The water and wastewater service of Nevers Agglomération directly manages the supply of drinking water to 13 member municipalities.
11 catchment points draw water from the groundwater table and feed the 5 treatment plants, ensuring the water fully complies with drinking water standards. The treated water is then sent to 14 reservoirs responsible for storage and pressure regulation once the water is distributed. The Nevers Agglomération distribution network extends over 685 km and serves 31,000 subscribers as well as public facilities in the municipalities.
A large portion of these facilities is remotely monitored and controlled by local SOFREL S4W units, which also ensure the cybersecurity of the remote management network.
THE SMART CITY THAT COMBINES SMART WATER, SMART MOBILITY AND SMART ENERGY IS PART OF A STRATEGIC REFLECTION FOR THE AGGLOMERATION.
WATER AND ENERGY SAVINGS, AS WELL AS MOBILITY THAT LIMITS NUISANCE AND CO₂ EMISSIONS, ARE PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE 85,000 INHABITANTS OF NEVERS AGGLOMÉRATION FROM 2020 TO 2050.
LACROIX FULLY MATCHES OUR VISION OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND ITS BENEFITS FOR A REGION LIKE NEVERS AGGLOMERATION
Alain BOURCIER
Vice-President of Nevers Agglomération
20% increase in network efficiency achieved in less than 6 years
To reduce water losses as much as possible, the water service invested in the sectorization of its network. 70 remotely read meters were installed to create a mesh of the water distribution system. SOFREL LS data loggers monitor night-time flows and send daily alerts to the teams in case of abnormal consumption. The investment quickly paid off thanks to reduced water loss and energy savings, leading to a 20% increase in network efficiency.
Testimonial
Dominique DERANGERE Head of Water and Wastewater Services – Nevers Agglomération
Fabrice PACCAMICCIO Head of Water Operations – Nevers Agglomération
Can you tell us more about the efficiency improvements you’ve achieved?
D.D. : In 2014, network efficiency was clearly insufficient and did not meet the thresholds required to qualify for Water Agency subsidies. It barely exceeded the efficiency levels set by the Grenelle Law. From 74%, thanks to network meshing and remote management, we reached over 94% efficiency by 2020.
You’ve deployed numerous SOFREL local units and data loggers. What do they bring to your teams?
F.P. : Today, we fully use SOFREL S500 and S4W local units for data acquisition, reporting to supervision systems, alarm transmission, and inter-site communication. We use automation features for automatic pump switching, frequency and pressure regulation. S4W in particular addresses cybersecurity issues. It allows fully secure IP communication and provides access only to authorized personnel. SOFREL LS devices allow us to monitor what happens daily on the distribution network, archive information, and track flow trends across meters and flowmeters. The strength of SOFREL products is that you can connect everything, automate everything… the only limitations are those we impose ourselves, either through our skills or imagination.
Closely tracking water consumption is essential for the service
D.D. : The benefit of all this remote data transmission is to offer better service to our subscribers, especially the “big users.” For example: the USON rugby stadium, football stadiums, schools, retirement homes… places where water supply issues and consumption monitoring are real concerns. By sectorizing, monitoring, and supervising our networks this way, we are able, if not to anticipate, at least to react very quickly in case of abnormal consumption.
What kind of savings have been achieved thanks to remote management?
D.D. : We estimate that since 2014, the efficiency gains have saved us 200,000 m³ of water annually. In today’s context of climate change, we are particularly proud of that. These results encourage us to keep going. From a financial perspective, considering all the water we no longer need to produce unnecessarily, we also save 130 MWh thanks to this remote monitoring system.
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