Reduction of Water Losses by Energy-Self-Sufficient Measurement and Control Units – Smart Water Power

Abstract

In the research project “Smart Water Power” (SWP) a new method for energy harvesting was developed. This method enables generation of electric energy directly from the water supply network. In this project various energy harvester technologies were examined, tested on test stands, and evaluated for the use in water distribution networks. Subsequently, a new harvester technology was developed and used as test platform. It could be shown, that with the recent developments in microelectronics and computer science, energy- self-sufficient measurement and control units in the water supply network are possible. With this new SWP concept an efficient water loss management can be achieved. As a result of the energy output of the tested harvester, an optimization for the operation of measur-ing instruments (e. g. magneto-inductive flowmeter (IDM)) with greater energy demand is necessary. Therefore, we suggest further development of this innovative and forward-looking approach for implementation.