egeplast smart pipes: Future-proofed drinking water supply through digital water management

Statutory risk management obligations present grid operators and planning offices with new challenges. egeplast smart pipes enable digital monitoring, thereby providing sustainable support for supply security and water quality – for resilient networks.

The German water industry is facing new challenges: The amendment to the Drinking Water Ordinance obliges suppliers to implement end-to-end risk management – from the catchment area to the consumer. To provide grid operators and planning offices with solutions to meet these future statutory requirements, egeplast has launched a development project for a smart pipe system that detects risks early and provides sustainable support for supply security and water quality.

Smart technologies increase operational reliability

Digitalisation is becoming particularly important: Smart technologies and IoT-based systems already enable real-time monitoring of water flows, pressure conditions, and quality parameters. Sensors and leakage monitoring systems detect damage immediately and initiate countermeasures, thereby minimising losses and risks. Data portals, measurement networks, and warning systems support the planning, control, and operation of infrastructure – a central field of action in the “Roadmap 2030” for resilient water and wastewater networks. The already noticeable climate change, with more frequent dry periods and heavy rain events, makes the adaptability of networks increasingly necessary.

A look into the future shows that pipelines could soon not only transport water but also transmit data and actively control network components by means of fibre-optic cables integrated into multi-layer pipes. Combined with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), this paves the way for fully IoT-based water management that maps operating states in real time and enables proactive intervention. This makes the water industry not only safer but also more efficient and resilient – protecting the most important resource of all: clean drinking water.

egeplast smart pipes for resilient networks

egeplast is currently developing a smart pipe system together with industrial partners and universities that can be seamlessly integrated into a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system using IoT technology and its own secure cloud solution. SCADA systems offer significant advantages in the water and wastewater industry: they enable the central recording, monitoring, and control of all relevant operating parameters in real time, increase operational reliability, support early fault detection, and optimise the use of resources. This not only minimises downtime but also significantly increases the efficiency and sustainability of the entire supply infrastructure.

Source: Sustainability