Table of Contents
About the Client
The Municipal Water and Sewerage Company in Wrocław (Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji S.A. we Wrocławiu, MPWiK Wrocław) is one of the five largest utilities of its kind in Poland.
It harmoniously combines centuries-old tradition with development based on technology and innovation.
MPWiK actively monitors its carbon footprint and runs projects aimed at reducing its environmental impact.
As a responsible business, it collaborates with international environmental research centres and promotes education through the HYDROPOLIS Water Knowledge Centre.
Business Challenge
As one of Poland’s largest water and wastewater utilities, MPWiK Wrocław manages an extensive and complex infrastructure serving more than one million residents and businesses. Operating at this scale requires effective network monitoring and the ability to respond quickly to anomalies.
In 2009, water losses reached 24%, generating significant operating costs and presenting a challenge to the sustainable management of water resources.
At the time, water loss detection relied largely on manual analysis of minimum night-time flows and data from multiple sources, without making full use of historical data. This made it more difficult to detect anomalies quickly, locate hidden leaks and identify potential irregularities, such as unauthorised water consumption.
The key challenge was to integrate fragmented data sources and automate their analysis, providing greater visibility into network performance. This would enable the MPWiK team to identify potential issues sooner and take effective action.
SmartFlow implementation in Wrocław
The project combined MPWiK’s sector knowledge, our consulting and IT engineering experience, and Microsoft’s support. The result was SmartFlow – a tailored platform addressing the real needs of water utilities.
The pilot rollout in Wrocław was divided into several stages:
Understanding the city’s and the utility’s needs
During training sessions, MPWiK experts shared insights into the network’s operations. We used this knowledge to design a solution that supports daily diagnostics.
Microsoft experts provided technical guidance on Azure, the foundation for the monitoring system.
MPWiK infrastructure audit
We analysed the company’s IT systems, water infrastructure, and business processes.
One of the areas where MPWiK could benefit most from the implementation of the platform was the analysis of minimum night flows. Until then it had been performed manually, with no reference to historical data. Automating this process allowed for even faster identification of irregularities and potential failures.Pilot implementation of SmartFlow
We developed a customised SmartFlow platform based on flow meter data, main water meters, and geolocation information from GIS. This integration of various data sources allowed MPWiK to move from fragmented datasets to a single, centralised analytical tool.
- A fully operational system
Wrocław is now home to one of the largest and most advanced SmartFlow deployments.
The system processes 1,435,080 readings per day, automatically analysing them to detect anomalies, leaks, hydraulic issues and changes in water quality parameters.
The platform integrates data from SCADA and GIS systems, flow meters, water meters, billing systems, noise loggers, water quality monitoring devices and equipment used to detect hydraulic transients (water hammer effect).
The application enables easy and clear monitoring of the network’s parameters. The notification and alert system notifies dispatchers about irregularities in specific DMA zones and measuring points. This allows for quicker and more accurate responses to potential leaks or unauthorised water usage.
Our collaboration in numbers
100%
of the city covered by the system
10 years
of colaboration
2,250 km
of water distribution network monitored by SmartFlow
1,435,080
data readings processed every day
Diagnosis method we used
The city area was divided into DMA zones (District Metered Areas) – individually monitored sections of the network, equipped with radio devices for data transmission.
Each DMA zone was balanced using the IWA (International Water Association) methodology, based on data from flow and water meters.
The system analyses nine parameters from sensors:
- pressure
- forward and reverse meter status
- forward and reverse flow rate
- forward and reverse flow speed
- temperature
- battery voltage
Results of the collaboration
Main benefits of our partnership
- Integrated data from more than 30 systems and measurement devices
- Faster response to anomalies and potential failures
- Simpler, faster data analysis
- Improved water network management
- Measurable reduction in water losses
- Smarter, more sustainable water resource management