RESEARCH ARTICLE Water’s Role in Smart Cities Teresa Zawerthal da Silveiraa, Helena M. Ramosb aMaster student of Civil Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; bPhd. Professor in Civil Engineering Department and CEHIDRO, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal Abstract: The water management in smart cities is an issue increasingly valued in the context of financial and environmental sustainability of water supply systems. In addition to the non-return of the investment made in the acquisition, production and distribution associated with the water losses, the supply systems also have a leading role in the management of the urban water cycle, and must comply with this element as a feature increasingly scarce on the planet, thus their conservation is also a civic responsibility. Currently there are increasingly technological innovations capable of making the management of smart water. In this sense, the main objective of this dissertation was to disclose the technological breakthroughs associated with water use and the innovations in methodology and monitoring of water losses in supply systems, as well as the benefits that these measures can offer to the society of today and in the future as well. In addition, an analysis was carried out to the excellent results obtained by Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL), the public water Company of Lisbon, due to the implementation of measures for the monitoring and water losses control in the distribution network associated with a smart water management. The measures implemented by EPAL are a worldwide reference in smart water management, placing Lisbon at the level of one of the most efficient cities in terms of non-revenue water. Finally, through the evaluation of the financial effort and savings obtained by EPAL in the supply network, was estimated what would be the investment required in the monitoring and water losses control in Water Company, in Porto city, in order to reduce the losses to get sustainable values until 2025. Keywords: Smart cities; smart water management; smart water system; water supply system; district monitoring areas; water losses. 1 INTRODUCTION urban wastewaters, as well as the management of municipal waste. Since the 1970s, we have observed an increase of environmental awareness, the evolution of technology and The population growth results in an increase and a communications, and the automated production leading to the concentration of water needs for various uses and the need to put environmental issues on the agenda. The report consequent need of wastewater and waste management, in prepared by the United Nations, entitled "Our Common increasingly large amounts. In this reality it is necessary the use Future" emancipates the concept of sustainable development of advanced technologies and the adoption of more robust as the basis for a global economic policy that must go towards management models, that are better suited to the population our current needs without compromising those of future demands (Baptista et al., 2009). generations (Brundtland, 1987). The water industry has been 2 OVERVIEW OF THE WATER SECTOR subject to changes and opinions with regard to the sustainable management of urban water. There are many external factors, Over the past decades, with the growing water demand, the including the impacts of climate change, drought, population risks of pollution and severe water stress in many parts of the growth and its placing in urban centers, which lead to an world have increased. The frequency and the intensity of water increase of the responsibility on providers of water services in crises have increased, with serious implications for public order to adopt more sustainable approaches to the health, environmental sustainability security in both food and management of urban waters. The coverage of the costs, the energy department, and economic development. Although the monitoring of the water without profit and meet the demand central and irreplaceable roles that water plays in all the of customers for the fairness in revenues are some of the main dimensions of sustainable development have become challenges (Boyle et al., 2013). increasingly recognized, the management of water resources and the provision of services related to the water continues to As is referred to in the Annual Report of the Water and Waste be too low in the scale of public perceiving and government Sector in Portugal, there are many structural challenges on the priorities. As a result, the water is often a limiting factor, rather development of modern societies, from the water supply to the than a facilitator of social welfare, economic development and population and economic activities, to the improvement of healthy ecosystems. The fact is that there is water available to meet the growing needs of the world, but not without first 1 dramatically change the way water is used, managed and shared. The global water crisis is a reflection of governance, much more than with the availability of the resources (WWAP, 2015). In Figure 2.1 the estimated global hydric availability made by the World Resource Institute, as reflected in annual flow of each hydrological basin. Figure 2.2 – Global assessment of hydric stress, (WRI, 2015). 3 SMART WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE CITIES 3.1 CONTEXT The smart water management has as objective the exploitation of water, at regional level or at city level, on the basis of the Figure 2.1 – World hydric Availability, (WRI, 2015). ideals of harmony, sustainability and self-sufficiency, through the use of innovative technologies, such as the water recycling This is not, however, to ensure the supply of water by any among other technologies for water treatment, information means. Until the year 2000, humans had built approximately technology, monitoring and control technology and through 45,000 large dams which, combined with the hundreds of the implementation of the registration system of the water thousands of smaller structures, quadrupled the storage of cycle to work as a "water flow and information." (Tadokoro et water for human consumption in just 40 years. However, it was al., 2011). not examined or was able to predict the effects that, on a global scale, the cumulative construction of dams uncoordinated, 3.2 THE CONCEPT OF SMART CITY deviations of irrigation and the impacts related to the deforestation would have on the extension, availability and The concept of smart city is relatively recent, from the quality of water. Today it has become clear that the human technological innovations and also of the globalised world in activity started to affect the hydrology of the earth. Our which we are currently placed in. presence, our actions and its consequences have changed the very composition of the atmosphere, the precipitation and the A smart city can be defined as the city in which it is performed places where the rain falls; the human behavior is affecting the an investment in human and social capital, by encouraging the pattern of rain and snowfall (Sandford, 2012). use of Information and Communication Technology, ICT, as enabler of sustainable economic growth, providing an The uneven distribution of availability and demand, population improvement in the quality of life of residents and floating, and growth, climate change and water mismanagement aggravated consequently, allow better management of natural resources the situation of extreme water stress. The shortage of water is and energy. The smart cities will be those who are able to not only a threat to human and economic development, but reconcile the human flows through the new technologies, perhaps the main reason for the political instability of the mobility and sustainability. future. However, it is important to recognize that the concept of smart Figure 2.2 presents a global water stress assessment, exposing city is not limited only to technological advances, but aims to the annual volume captured by municipalities, industries and promote the socioeconomic development. Social inclusion is a agriculture, as a percentage of the hydric availability. Thus, the fundamental characteristic of smart cities and all opportunities higher values indicate the locations that have a higher water for the economic development need to be coupled with stress, with higher consumption in relation to the availability of investments in social capital (Colldahl et al., 2013). water, where it will be necessary to adopt a more sustainable approach to water management. The definition of smart cities, by Giffinger et al. (2007), is based on a Model of Smart City. This model is a system of classification in which the smart cities can be evaluated and developed through six distinct characteristics. The Model of Smart City was developed as a classification tool to assess smart cities communities of average size in the areas of economy, 2 people, governance, mobility, the environment and lifestyle. Through this model, a city can examine its current state, and in turn, identify the areas that require further development in order to meet the conditions necessary for a smart city. 3.3 SMART WATER SYSTEM The concept of smart water system utilizes advances in information technologies for system monitoring data and to achieve greater efficiency in the resources allocation. In addition to the increased efficiency in the water losses control, prevention and early detection of leaks, the smart water system also allows the development of best practice in the management of assets by improving the efficiency of the system in emerging areas, such as in the demand-oriented distribution. Instead of simply following the existing practices Figure 3.1 – Scheme of a smart pipes and wireless sensor network, that pump water at high pressure in the distribution system to (Sadeghioon et al., 2014). reach distant customers, a more smart system could use real Briefly, the smart wireless sensor network is a viable solution time data, variable speed pumps, dynamic control valves, and for monitoring the state of conservation, the pressure and the smart meters in order to balance the demand, minimize the water losses control.