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InfoTiles have won the BlueArk Challenge to provide a municipality in Switzerland with continual wastewater network monitoring to tackle inflow & infiltration (I&I).
Announced today at the Smart Water conference in Le Châble, Switzerland, the collaboration will be supported by BlueArk Entremont, ALTIS, and The Ark Foundation to facilitate further development and implementation of the InfoTiles solution.
Technology development
The BlueArk Challenge is a call for projects that aim to solve water management challenges using open innovation ideas and technologies. The InfoTiles digital software technology will be further developed and implemented in collaboration with the Swiss municipality and BlueArk Challenge with the aim of rapid development of scalable applications.
As well as being awarded €10,000 for further development, BlueArk Challenge will provide InfoTiles with infrastructure test sites, validation reporting, and on-going support. When successful, InfoTiles will also have its digital technology marketed in Switzerland through this collaboration.
Read more about the BlueArk challenge in continual wastewater network monitoring.
Mitigating inflow and infiltration
InfoTiles’ digital solution helps municipalities detect and understand when and where I&I occurs in the wastewater networks. Inflow is stormwater that flows into wastewater pipes through faults such as holes, cracks, joint failures, and broken connections. Infiltration occurs when groundwater enters the wastewater network through faults in pipes, compounding the flow.
It is widely acknowledged that most I&I is caused by ageing infrastructure that requires maintenance or replacement. When this extra water penetrates the wastewater network, it can cause hydraulic overload which is a particular risk during periods of heavy rain or storm events and can add considerable cost to municipalities in pumping, treating, and discharging processes.
InfoTiles offers a digital software platform that uses machine learning and AI to allow municipalities and utilities to continuously monitor the wastewater network and identify extraneous sources of I&I through the use of sensors.
The platform also uses existing SCADA and GIS systems to processes and analyse real-time hydrological, meteorological, and asset data. This solution enables proactive and intelligent management of I&I challenges in the wastewater system.
Read our use case in Water Ingress Monitoring
BlueArk Challenge
Winning the challenge comes after nine water resource management challenges were proposed by five water Swiss municipalities on the BlueArk Challenge platform.
"The proposals received make it possible to help resolve four of the challenges submitted. It is remarkable and we are very happy with the quality of the proposals.”
Anyssia Bovier, Coordinator of the BlueArk Challenge.
“As the only non-Swiss company to win this prestigious challenge, it gives InfoTiles an opportunity to develop the innovative software and apply it practically to help the municipality further understand and tackle its I&I challenges.”
Marco Westergren, Chief Analytics Officer at InfoTiles.
BlueArk Challenge is an initiative led by BlueArk Entremont, a technological innovation centre with an on-site data laboratory based in Le Châble, Switzerland.
About BlueArk Entremont
BlueArk Entremont is a technological innovation centre with an on-site data laboratory based in Le Châble, Switzerland). Founded in 2018, it specializes in the management of natural resources, with a particular focus on smart management and the digitalization of water. BlueArk Entremont is aimed at public authorities or technical services meeting challenges in water management and at economic players or citizens who wish to co-develop innovative solutions.
About Altis
With more than 60 years of experience in water and energy, ALTIS today aims to be a player in the energy transition, generator of employment and added value in the great Entremont.
About the Ark
The Ark promotes the development of new knowledge originating from Switzerland’s universities of applied sciences and from cantonal and national research organisations. It also draws together different networks of excellence at local, national and international level.