Colorado Utility Selects Hydraulic Modeling and Operational Management

The city of Boulder, Colo., has chosen Innovyze’s IWLive software solution to perform real time hydraulic modeling and operational analysis. The implementation equips the city with predictive operational control, analysis and management capabilities, enabling it to address system events both when and before they happen.

Located at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills 25 miles from Denver, Boulder is home to approximately 100,000 people. Its water system includes four raw water supplies, two treatment facilities, three separate pressure zones, 500 miles (800 km) of pipeline, four pumping stations with nine pumps and six remote storage facilities.

IWLive allows Boulder to combine its hydraulic modeling and SCADA into one powerful software application—giving the city the ability to analyze events as they happen, see the short-term ramifications of its operational decisions, monitor the accuracy of its hydraulic model and continually enhance customer service. It gives water distribution system operations instant access to powerful modeling technology by linking SCADA, system demands and hydraulic modeling outputs, equipping the control room with tools that are both predictive and reactive. IWLive issues regularly updated warnings to alert the operator to problems that could arise in the coming minutes, hours or days, showing their predicted severity and time of onset in one easy-to-use interface. It also allows operators to evaluate problem-solving approaches by simulating valve closures or changes in pump operating schedules. Then it quickly produces a second simulation that can be compared with the first to determine the level of improvement, problems that remain and costs of the change.

The fully optimized IWLive interface enables operators to see a map of all water infrastructures, including background maps. Highlighted color-coding shows predicted problem areas; a single click produces a detailed map showing pipes, valves, pumps, reservoirs and other assets. Animation of the map shows the development of the problem, while graphs display simulated pressures and reservoir levels. IWLive can be accessed remotely over a VPN and configured to send critical warning messages via SMS or email.

Source: Innovyze