The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to processes and assets, in the water sector companies wateris a growing reality, as it is in other markets.

Although it is not the only technology in the digitalization of water, it is perhaps the one that will bring the most changes to the business model, as it attempts to replicate cognitive processes and support the evolution of the sector and its automation.

Although other AI technologies are present, it is Machine Learning (ML) that has the strongest presence in the water sector. ML develops algorithms that allow a machine to learn and have increasingly accurate knowledge, acquired from external data sources, such as IT, OT , IoT (sensors) and others. Other AI technologies that are also present in the water sector include Expert SystemsThe other AI technologies that also have a presence in the water sector are Expert Systems, voice and vision recognition, and even robots and natural language recognition. And all of them are intended to be applied to processes that are costly from a labor and/or execution time point of view.

CASE STUDIES

Regardless of the type of learning being applied, AI is providing answers to many industry needs.

Answers such as fraud detection using machine learning based models. Or leak detection, where detection time is critical to save water. The models used in AI applied to the sector can also help to improve the quality of supply, anticipating and forecasting consumption and the quality of the water itself. Another area where it improves performance is in irrigation systems and pumping systems.

In terms of wastewater, AI helps in the detection of sewer overflows and even prevention, by being able to predict preventive cleanings. As well as in the detection of pathogens helping to avoid or minimize epidemics or pandemics.

On the business side of the industry, AI is often used to report on customer sentiment towards the company in social media and other forums, helping to increase customer satisfaction. As well as serving customers more and better with PLN technology and intelligent chatbots. Not to mention the automatic reading of water meters via vision recognition, in places where there is no AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) technology.

SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER OF IA DEVELOPMENT IN THE WATER SECTOR

Sustainability will drive the evolution of AI products in the water sector. Continuous improvement in technology will lead to increasingly optimized energy supplies and consumption, more accurate leak detection processes, and lower maintenance costs. Thanks to these advances, total CO2 emissions will also be reduced, thus achieving a more intelligent management of the integral water cycle.

Another reality is the increase in the use of edge devices. And of course the paradigm shift from computing on on-premise servers to computing with cloud platforms, which is already expanding by leaps and bounds. This is accompanied by the improvement of sensors and processors in assets that allow computing directly on them.

AI also enables real-time access to proprietary data and forecasts to end customers themselves, allowing for increased transparency and decision making by customers.

But the road is not free of challenges that must be overcome gradually, such as scalability, since it is easier and more sustainable to group data in a single storage center, such as the cloud. In addition, and just as important, is the retro of security. Both in the cloud and Edge devices or IoT Sensoric.

In the not too distant future, new use cases will be incorporated, where AI is the cornerstone. We are talking about medium and long term weather patterns. This will be of great value in helping us to manage the changes caused by climate change.

As you can see, AI has a lot to say in the digitization of water, and even if it is accompanied by other technologies, its role is fundamental so that a good as valuable as water can be available to any human being. And that purpose is what drives MonoM in the development of its AIoT services and platform for the sector.

Have a good and prosperous day.

Antonio Ramirez - CMO MonoM (Alava Group)