Urban flooding can now be managed much more effectively using Artificial Intelligence, according to the creators of a new technology called CENTAUR™ – a recipient of the ‘Most Innovative New Technology of the Year’ at the 2018 Water Industry Awards.
One of the most widespread impacts of climate change will be the increased frequency and severity of urban flooding due to peaked storms with intense rainfall. This has the potential to impact thousands of EU citizens. CENTAUR has been designed in response to the need to reduce flooding in increasingly crowded urban areas.
CENTAUR “intelligently utilises the existing storage capacity within wastewater systems”. During periods of intense rainfall, these systems can overflow because their local capacity is exceeded.
The CENTAUR system measures level at key points within a wastewater network and communicates this information via a proprietary radio protocol to a central Hub. The Hub uses an AI algorithm to instruct a gate to effectively manage and utilise capacity that exists within the network.
The CENTAUR project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and the technology was developed by a consortium including scientists and engineers from Environmental Monitoring Solutions (EMS) the University of Sheffield, the University of Coimbra, EAWAG (Zurich), Steinhardt GmbH, Veolia and Águas de Coimbra .
Simon Tait, Professor of Water Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: “Making our urban drainage networks smarter means that we can get better flood protection from essentially the same infrastructure.”
Installing the system does not require major infrastructure change. It is easily installed and maintained, and there are multiple fail-safes to ensure the system reduces risk and increases resilience to flooding.
Portuguese municipal water company, Águas de Coimbra, is currently trialling the system in Coimbra, where it is contributing to local flood protection. EMS has specified CENTAUR for applications globally to address flooding issues, pollution from CSO spills and to manage flows into wastewater treatment works.
Telmo Paula, of Águas de Coimbra, said: “The CENTAUR system has been successfully working in Coimbra, managing peak flows and reducing flood risk in an important area of the city. Through utilising existing storage capacity within the wastewater network, volume is retained during periods of intense rainfall and only discharged once the flow has reduced downstream”
Professor Pete Skipworth, Managing Director of EMS said: “CENTAUR is a truly disruptive technology and we wanted to pitch it against the best the industry has to offer. This recognition from the UK water industry is an incredible accolade, and EMS and the CENTAUR team are thrilled to have received this award in such a competitive category.”
