Guest Column | November 11, 2024

How To Improve Data Accuracy For Better Decision-Making In Water Utilities

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Water utility professionals are in a constant battle to preserve quality while integrating new digital and tech strategies to improve facilities. Collecting, organizing, and leveraging data is one of the most trending operational shifts in modern water management. However, inaccuracies riddle the sector. Without accuracy and integrity, water utilities and treatment could take steps backward when urgent progress is needed to meet demand and defeat scarcity.

Discovering Water Data’s Problems

Data accuracy is the foundation of modern water infrastructure, yet it is known for unreliability and inconsistency. What caused this reputation?

Metering Inaccuracies

Most of the water infrastructure in the U.S. is around a century old, and billions of dollars are still not enough to revitalize and update systems regularly.¹ This has led to outdated, faulty meters providing inaccurate readings for water facilities. Combine this with human error and poor decisions, and the resulting consequences become a staple of operations.

Data Entry Errors

Water workers have countless opportunities to input data. Field analyses, manual meter data collection, and maintenance logging are only a few chances water workers have to compromise data quality. There are topographical surveys, soil readings, and water testing results to consider alongside infrastructure health. The surface area for data variety is likely a reason behind entry errors.

Information transfer is another concern, as water utilities often work in silos. Sending data in various formats from company to city or client could become muddled. Compatibility issues like this are another type of data entry concern, leading to extensive duplication and strategic conflicts.²

Infrastructure Concerns

A rogue leak is just as much of a data problem as a dysfunctional meter or ancient pipe. Unaccounted water loss, if unmeasured by sensors or other technologies, could confuse workers about how well utilities are performing.

Infrastructure performance data often informs system maps and maintenance schedules. Technicians need correct data to prevent clogs and clear debris accumulation, which can lead to more serious concerns.

Data Management Problems

Data standardization suffers for several reasons. It could be because of data quality control or accessibility inconsistencies leading to decision-making obstacles. The silos may be too disparate, or too many people have permissions and manipulate data unintentionally.

Management encompasses the tools and strategies water workers use to drive progress and prioritize goals. Without reliable management software and curated staff to constantly supervise, management habits fall by the wayside.

Lack Of Communication

The water workforce is spread out into the field and inside massive facilities. Poor communication is inevitable when limited collaborative tools hinder understanding between departments. Additionally, some stakeholders may be hands-off, preventing them from conceptualizing the scope of existing data.

Cyberthreats

Critical infrastructure, such as water utilities, is one of the most high-value targets for cybercriminals. Hackers can manually tamper with meters and infiltrate digital systems to ransom information or install malware. Inadequate cybersecurity measures are a prominent barrier against data integrity because many water corporations have not undergone sufficient digital transformation or cybersecurity training.

The intentions of the threat actors are widespread, too. A recent attack by hacktivists on a Kansas water treatment facility began a trend that caught the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s attention. The hackers found water-related devices without multifactor authentication and used default passwords, though the affected companies stated the manipulations did not impact water safety.³

Implementing Better Solutions

What can treatment and utility companies do to get a more accurate picture of community waters?

Anticipate Abrupt Changes

Severe and unexpected weather shifts are disrupting cities. Multiple floods will hit in a short time, while other places are experiencing heavy rains that have not in decades. Preparing for anomalies makes water data easier to measure. Dynamic solutions are required for dynamic rainfall.

Use Smart Metering and Related Tech

Automated meter reading (AMR) is the ideal supplement for water utilities. It alleviates the need for extensive manual intervention and prevents countless instances of human error. Data entry could become a figment of the past with the right sensors in the right places. These automatically transfer data to the most important systems, whether it be a centralized data hub, in-training artificial intelligence (AI) or board of directors in an automated email.

Refine Data Management

Before installing many new technologies and operational practices, existing data needs categorizing and cleaning. Data scientists should have a predefined process for making centralized data systems accurate. If the water facility does not have this system in place, creating mainstay documents for eventual training is crucial for long-term consistency.

Employ Artificial Intelligence

Training an in-house AI could be the way to refine machine learning algorithms. These will advance predictive analytics so the industry can better respond to leaks and defects. This is essential for accurate trend analysis, which will visualize how customers employ water assets and machinery against historical data to better understand potential risks and direct investments.

It will also be able to discover anomalies in water usage or movement patterns to detect clogs and faulty equipment. This will compound efforts established by incorporating already existing datasets to make the company’s assets more personalized yet away from the industry as a whole.⁴

Amplify Cybersecurity

There are countless ways water utilities can establish themselves as beacons of secure cyber operations. First, training a substantial, experienced team that works well with IT staff is essential for the long term. Educating everyone on data protection protocols, compliance frameworks, and expectations will create a solid foundation if paired with regular audits.

Then, analysts should partner with third parties to review software vulnerabilities, seek penetration testing, review cloud security, and countless other practices. Every action to increase cybersecurity is an advantage for water utilities, but knowing the industry’s most prominent threats and defending against those first is the most important.

Establish A Data-Driven Culture

Accurate data is a sitewide effort. If everyone does not place data importance at the same standard, there will be complacency or errors. Stakeholders and leadership should instill this value in staff by example. They must actively participate in data hygiene and awareness.

They may also want to provide incentives to employees for consistent, accurate reporting. Eventually, this will foster a continuous improvement mindset and staff will see how their dedication to the analytics delivers advantages to customers and the company.

Impacting Water Quality And Availability With Data

Data accuracy in water does more than provide corporations with analytics. It has a lasting impact on communities. As providers use the information to refine their practices, access becomes more widespread, healthier, and affordable for customers.

It also improved the wellness of the environment. Recent research leveraged NASA satellites to learn more about using water data to protect the planet.⁵ The most significant revelation was a need to shift from a science-to-user approach to water data to inclusivity and extensive knowledge-sharing.

Water analysis frameworks using data should use science-based resource management, using NASA’s Application Readiness Level Scale as a reference point. It defines the technical and social importance of data accuracy for water utilities through goal-setting and institutional cultural shifts.

Precise water data also helps track diseases and prepare against disasters.⁶ Companies will have transparency and oversight of where pollutants are coming from, how effective treatment is and where resources are going.

Data Dependence And Next-Generation Water Analytics

Utility providers, wastewater experts, and treatment plants are all responsible for leveraging digital spaces to best serve citizens. Analytics are the portal into safety awareness, resource availability, and environmental impact. Because accuracy has been such a problem in the water sector, it prevents these advantages from flourishing. Stakeholders and employees should motivate each other to improve literacy and implement effective systems.

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About The Author

Emily Newton is an industrial journalist. She regularly covers stories for the utilities and energy sectors. Emily is also editor in chief of Revolutionized (revolutionized.com).

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