Since implementing the Smartvatten Neuro solution, Finnish water company HS-Vesi has already found two significant blockages in its extensive sewer system. The AI-based technology is already part of its daily operations and will be further utilized in planning network maintenance.
The Company
Hämeenlinnan Seudun Vesi Oy, commonly known as HS-Vesi, is a water utility owned by the cities of Hämeenlinna, Hattula and Akaa in Finland. The company provides water services to 70.000 people in the region, taking care of raw water acquisition, treatment, and distribution, as well as wastewater collection and treatment. Managing their more than 1000-kilometer-long wastewater network is challenging.
The Challenge
In the past couple of years, HS-Vesi has experienced several incidents where sewers overflowed and wanted to focus on early detection of blockages. In addition, they were looking to improve the scheduling and prioritization of sewer renovations by pinpointing areas with high amounts of excess water. By focusing on problematic areas, they aimed to reduce harmful overflows.
Previously, HS-Vesi could only rely on static alarms originating from the pump's run-times, which were insufficient for detecting blockages. This meant that blockages were usually only discovered when customers reported overflow events.
The Solution
The data quality of HS-Vesi's existing systems was examined and then improved during the implementation phase of the Smartvatten Neuro technology. With the enhanced quality of data, HS-Vesi has been able to more accurately detect blockages and other issues in the network. Problems can now be identified within mere hours of their first occurrence.
After the implementation, which was described as smooth and painless, HS-Vesi has incorporated the Smartvatten Neuro technology in its daily operations as well as in the prioritization and scheduling of its long-term renovations. Apart from early problem detection in the wastewater network, HS-Vesi now also has access to visualizations and extensive analyses of its network with any device that's equipped with a web browser. Heavy discharges caused by meltwater every spring, for example, can now be pinpointed faster and easier than ever before.
"Smartvatten Neuro is really nice to use. Each time we’ve notice a problem in our daily use, Smartvatten Neuro has responded immediately and fixed the issue." – Enni, HS-Vesi
"We use all kinds of systems, and in some cases, we got tired of the system already during a difficult implementation process, even before we started using it. With Smartvatten Neuro, the implementation was really easy and painless." – Enni, HS-Vesi
The Results
During the first 6 months of using Smartvatten Neuro, HS-Vesi has already found three blockages. And because of the Neuro technology, two of these were detected remarkably quick, enabling the company to resolve them before any overflow could occur. One of the blockages could have caused an overflow event that potentially would have gone on for months, because of its difficult to reach location. Thanks to automated alarms and a fast response, this was avoided.
In the future, HS-Vesi will use Smartvatten Neuro more actively to also help them find areas with high amounts of excess water and in the scheduling of wastewater network renovations.
"Smartvatten Neuro is a really great tool for guiding our maintenance and inspection efforts."
– Jarno, HS-Vesi
Interested to learn more about what our service can do for your water utility? Contact us at utilities@smartvatten.com!
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