The local water authority in the Koppal district of the Indian state of Karnataka is to install a digital water management system that uses NFC-enabled digital flowmeters to let users collect, view and securely transmit accurate waterflow data via an app on their smartphone or tablet.

The implementation for the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department will help the authority track, measure and optimise water use in a region prone to droughts and water shortages, and forms part of a multi-village clean drinking water scheme.

The end-to-end system has been developed by Swiss-based tech giant ABB and incorporates more than 600 of the company’s AquaMaster 4 digital flowmeters that “offer measurement accuracy down to flow velocities lower than 0.1m/s”.

The digital flowmeter’s Velox mobile app interface “saves time and resources by eliminating the requirement for special cables, tools or the input of a trained engineer to set up the meter or read data on it,” ABB says. 

“The device is largely self-sufficient in operation, with automatic self-health check and auto calibration features.”

The network of flowmeters is monitored and controlled using ABB’s Symphony Plus supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.

“The SCADA solutions help monitor and analyse daily flow consumption patterns, thereby identifying possible leaks and sending the information in real-time to the central control room,” ABB explains.

“This helps to avert water loss because it means that leaks are identified and can be repaired swiftly.” 

“As India moves swiftly towards smart and sustainable villages, towns and cities, one of the key challenges is water management,” ABB India’s G Srinivas Rao explains. 

“This project shows how ABB’s digital water management solutions can be deployed not only in cities but also to provide clean, drinking water in the villages that are crucial to our agrarian economy.”

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