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ARTICLE | SEPTEMBER 2, 2021




HOW TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS DRIVEN BY THE WATER-ENERGY NEXUS

Source: OSIsoft

Anyone who has been paying attention to the news or their utility bills realizes
the stresses that climate change, user demand, and utility rates are putting on
water resources, energy systems, and consumers. And despite improved production
technologies, being able to reduce energy costs and conserve precious water
resources still relies on collecting, managing, analyzing, understanding, and
leveraging data efficiently. Here are some insights on how to make that happen.

What Is The Water-Energy Nexus…

The U.S. Department of Energy’s executive summary on The Water-Energy Nexus:
Challenges and Opportunities provides an overview of the big-picture
relationship between modern water and electric utility infrastructure and
operations. The top four messages conveyed in that document are as follows:

 1. “Energy and water systems are interdependent.
 2. “We cannot assume the future is like the past in terms of climate,
    technology, and the evolving decision landscape.
 3. “Water scarcity, variability, and uncertainty are becoming more prominent,
    potentially leading to vulnerabilities of the U.S. energy system.  
 4. “It is time for a more integrated approach to address the challenges and
    opportunities of the water-energy nexus.”

…And How Does It Impact Water Treatment Operations?

Water and wastewater treatment facilities represent some of the largest
consumers of electricity from local grids. Between 30 and 40 percent of water
utility operating costs are related to energy consumption — primarily for
pumping and aeration blowers. With high capital costs for building new
power-generation infrastructure, the best option is for large consumers such as
water utilities to squeeze more efficiency from existing facilities. The best
way for water utilities to do so is to take maximum advantage of data available
from their existing water treatment operations to determine their most efficient
use of energy.

And despite recent declines in water use among electric power generators in the
U.S., those facilities are still a leading water demand application — neck and
neck with agricultural irrigation at 38 to 39 percent of all water withdrawals.
Electric utilities are exploring new technologies to implement more
environmentally compatible water use and reuse in order to reserve more capacity
for human consumption.

Finding Better Alternatives For Joint Water-Energy Concerns

Water treatment and power generation plants each have their own vested interests
in managing the water-energy nexus for optimum efficiency. But it still makes
sense that the two parties communicate and collaborate to mitigate pressures on
the source and the cost of their own energy or water needs.

 * Recognizing Shared Pressures. Having an accurate sense of the demands or
   restrictions being placed on electrical and water utilities prepares each
   party to make better decisions on their own operating efficiencies and
   accommodate the needs of their power or water supply associate. That can help
   each party cope with issues such as reducing carbon footprints, addressing
   water scarcity, controlling costs, and adapting to inevitable changes in
   climate, population shifts, water reuse, and economic pressures.

For example, water utilities that shift electricity demand to off-peak hours can
save money while relieving pressures on electricity producers — particularly
those challenged to maintain a balanced power grid despite unpredictable
contributions from distributed energy resources (DERs) such as renewable solar
or wind power. Better management of existing generating capacity afforded by
predictable consumption can help electric utilities to avoid large,
capital-intensive construction projects for new power generation plants and to
minimize the need for fossil fuel-burning ‘peaker’ plants.

 * Recognizing The Value Of Collaboration. Both water and energy providers stand
   to gain from managing and analyzing operations data through their own
   versatile performance intelligence system. Using similar systems can make it
   easier to share related insights in familiar formats that encourage the most
   efficient water-energy nexus decisions.

What Water Utilities Can Do To Save Energy Costs

Water and wastewater treatment utilities that have good access to analytical
data through performance intelligence systems (Figure 1) are better equipped to
optimize operations and reduce overall energy costs by:

 * Appreciating The Value Of Good Information. Making an effort to use the
   analytics capabilities of smart water technology to be more proactive can
   help any utility run more efficiently. This can be true for sudden, drastic
   changes in demand or operating conditions, as well as for small
   inefficiencies that might otherwise go undetected (Figure 2).

 * Reducing Outright Consumption. With good analytics, water utilities can cut
   energy consumption and other production costs by:

 * fine-tuning processes to minimize wasteful energy consumption, chemical
   overdosing, and premature maintenance efforts.
 * using analytics to optimize rotating equipment use (i.e., pumps/blowers) in
   terms of optimal pump-curve performance, specific energy, and operating
   costs.
 * using variable frequency drives (VFDs) to match energy consumption to actual
   demands.

 * Adjusting Time Of Consumption. Not every kilowatt hour of energy comes at the
   same cost. Knowing how peak-hour consumption commands a much higher rate than
   off-hours consumption and being able to adapt water treatment schedules and
   water demand accordingly can help water utilities reduce their energy costs
   even without reduced consumption.

 * Exploring Demand-Response Contracts. This creative offering developed by
   power utilities to ease stress on their generation capacity during peak hours
   can offer attractive savings for water utilities that can manage their energy
   consumption in line with utility contract requirements. It requires
   communicating anticipated demand to the power utility in advance,
   time-shifting operations when necessary to avoid periods of peak power
   demand, and staying in close communication during periods of volatility. A
   good performance intelligence and analytics system is necessary to make that
   practical and to avoid the crippling penalties that can accompany excessive
   peak-hour power use.



Graphic courtesy of AVEVA

Figure 1. A performance intelligence system that lets any approved user collect
time-series data from remote assets, attach meaning to that raw data, analyze it
according to operational or financial concerns, and build mobile-friendly user
dashboards — all without any coding requirements — makes it easier to generate
data-driven, decision-making power for better outcomes. Such systems have
already proven their value in water treatment and power generation applications.



Photo courtesy of AVEVA

Figure 2. Being able to focus on a targeted operating parameter and build a
dashboard display of current and historic performance values, graphs, and
graphic displays in minutes provides visibility into situations that can enable
operators to identify and correct energy-wasting conditions. Similar steps can
also be taken to schedule water plant operations in line with off-peak energy
rates.

What’s Next?

Water/wastewater utilities interested in tackling the challenges of the
water-energy nexus should start by exploring the success of other water
utilities with similar concerns, collaborating with their power providers to
identify money-saving opportunities, and registering for FREE access to learning
courses or a demo on the value that good analytics can deliver.

Gary Wong is the Global Industry Principal of Infrastructure and Water at AVEVA,
a leader in real-time, industrial, performance intelligence. He leads their
global data centers, facilities, smart cities and water businesses and has 25
years of extensive international experience providing sustainable, strategic and
cost-effective digital solutions. Prior to joining AVEVA, he has held positions
with OSIsoft, Metro Vancouver and as a consultant directing both public and
private sectors on operations, digital transformation, planning, sustainability,
and engineering. Mr. Wong is also the Chairman of the Smart Water Networks Forum
(SWAN) Americas Alliance and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering,
is registered as a Professional Engineer in Computer Engineering, holds an
M.B.A. from the Queen’s School of Business and is also a Chartered Professional
Accountant.








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