Flanders’ leading water operator water-link adopts AQUADVANCED® Water Networks

water-link – Flanders’ leading water operator - produces approximately 140 million m³ of water per year, of which 47 million m³ are delivered to other water operators and 93 million m³ are supplied to provide drinking water to 620 000 inhabitants in the Antwerp region, as well as the industries in the port of Antwerp. Facing water loss issues in a highly complex network with a lot of interconnections, water-link decided to implement a monitoring solution to drastically improve the hydraulic performance of its water distribution network. After a competitive bidding process, water-link awarded SUEZ Smart Solutions, a 5 year-contract to roll out and maintain AQUADVANCED® Water Networks software for its water distribution network.

Facing water loss issues in a highly complex network with a lot of interconnections, water-link decided to implement a monitoring solution to drastically improve the hydraulic performance of its water distribution network. After a competitive bidding process, water-link awarded SUEZ Smart Solutions, a 5 year-contract to roll out and maintain AQUADVANCED® Water Networks software for its water distribution network.

A data-driven solution to monitor Key Performance Indicators

water-link operational teams needed more real-time information about the water network performance such as the flow, the pressure or the quality of the water supplied on a 2,600 km wide water network.

Information already existed but separated into different systems “The AQUADVANCED Water Network software provides a highly useful visualization of the key components of our network and also measures the network performance thanks to advanced data analytics and relevant Key Performance Indicators”, explains Gert Verschooten, Operations Manager at water-link, “AQUADVANCED® can integrate the data of all our different software platforms (SAP, Historian, GIS,…) and information can be displayed in a simple and ergonomic way through an intuitive and user-friendly interface”.

A successful collaboration between SUEZ and water-link

“SUEZ very helpfully implemented a Proof-of-Concept in Ekeren, a district of Antwerp. The cooperation between our organisations was very constructive and allowed us to see the strength of the solution first hand” adds Steven De Schrijver, Chief Operating Officer at water-link.

Starting with a pilot on a limited zone of the water network enabled the Flemish company to test and appreciate the benefits of the system while building up its own experience with its real data.“The AQUADVANCED® Water Networks software has been developed by a water operator for water operators and it is what really makes the difference” explains Gert Verschooten. The AQUADVANCED® Water Networks software is used by more than 600 client communities around the world. Over the years, these contracts have led to the implementation of new key hydraulic functions, improving the reliability, the relevance and the effectiveness of the software. “We place our clients at the core of our strategy to continuously improve software capabilities and ensure users benefit from a dynamic product roadmap which includes improvements and refinements of existing features as well as new ones suggested and requested by the user community” specifies Pierre-Emmanuel Louvet, Regional Sales Manager at SUEZ Smart Solutions.

A real-time supervision system to improve water network performance

Along with the deployment of AQUADVANCED® Water Networks software, water-link will develop network sectorization with District Metered Areas and sub-DMA’s aiming at better understanding the water consumption by hydraulic zone and increasing operational responsiveness through more accurate event location. Gert Verschooten confirms “We will know and understand the behaviour of our distribution network much better. It will help us to meet our objectives of Infrastructure Leakage Index Reduction and fulfill the expectations of the Flemish water regulator. This project should also contribute to the optimization of our water pumping strategy with the numerous new industrial projects going on in the port of Antwerp”.