The Dutch water company Evides has tested VIDI Positioners for digital monitoring of their water supply network. VIDI Positioner is a battery-operated IoT sensor providing real-time data on valve open/close position to enhance efficiency and reliability in the supply network.
Within the research program “Pipeline Network of the Future”, Evides investigates different techniques that can help gain insights into the water supply network to make choices in a well-founded, targeted and cost-effective manner. In this context, they pay attention to digitization, and Evides has tested VIDI Positioner on four gate valves in one of their supply areas.
AVK Smart Water IoT sensors
VIDI Positioner is a battery-operated IoT device that detects the open/close position of a gate valve. VIDI Positioner is installed in combination with an AVK extension spindle on multi-turn valves. After installation and activation, the device wirelessly transmits information about the open/close position to the VIDI Cloud platform or a third-party software.The Positioner can be activated on any smartphone via the AVK Assist app. After activation, the device registers when the valve is being operated and transmits data immediately using NB-IoT communication. It retransmits after 5 minutes, 10 minutes and after 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours, and a keep-alive signal is transmitted every 24 hours if the open/close position has not changed.
Benefits of digital monitoring
Until now, open/close position of each valve in Evides' supply network has been registered manually. If the position changes, it is a manual process to change the registration, and this includes a potential risk of information not always being up to date. In case of malfunction, it can lead to further problems if the actual valve position does not correspond to the registered position, and opening or closing the valve can then cause even more complaints.
Digital monitoring of the supply network with VIDI Positioner provides increased efficiency when the Positioner is installed on frequently used valves as well as increased reliability when it is installed on critical valves in the network where any change in valve open/close position should be reported immediately. VIDI Positioner can also be used to improve the accuracy and reliability of the hydraulic model.
Supported by AVK Netherlands, Evides has run a successful six months pilot project and moving forward, VIDI Positioners can save the water company a lot of time and ensure that correct and updated data is always available.
