To provide continuous drinking water to emerging economies throughout the country, the government of India has implemented their AMRUT 2.0 program, mandating that all 3,000 utilities in 4,800 urban cities establish reliable, 24-hour water distribution and sewerage services accessible to all households. In accordance with this initiative, Ayodhya Authority commissioned Geoinfo Services to engineer an urban pressurised water supply system, eliminating Ayodhya’s existing gravity-fed distribution network.
THE CHALLENGE
As one of India’s most sacred and important pilgrimage sites where the floating population has reached 24.2 million, there is an urgent need for a sustainable solution to the water and wastewater treatment, distribution, conservation, and management. The scope of the project required Geoinfo Services to renovate the city’s intermittent, leaky, and aging network, which generates a 50% non-revenue water (NRW) rate. They had to ensure the provision of safe and dependable drinking water through functional taps to all Ayodhya homes.
THE SOLUTION
To transform Ayodhya’s existing system into a dependable and energy-efficient network, Geoinfo Services turned to Bentley’s OpenFlows. They created 3D models of the city’s 24-hour supply system, introducing variable frequency control pumps to generate the required pressure at the nodes. OpenFlows WaterGEMS® allowed hydraulic network modeling with an unlimited number of pipes and automated data integration within the model, enabling Geoinfo Services to easily generate digital analysis scenarios to obtain equal residual pressures at the tanks usingthe VFD pumps.
RESULTS
Working in a connected data environment reduced design time by 75% and optimised pipe diameters, saving USD 2.5 million. The network with the VFD pumps is saving USD 1.5 million in annual operating expenses and USD 46,025 in annual energy costs. It also minimised the amount of land required for tank construction to save an additional USD 5.45 million in costs. At the same time, water losses will be reduced by 35%.
“Before the start of the project, the NRW level was 50%, which will be brought down to 15%,” said Sanjay Dahasahasra, Member of National Task Force of 24×7 Water System, Government of India. Generating a hydraulic model and digital twin, Geoinfo Services effectively converted Ayodhya’s water supply system into a 24/7 pumped distribution network, providing every city household with continuous access to clean drinking water, while reducing carbon emissions by 347 metric tons. Moreover, the digital twin facilitates virtual network monitoring with 95% confidence to improve decision-making and crisis management, mitigating emergency situations based on real-time data and analytics.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
- To convert Ayodhya’s existing water supply system into a 24/7 pressurised, piped network.
- To generate a hydraulic model and digital twin of the city’s water infrastructure.
ROI
- Saved 1,000 hours planning, designing, and implementing a cost-efficient water supply solution.
- Capability to model hundreds of assets saved USD 121.75 million in energy costs.
- The digital twin optimised pipeline diameters and network operations, saving 2.5 million in material costs and USD 1.5 million in annual system operating costs.
- The 24-hour water supply network reduces waterborne illnesses, saving 50% in associated family medical expenses.
