Antoine Walter

Water crisis 2030 and IoT: Digital solutions to scarce resources and infrastructure

The latest episode of the IoT Use Case Podcast focused on the growing demand for fresh water, which is expected to exceed supply by about 40% by 2030. Guest Antoine, Senior Business Developer at GF Piping Systems and host of the “(don’t) Waste Water” podcast, shed light on how the pressing fresh water issue is always a wastewater treatment issue. Most significantly, 70% of all freshwater supplies are currently used for agricultural purposes, and purified and filtered water could provide an alternative to make more freshwater globally available. Antoine pointed out that today 75% of energy is wasted in the water network. This could be made more efficient through decentralized water treatment and the use of IoT and machine learning. But the shortage of skilled workers poses a hurdle in this regard. Digitalization and IoT could remedy the situation by supporting the operator. It also showed that the 10,000 wastewater treatment plants in Germany consume 4,400 gigawatt hours annually. The machines of Aerzen are main consumers of this electricity. Optimization, e.g. in ventilation and the intake temperature influenced by it, could save up to 180 million euros per year, with the positive impact on CO2 emissions not to be neglected. The podcast provides in-depth insights into the water sector and how technology and innovation can help solve current challenges.