Ostrava Waterworks' smart measuring was awarded the Smart City Innovations Institute award
Green Growth and Eco-innovation
Water
Winning projects selected by a special jury for the SMART CITIES OF THE FUTURE contest were announced on 22 November 2017 at the residence of the mayor of Prague with the participation of a delegated Vice-Minister of Regional Development David Koppitz, mayors, Vice-Presidents of the Moravian-Silesian Region and mayor of Brno and other important guests.
Water-management area is an important area that reacts to currently discussed all-society issues. Jury’s special award went to the “Smart Monitoring of Water Meters in Water Management” project submitted by OVAK (the Ostrava Water and Sewerage Company). Important contribution of this solution to drinking water management was recognized.
About the project
Smart Metering project of the Ostrava Water and Sewerage Company (OVAK) enables remote monitoring of water consumption. The number of customers using this system is set to grow to 8000 by 2019; now it is 4000. In the longer term, smart meters may be installed at all metering points (32 000 in the city). Smart metering offers several practical benefits. It provides access to data on water consumption (current levels and history) via an internet portal; this alerts users to abnormal consumption levels, helping to detect leaks and minimize damage and costs. The system collects data via transmitters located on the meters, which are sent as an encrypted signal at radio frequency 169 MHz and then via GPRS to the server where the data are processed. Users and the service provider have access to the data, and can select various display formats via the user interface. The system can alert users to abnormalities by sending an e-mail or SMS message.
About the contest
The “Smart Cities of the Future” contest is the first contest of this kind in the Czech Republic. Its goal is to discover new trends, promote SMART CITY projects and support municipalities, cities and regions in sharing and good practice in using latest practices in order to realistically improve people’s quality of life in the Czech Republic. The contest is announced by SCII /Smart City Innovations Institute z. ú./, non-governmental non-profit organization whose goal is to support three priority axes: experts’ open platforms within the SMART CITY limits, long-term methodological standardization of SMART CITY principles on nationwide as well as international level and development of their own specific products.
Photo: Ostrava–Nová Ves water treatment plant (Source: OVAK)