08-10-2024
Italy is the European country that was most affected by water shortages in 2022 (-38%), with damages due to water scarcity between 2000 and 2022 estimated at approximately €20 billion. In Italy, water loss amounts to 42% on average.
“The Almaviva Group has completed or is working on several projects, with large or medium-sized operators, related to the digitalization of the integrated water system. These projects have already recovered over 70 million cubic meters of water per year,” says Antonio Amati, General Manager of IT for Almaviva, in an interview with Economy.
The group currently operates in the water market, combining the expertise of various companies, from Almaviva (the parent company) to B.M. Industrial Technologies and 2f Water Venture, and from Almawave, listed on the EGM and active in AI and Big Data, to subsidiaries Tecnau, SisTer Sistemi Territoriali, and MEA Engineering, acquired just a few weeks ago.
In the context of monitoring the network and behaviors in real-time "we’re primarily operating in areas of central and southern Italy where the level of water loss is highest and the impact of our interventions is more perceptible, even by residents. We’ve identified 11,000 cases of leaks and digitalized over two thousand systems. We monitor more than 147,000 kilometers of network via satellite and have created a digital twin of over 25,000 kilometers of infrastructure, while managing an equal number through our Smart Water Management System, a platform that uses advanced artificial intelligence systems to collect and process information in real time, thus enabling timely interventions as well as proactive actions, thanks to the ability to predict potential issues.”
With regard to the water sector, the group operates in, among other places, "Sicily for the Catania and Agrigento aqueducts, Calabria, the Marche region for 26 municipalities in the provinces of Macerata and Fermo, Lombardy for Padania Acque, Campania for the Naples aqueduct, Puglia for the Apulian Aqueduct, and Basilicata for the Lucan Aqueduct.”
“We’ve developed a Centralized Acquisition System (SAC) that collects data from different types of smart meters, or digital water meters. Thanks to our system, operators can calculate users’ daily and weekly consumption, with obvious benefits. In addition, the SAC ensures greater safety regarding water quality, thanks to specific sensors for detecting possible contaminants, and fewer service interruptions by monitoring leaks and the overall functioning of the water network with a digital twin that reproduces the network’s operation in real time.”
