Migration towards a technology supported integrated network management model Gonzalo Reyes B.
Engineering, Planning and Tariff Management Manager
ESSBIO - NUEVOSUR
May 2017
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CHILEAN WATER UTILITY SECTOR PROFILE
CHILE:
• Surface area 756,000 km2; length 4,500 km
• Varied geography, 90% urban population
• Drinking water and wastewater services are served to 96% of the population by private regulated companies.
Water production and wastewater treatment costs (average of 15 m3 / month)
Denmark
Germany
USA Canada
Chile Mexico
1,422 Million
US$ Million
inhabitants
Annual demand
Annual revenues
Population Served
Assets
Million m3
Billion US$
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CHILEAN WATER UTILITY SECTOR PROFILE
ESSBIO NUEVOSUR ENGLAND
ESSBIO - NUEVOSUR
• 100% private company owned by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP)
• 2nd largest water company (20% of the population)
• Operations in three regions of Chile
• Nuevosur: 30-year concession
Our operation area:
• 3.5 million people in 122 districts
• From small towns of 2,500 citizens to big cities of 500,000 citizens
• 9,800 km of drinking water networks
• 152 water production plants
• 8,300 km of wastewater networks
• 98 wastewater treatment plants
The Catastrophe
27F 2010 3:34 am
5
Llacolén bridge over Biobío river
One building collapsed
Tsumani and riots: social unrest and hysteria
Damages in pumping stations
Daño en plantas de elevación de aguas servidas
Repairs works on a big sewage main
Damages on big water treatment plant (2.4 m3/s)
Damages on main waste water treatment plant (1.6 m3/s)
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NON-REVENUE WATER IN ESSBIO – NUEVOSUR
After the February 2010 earthquake, we experienced a sharp rise in NRW, leading us to start a
loss reduction plan, which was mainly based on leak detection and repairs.
NRW reduction plan benefits:
• Savings of 21 million m3 a year,
• Equivalent to the consumption of
350,000 inhabitants (11% of current
sales).
The reduction has been obtained in a
profitable way.
As time has gone by, actions to
reduce losses have become less
effective.
39.2%
34.7% 34%
36%
38%
40%
42%
44%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
%NRW Essbio - Nuevosur
21 mill m3
8.8° Chile earthquake
The 8.8° earthquake in 2010 caused a lot of damage to our tank, network and plant infrastructure.
NEED FOR CHANGE
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The poor performance level of our networks required making a change in our operational model
and asset management.
0 100 200 300
AGUAS CORDILLERAAGUAS MAGALLANES
AGUAS ANDINASAGUAS ARAUCANIA
AGUAS DEL ALTIPLANOESSAL
AGUAS CHAÑARAGUAS DE ANTOFAGASTA
AGUAS DEL VALLENUEVOSUR
ESVALESSBIO
Sectors with 4 or more cuts per semester: 2015 Chilean sanitation sector
0
4
8
12
16
2012 2013 2014 2015
Network maintenance costs (million US$)
In 2015, we had the worst continuity
index in the Chilean sanitation sector,
paying out a total US$2 million in
fines.
Network maintenance costs were
rising without managing to reverse the
bad results.
We had poor quality information in
regard to the network performance
and the registering of events did not
allow generating root-cause analysis.
The NRW was stuck at around 36%
and the reduction strategy was losing
effectiveness.
INTEGRATED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MODEL
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The new model incorporates the best practices of the sanitation industry to correct gaps of our
traditional management model.
1. Pressure Management
Inefficient pressure control
Manual, off-line monitoring
Reduction of bursts
Reduction of losses
Reduction of costs
2. Network operation monitoring
Limited network
monitoring
Manual data analysis
Online network monitoring
Automated event
management and analysis
Early attention of events
Better planning
Reduction of losses
3. Commercial losses management
Old meter group
Ineffective detection of
unauthorized consumption
Smart meters
More effective detection of
unauthorized consumption
Increase of revenues
Reduction of costs
4. Operation Management
High level of cuts and
affected clients
High level of fines
Change of procedures
Centralized planning
Repairs without cuts
Minimize affected clients
Improve service
Reduce fines
5. Structural pipeline diagnostics
Pipeline status unknown
Demands from the
regulator
Non-invasive structure
diagnosis, inspection and
monitoring of the pipelines
Identification of
investment or renewal
needs
CURRENT SITUATION FUTURE SITUATION EXPECTED BENEFITS
Effective pressure control,
high network coverage
Online monitoring
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GOALS:
Reduce bursts (increase network’s service life)
Reduction of losses
Lower costs (emergencies, replacements, water production)
CURRENT SITUATION
50% of network with pressure control (360 systems)
Inefficient current control (high pressure variability)
Manual and off-line monitoring system
PROJECT
Installation of 667 online pressure sensors (SCADA)
Self-adjustable pressure regulation systems based on demand
Incorporation of pressure control to cover 76% of the network.
Sectorization of networks in larger locations (DMA)
ADVANCE TO DATE
20 intelligent pressure control systems for modulation as per state
of critical point and consumption variations (i20, Pegasus)
Final stage of 667 online pressure control points
Tests of i20 system for operational monitoring of pressure
reducing valves with software that detects anomalies and sends
warnings.
Case #1: Rancagua (230,000 inhabitants)
6 Intelligent pressure control systems +
overflow control in tanks. Annual benefits:
-Recovery of 3 million m3 (equivalent to
consumption of 50,000 inhabitants)
-Savings of US$200,000
20%
25%
30%
35%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
%NRW Rancagua
Case #2: Linares (90,000 inhabitants)
Pressure control + network repairs.
Annual benefits:
-Recovery of 685,000 m3 (equivalent to
consumption of 14,000 inhabitants)
-Savings of US$35,000
30%
35%
40%
45%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
%NRW Linares
1. PRESSURE MANAGEMENT
“Network pressure has a direct, approximately linear, relationship with physical losses. Pressure management (not necessarily reduction!) is of utmost importance, especially in low-pressure systems with poor infrastructure condition.” Source: The World Bank .
2. NETWORK OPERATION MONITORING
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GOALS:
Detection of problems for early attention of events: bursts, faults,
communication problems, valve status, etc.
Better planning and prioritization of network interventions
Reduction of losses (operational costs) and improvement of
service continuity
CURRENT SITUATION
Limited network monitoring (SCADA)
Manual data analysis
Large offer of low cost monitoring technologies with energy and
communications autonomy
Large offer in 24/7 data analysis and processing software
PROJECT
Operational monitoring of key variables: pressures, flows, tank
levels
Event management system (TaKaDú)
Leak detection and localization (Aquarius Spectrum)
ADVANCE TO DATE
New SCADA in final stage of implementation
Online diagnosis and monitoring systems undergoing test period
TaKaDú
73 locations, 2,400 km of network (25%)
Monitoring signals from flows, pressures
and tank levels.
Event management which allows prioritizing
according to the magnitude and economic
impact (cost of the loss).
AQUARIUS SPECTRUM (5 km of network)
Permanent acoustic sensors to detect and
locate leak events early.
Identifies sounds generated by leaks and
transmits the information via GPRS to the
server which analyzes the information and
calculates its location.
3. COMMERCIAL LOSS MANAGEMENT
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GOALS:
Increase revenues by reducing unauthorized consumption
Increase revenues through greater accuracy in metering
Lower reading and billing process costs
CURRENT SITUATION
Wide-ranging offer of low cost smart meters and remote reading
technology
Group of old, low accuracy meters
Manual reading
System to detect unauthorized consumption is ineffective and
does not cover all the clients
PROJECT
Install 330,000 smart meters (33% of the total)
Replace current reading for remote reading
Implement new more effective analysis model and cover 100%
of the clients to detect unauthorized consumption
ADVANCE TO DATE
Pilot project of 7,000 smart meters (0.7%), is in the hypothesis
validation process
New analysis model to increase unauthorized consumption
detection is in its final stage
Case: Ñipas (6,000 inhabitants)
Installation of 100% smart meters,
increased billing by 15% and reduced
%NRW by 11 points. The remote reading
has worked without any issues.
At a company level, we have
installed 7,000 meters and billing
has increased by 7%.
A migration strategy is being
developed from the pilot’s
results.
100
150
200
20%
30%
40%
50%
12015
4 7 10 12016
4 7 10 12017
Thousands of m3
%NRW
Billing (m3) and %NRW
2015 2016 2017
Billing
%NRW
4. OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
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GOALS:
Improve network performance at a low cost
Better efficiency in the use of resources
Improve service quality (continuity)
Focus on continuity to reduce sectors with 4 or more cuts.
Minimize the number of clients affected by cuts
CURRENT SITUATION
Regulator fines for each sector with 4 or more cuts in a year
75% of sectors affected by cuts do not have faults
Operation was focused on minimizing the repair time without
considering the number of clients affected
PROJECT
Centralized operation planning and analysis
Change of operational procedures
Incorporation of technologies to repair without cutting
Improve network’s sectorization
Change model to centralized work order dispatch
ADVANCE TO DATE
Installation of 300 cut valves and 4 pressure reducing valves
More than 1,200 repairs without cutting (clamps)
Interconnections for redundant supply and focalized
replacements of pipelines
In two years, the operational changes have
significantly reduced the number of service
cuts, the amount of sectors affected and the
fines:
36 34 35 29
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2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Reduction of 30% in unscheduled
cuts for every 100km of network
753 749
495 418
300 251 138 80
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Sectors with 4 or more cuts
50% reduction of fines to 2016
5. STRUCTURAL PIPELINE DIAGNOSTICS
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GOALS:
Get to know the structural status of buried pipelines
Identify investment requirements
Use methods that do not affect service continuity
CURRENT SITUATION
Regulator requires structural condition reports
There are non-invasive technologies available
PROJECT
Identify and implement the best technology which provides
conclusive results at reasonable costs.
ADVANCE TO DATE
Leak detection and localization in 1,000 mm pipeline (3.5 km)
Evaluation of technological solutions both for steel and concrete
pipelines
Case: Mochita – Chepe Pipeline
Sensor in large D = 1,000 mm pipeline has
allowed detecting and locating 2 leaks.
Chepe Tanks
Mochita DWTP
Aquarius Sensors
Every day there is more technology available with direct use in drinking water pipelines
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PROCESSES-FOCUSED IMPLEMENTATION
The actions described are complementary and must be covered in coordination with the different areas of the company to reach the objectives.
Technology
People Process
Balance
To successfully migrate to this model, it is necessary to consider:
• Adaptation of the operational processes to the new requirements.
• Operators trained and aligned with goals.
• Incorporation of technologies for the control, operational management and decision-making.
Signal monitoring
Event
Event analysis
Work order
Event attention
Close event
Event management cycle:
• Monitoring alone does not make sense if the solutions needed to close the events are not done.
• The involvement of all players in the processes is essential.
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PROCESSES-FOCUSED IMPLEMENTATION
It is very important to have a long-term plan with clear objectives and challenges to develop in spite of the daily contingencies of the operation. But considering our ever-changing environment, it is also important to be resilient and have the ability to adjust the plan according to the results, the availability of new technologies or external conditions, specially considering emergency cases like droughts, floods or earthquakes. Finally, suitable planning and control must be considered, taking care that results are achieved in a profitable manner.
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