By Arvind Kakru, Vice President – Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric India
India’s rise as a global force is evident in its significant economic growth and rapid industrialisation, contributing to its economic resilience. However, this progress is challenged by an unprecedented population explosion, with over 1.4 billion people, or approximately 18% of the global population, already residing in the country. As India aims for continued prosperity, it must confront the urgent need for sustainable development, particularly in the face of rapidly depleting water resources caused by overconsumption, pollution, and outdated management practices. The recent ‘United Nations World Water Development Report 2023’ projects a grim future, with global urban water scarcity projected to affect 1.7-2.4 billion people by 2050, which has highlighted India as one of the worst-hit nations by the water crisis.
Additionally, India’s rapid industrialisation across various sectors will further increase water demand. Immediate action is crucial to address this crisis by implementing effective water management strategies, promoting wastewater management, and developing smart water conservation techniques, to achieve water sufficiency in India by 2047 and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.
As the latest technological solutions are well-equipped to eliminate the existing bottlenecks, it is essential to leverage those to address issues, challenges, and risks attached to water management and wastewater infrastructure. These solutions can ensure a connected, efficient, and responsive water system for end-to-end water management across the whole water cycle to prevent wastage and maintain quality. This is essential as the digital transformation of water supply and treatment plants can elevate the sector’s operational effectiveness for increased sustainability and enhanced water process performance.
Leveraging AI and IoT for water management
Leakages, unidentified areas of high water usage, and lack of optimised water distribution networks in water-intensive industries and cities are key reasons behind water wastage. This necessitates leveraging new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) that can bring transparency, and higher visibility and provide actionable, real-time data for smart water management. The digital solutions using these technologies can prevent water loss by identifying leakages, and monitoring system performance on a real-time basis from various data sources so that anomalies are detected and rectified.
These can further help factory operators recognise where system fixes are required and support them in finding problems and working on repairs easily and instantly. Additionally, AI tools possess the capability of incorporating many variables such as weather patterns, water usage history, and real-time data to predict future water demand accurately. Such predictions are instrumental in developing proactive measures to curb water wastage and optimise usage patterns, thus preventing water scarcity.
Machine learning to increase efficiency
Apart from these, several other digital solutions can address specific challenges in water management. For instance, wastewater treatment plants can leverage machine learning algorithms to optimise treatment processes, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. Remote monitoring and maintenance of water infrastructure can be facilitated through drones and other automated systems, reducing the need for manual intervention.
Innovations that utilise a combination of sensors, AI-vision-based technologies, and customised solutions, will be able to provide real-time insights, predictive foresight, and economic impact assessments to smart city and industrial operators.
Making water and wastewater management sustainable
The water and wastewater industry contributes to global warming as it requires a great deal of energy to treat and distribute water and it generates direct greenhouse gas emissions. While the most important challenge is to manage water and wastewater in India, we also need to take steps to increase energy efficiency, move toward energy transition, and decarbonise the infrastructure with the final goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions as India has committed to achieve by 2070.
To sum it up, India’s growth story cannot be sustained without efficient and effective water management. While the challenges are numerous, the latest digital solutions offer a way forward to achieving water independence. By leveraging these solutions, India can achieve water sufficiency and ensure a sustainable future for its citizens. However, this requires a collaborative effort from all stakeholders, including the government, industries, and individuals. Only then can we hope to overcome the water crisis and secure a better tomorrow.
