitate collaboration among stakeholders through hard data analysis, simulations, and repeatable processes—empowering you with a long-term strategic approach.
Optimatics | Optimizer

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CRITICALITY TOOL

Locate which pipes in your system will cause the most problems if they break by running hydraulic analyses for all possible breakage events and comparing the results. The Optimizer™ Hydraulic Criticality Tool allows you to rapidly run criticality analyses on the Cloud for distribution networks of any size or complexity. Calculate hydraulic consequence of failure metrics to inform asset management. Investigate multi break scenarios to assist in planning for seismic events. Easily identify the valve closures required to isolate any pipe in the system. Identify areas of the network with inadequate isolation valve coverage.

GROWTH TOOL

Help utilities get a better understanding of their existing network capacity and scope for growth and to assist in assessing developer inquiries for new connections. Determine how much additional demand can be added to nodes and DMAs within a network. Satisfy regulatory requirements that govern connection fees. Design and appraise optimal upgrades when facilitating new development connections while accurately allocating costs to developers. Produce heat maps showing surplus capacity and deficient regions of a network.

NETWORK PLANNING

Provide cost-effective infrastructure spending while balancing short-and long-term service levels. Budget, time, and technology constraints prevent us from identifying the true potential of our capital and operational investments with the traditional manual approach. Optimizer™ allows you to bring innovation to your planning process and realize optimal strategies for addressing network planning objectives using a holistic approach.

BLOCKAGE TOOL

The Optimizer™ Blockage Tool extends the functionality of the Optimizer™ ICM Integration, allowing users to analyze different blockage scenarios in their collection system model. Identify locations and volume of any flooding and backups caused by blockage events. Assess how sensitive a network is to different levels of blockage. Pinpoint the best locations to install water level sensors for network monitoring and blockage detection. Determine how long operators have to respond after a blockage occurs and before flooding begins. Quantify damage costs associated with different blockage events. Compute hydraulic consequences of failure scores of individual conduit assets to aid in asset management planning.

MULTI-ASSET OPTIMIZATION

Optimizer™ for Asset Performance provides inherent tools for supporting asset replacement strategies of both linear and vertical assets. The modeling and analysis of these two asset types are unique. The characteristics and relationships of linear assets in a network environment must be accounted for through a holistic view of the network. Optimization of discrete, vertical assets, such as those in a pump station or plant, are process-based and thus require a different approach when analyzing end-of-life decisions and replacement options. Supporting individual asset-class analysis, with the ability to combine those results for enterprise planning, ensures the right investments are made to the right assets at the right time.

HYDRAULIC FLUSHING

Creating flushing plans for water distribution systems is a difficult task. Operators need to ensure that all pipes in their system get flushed and that adequate scouring velocities can be achieved. At the same time, operators want to minimize the time it takes to carry out flushing to save on costs. The Optimizer™ Flushing Tool gives utilities a smarter and more effective way of producing high quality, unidirectional flushing plans. Step through the network to produce an optimal flushing plan, saving time and money. Improve water quality in the system to benefit customers. Directly distribute plan diagrams to inform field teams of planned flushes. Identify pipes that are not flushable under the current valve configuration.

PROJECT PRIORITIZATION

Are you struggling to prioritize your capital investment plan? Is it difficult to balance priorities, minimize risk, and maximize benefit with constrained budgets? These are challenges that are shared by many water and wastewater utilities worldwide. With the Optimizer™ PPT module, decision makers can optimally schedule their capital investments to meet annual budgets, minimize risk, and maximize benefits. They can also visualize how these investments are distributed. Using Optimatics’ Optimizer™ software for prioritizing your capital investment plan generates optimal outcomes through a transparent and trustworthy decision making process, giving your stakeholders confidence.

WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT

The Optimizer™ WMR module allows you to modernize and automate your process by identifying optimal strategies for addressing your program objectives and holistically packaging programs. Managing a comprehensive mains replacement program is a daunting task for any utility. The key to a successful program is to find an optimal balance among often competing factors. The goal is to identify the best combination of water main replacement projects while considering project size, replacement cost, remaining value, selection efficiency, spatial efficiency, road moratoriums, community impacts, and more.

ADVANCED RISK MODEL

Predict the evolution of risk, taking into account financial, social, and environmental consequences of failure. Evaluate the impact of failure in service levels.

ADVANCED PLANNING TOOLS

Oftentimes hydraulic models represent the network as a set of relatively small sections of pipe. This works well for modeling purposes but when it comes to using that data for asset renewal plans and optimization, it exponentially increases the complexity of the optimization problem and leads to unrealistic strategies. Optimatics Advanced Planning Tools empower users to utilize metapipes (groups of pipes) when formulating pipe renewal optimization. By defining a set of rules to follow when considering the creation of metapipes, consistent groupings can be developed across the network.

Optimizer™ is an important component of any robust asset management program; assisting in the decisions associated with location, sizing, rehab and replacement prioritization, and, most critically, stretching available dollars to make the overall program more affordable. Optimizer helps avoid common pitfalls of “like for like” thinking, enabling planners to evaluate all options and make the most informed decisions.

Optimatics gives you the tools to effectively maximize the value of capital, as well as operations and maintenance expenditures in the constant renewal and replacement of infrastructure assets. Infrastructure plans developed using Optimatics are typically 10-30% more cost-effective and have greater hydraulic capacity than plans derived using traditional methods.

Optimatics takes all of an organization’s planning objectives into account in helping it to navigate laws, regulations, and issues involved in planning. A city’s source, storage, treatment, and delivery systems must be accurately evaluated to guide future water utility decisions. Prioritizing capital improvements, modeling hydraulic distribution systems, determining capacity, and estimating and ranking needs and deficiencies are all tasks Optimatics does more efficiently and in a fraction of the time it takes manual trial-and-error methods.

CIPs are shorter-range plans, usually 4-10 years. They outline the capital projects and equipment purchases, provide a planning schedule, and identify financing options. Optimized solutions take all issues and objectives into account and recommend defensible solutions that represent the best use of available funds in each year.

Optimization helps utilities and their partners determine the best combination of pump schedules and key valve settings to ensure power consumption is minimized while water quality is maintained. Using Optimizer™ on a daily or monthly basis informs operational strategy, resulting in increased efficiency without the costly expense of a fully integrated, real-time system.

Deferring infrastructure spending can help arrange appropriate financing and develop effective plans using existing plant capacities. Optimization generates plans that maximize efficiency using existing assets and therefore deferring the need to upgrade.

Optimizer™ is able to incorporate the preferences of all stakeholders and generate plans that make the trade-offs between each stakeholder’s preferences transparent. With transparency comes open dialogue and compromise, because when plans consider all the options that all the parties find important, negotiations go more smoothly.

Optimatics has the ability to assess supply security by analyzing multiple emergency conditions 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.

Each municipality is different. Optimatics takes what’s real and possible and blends it with what is required and feasible. Integrating treated wastewater for non-potable purposes? Expanding an existing plant or importing water from a neighboring system? All possibilities need to be assessed with an understanding of the impacts on the existing system, as well as the variety of future scenarios, to determine the clear winner.

Optimizer™ finds solutions that address environmental sustainability, financial stewardship, & community concerns.

Consider All the Possibilities

Holistic Computational Cloud

Zero in on the Best Strategies

Algorithms, Multi-Objective

Act with Confidence

Transparent, Data-Driven