The general approach used by ISS-EWATUS is to recognise and then exploit the untapped water-saving potential in the EU. Therefore, in this section, after emphasizing the importance of the water conservation problem, a general overview of existing water-saving potential is given. Being aware of all water stakeholders and problems at all levels, ISS-EWATUS is intended to focus on household and urban water-saving potentials respectively. Afterwards, several tools exploiting those potentials that are proposed by ISS-EWATUS are briefly FP-ICT-2013-11 ISS-EWATUS Collaborative Project described.

 

The proposed project is an interdisciplinary effort of specialists from water management and ICT research respectively to develop an intelligent Integrated Support System for Efficient WATer USage and resources management (ISS-EWATUS). The project will develop several innovative ICT methods aiming to exploit the untapped water-saving potential in EU. The overall goal will be achieved by developing an innovative, multi-factor system capable to optimise water management and reduce water usage.

At household level: a) an information system for gathering data about water usage is planned to increase the awareness of water consumption; the data will be interpreted and presented to household consumers in an understandable way using mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), b) a household Decision Support System (DSS) will be developed for mobile devices to reduce water consumption. Recommendations regarding water-saving devices and behaviour will be produced, c) a social-media platform will be developed to reinforce water-saving behaviour of consumers via the social interactions among users (and between consumers and experts of water-saving techniques).

At urban level: a) an innovative decision support system for reducing leaks in the water delivery system will be built based on the dynamic modifications of pumping schedules to reduce leakages at municipal level, b) an adaptive pricing policy will be developed as the economic instrument to induce water-saving behaviour and reduce peaks in water and energy distribution loads.

Being validated at two differently characterised locations, the ISS-EWATUS will be sufficiently flexible to be exploited in any EU location. Appropriate training, manuals and dissemination will give people across EU an efficient tool for water conservation. The solutions of ISS-EWATUS for households will be available on the mobile applications portals. The rest of solutions will be offered to water management companies in EU.

Project's website: http://issewatus.eu/