The Development of Digital Twins for Small Rural Water Systems

As technology continues to advance, the tools available to water distribution operators for the planning and management of their systems is becoming increasingly proactive instead of reactive. The availability and affordability of sensors allows for real time collection of information that when paired with software packages such as EPANET, KYPipe, or WaterCAD provide invaluable system modeling techniques that border closely to real conditions seen in the field. These “digital twins” however are not as readily available to operators in communities with lower budgets and reduced access to monitoring equipment. The goal of this paper is to introduce a novel digital twin format that performs similar functions to its more expensive counterpart and provide smaller rural utilities the ability to also be more proactive in their management strategies. In particular, this study aims to equip operators with the ability to predict system pressures and tank levels, assist in pump operations, and warn of potential DBP formation. This is accomplished through the functionality provided by the EPANET – MATLAB toolkit that allows users to code necessary hydraulic functions into MATLAB. This toolkit is then interfaced in excel where a dashboard is customized for simple operator input and outputs which aid in day-to-day decision making. The model will have flexibility to add different functionality including learning methods that will allow for the accumulation and safe passing of operator expertise. The end product creates continuously optimized system performance, a safer and more reliable water source, and reduced system costs.