Few resources are as vital to our health and well-being as clean water and sanitation. What we easily take for granted would not be possible without myriad sophisticated technologies – to be found from water extraction and purification plants, through pumping and delivery, to the efficient removal of wastewater and its processing.
Image Credit: ABB inc.
An aerial view of a city skyline with a lake, industrial facilities, and circular water treatment tanks surrounded by greenery.
ABB supplies many of the components and technologies of our water and waste-water networks, including grid connections and protection, drivetrains for pumps and monitoring and control systems.
In many parts of the world, water is a scarce resource. Even where this is not the case, energy must typically be expended in purifying and pumping it, meaning every drop of water wasted also involves energy being wasted. Detecting and repairing leakages is vital to upholding and improving the sustainability of our water supply. Measuring the lowest flows is essential in addressing one of the biggest challenges facing the industry - detecting leaks when they are small. Monitoring systems quantify flows within a water network, and help localize leakages, permitting a more time-consuming and cost-effective deployment of repair crews. Monitoring also helps understand usage patterns and thus better plan operations and future investment.
With flow measurement being vital to the health of water networks, the flowmeters themselves must be as reliable and as possible, requiring minimal repairs or inspections.