Environment
ABB helps HCMC curb water losses
  • | VNA | July 11, 2017 09:40 AM
In order to stay abreast of the rapid pace of urbanization and meet targets for reducing water leakage in Ho Chi Minh City to only 10 per cent by 2020, the Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO) recently undertook a major renovation of the city’s water distribution network.


Photo by ABB


Expansion of existing network capacity, integration of more isolated sections, reduction of water leakage, and real-time control and monitoring of the network conditions to prevent major disruptions are all part of the project’s scope.

To meet the complex targets, a strategic ABB Ability Symphony® Plus SCADA system has been designed, which integrates a sophisticated leakage detection and management system from the water network management company TaKaDu. The project will deploy several data collection points, such as sensors and meters for flow and pressure monitoring, to the water network and allow SAWACO to digitally monitor the network conditions in “nearly real time”. The utility will be able to continually detect, analyze, and manage network events, transforming that information into immediate action to reduce water losses.

ABB Ability Symphony® Plus is a distributed control system (DCS) especially tailored for the water and power industries. Part of the ABB Ability portfolio of digital offerings, this control system adds value for customers by carefully collecting, analyzing, and providing actionable insights on plant and engineering data in their systems, ultimately allowing them to lower project risk, reduce cost and throughput times, and improve asset performance and profitability.

ABB’s scope of supply for this critical project includes field instrumentation and sensors that are critical components to deliver high quality data to the control system.

“Projects like Ho Chi Minh City’s water network show the full potential of advanced automation for all municipalities dealing with rapid expansions or aging infrastructure,” said Mr. Kevin Kosisko, Managing Director of ABB’s Power Generation & Water business. “Furthermore, the smart collection of digital data from the field will offer real-time insights on the network status, allowing for increased revenues.”

Thanks to the digitalization of its network, the real-time knowledge of network conditions, and the accurate detection of leaks, SAWACO will be able to increase the amount of water delivered to households and industries. In doing so, it will minimize the estimated 500,000 cu m of non-revenue water lost per day, roughly the daily capacity of a medium-sized water plant in the city.

Since its launch in 2011, ABB Ability Symphony® Plus has achieved more than 6,800 new installations, on top of the thousands of plants that have chosen to upgrade to the DCS. Symphony Plus is the DCS of choice for other projects in Vietnam, such as the original commissioning and further extension of the Vinh Tan 4 supercritical power plant, located 250 km east of Ho Chi Minh City. Upon completion, the complex will provide an additional 5,600 MW of electricity to Vietnam’s national grid.

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