Application of SCADA and IoT for Efficient Management of Urban Water Supply System

The urban water demands in various parts of the world, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia, are increasing exponentially, whereas the supply decreases due to various anthropogenic activities. The migration of people toward the urban center and the expansion of cities has increased pressures on the existing water supply and efficient supply management to reduce the supply and demand gap. An urban water supply system is a complex system composed of many different operational components, including pipes, pumps, motors, flow meters, sensors, control valves, etc. This system needs supervision, monitoring, and control from a central location through artificial intelligence. This paper presents the application of the supervisory, control, and data acquisition (SCADA), the use of the Internet of things (IoT) for the urban water supply system (WSS) to monitor, collect, and analyze data from remote locations in a real-time basis. The study discusses the components of SCADA, different kinds of IoT-based water sensors, along with the workflow in urban WSS and proposes this system for WSS in Ethiopia cities (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa). The methodology is illustrated with the help of a real-time WSS in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa cities of Ethiopia. The significant problems in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa water supply systems are that accessibility, connectivity, reachability, unaccounted water, quality, and irregular timing of water distribution, etc. The study shows how the implementation of SCADA and IoT can help in better management of such utilities under normal and abnormal conditions. Further, it highlights the application of digital technologies in a complex WSS for efficient management by reducing the impact and severity of component failures and efficient preventive and curative maintenance.