The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States, serving over 4 million people living within a 500 square-mile service area. A network of over 7,000 miles of pipeline distributes water in the City of Los Angeles from a wide range of sources, including the Los Angeles Aqueduct system, the Colorado River, the Sacramento River, local groundwater, and stormwater capture
THE CHALLENGE
The LADWP is constantly preparing for a dizzying array of challenges, which range from natural disasters, like droughts, wildfires, and earthquakes, to aging infrastructure and the persistent need to reduce water loss and improve water quality treatment. Water utilities like the LADWP are also looking for ways to improve customer service while safeguarding water storage and delivery systems. Thus, the LADWP decided that the best way to seize new opportunities was to harness the power of all the data it collected and use it to improve the operation and maintenance of its water system.
THE SOLUTION
The utility launched a project called the Water Information Network (WIN), which relies on AVEVA PI System to help achieve three major goals: improve management of the department’s critical infrastructure, diversify its water portfolio, and ensure the continued safety of its drinking water.
The utility already has many kinds of data generated by a variety of sources, including SCADA data, relational data coming from the CMMS system, and customer billing data. In addition, the LADWP compiles spatial data from its ArcGIS system and Microsoft file systems, as well as a suite of in-house applications. To integrate these data sources, the LADWP decided to use AVEVA PI System to create a data hub where information from disparate sources can be brought together and turned into actionable insights.
RESULTS
So far, the LADWP has launched three pilot projects as part of WIN. In one example, the department is using AVEVA PI System to collect data about the groundwater levels in earthen dams. In the past, this data was available only to a couple of people in field offices near the dams. When managers in the home office wanted to know what was happening with the dams, they would have to call and ask the field office to send over Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. AVEVA PI Vision screens now make data from the reservoir available 24/7 to anyone at the LADWP.
– Nicole Smith, Project Manager, LADWPThe point we’re trying to drive home here is that we believe that data and data system integration is the key to achieve highly optimised workflow and truly realise a smart utility.
