**4.2 Association KOMMUNAL 4.0 e.V**

*Resources of Water*

manufactured.

essential goals:

(cyberphysical systems).

internet application.

conversion of different data/data formats.

process chain and operational optimization.

• Development of required IT security concepts.

**4.1 The funded project KOMMUNAL 4.0**

"It also applies to water management that everything that can be digitized has to be digitized". This comment made by Martin Weyand, BDEW Managing Director Water/Wastewater [7] confirms the cognitions of KOMMUNAL 4.0. Previous technological developments in water management have had only a limited impact on organizations and working methods, but in contrast to this, digitalization is expected to bring about massive changes in the everyday working lives of individuals as it unfolds its full potential. Already from individual elements as part of growing complex systems more far-reaching effects are to be expected. This leads to the conclusion that an examination of new digital solutions must be more comprehensive and must go beyond the previous horizon of knowledge and understanding. This is where the holistic approach of KOMMUNAL 4.0 comes in, in which all relevant individual modules and their interaction with each other were taken into account from the very beginning. This approach allows a better assessment of how to deal with digitization, even if it increases the amount of work at the beginning. As a result, it is easier to assess the major consequences of individual solutions and thus enables the foresighted engineering of networked systems. Based on this, current and future products and solutions will be

**4. The KOMMUNAL 4.0 project—a German beacon of digitization**

of the IT and organizational solutions from KOMMUNAL 4.0.

The cooperation project KOMMUNAL 4.0, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, will devote itself in a special way to the challenges described above. Current and expected future developments in the field of Industry 4.0 were examined for applicability in municipal water management. KOMMUNAL 4.0 was selected as one of the 16 winners in a pure industrial competition from 130 applicants [8]. The intended developments for digitization lead to higher efficiency, safety and control in the operation of water management plants and systems and can serve as a model for other infrastructure sectors. The current low adaptability of municipal infrastructures to changing conditions such as heavy rainfall or demographic change can be significantly increased with the help

The project consortium (see www.kommunal4null.de) under the cooperation management of HST Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG strives for the following

• Standardization of data acquisition and transmission from heterogeneous CPS

• Development of a web-based data platform for collection, structuring and

• Development of flexible platform architecture for optional use as intranet or

• Development of application tools in the areas of design/engineering, benchmarking, object/network monitoring, data fusion, procurement, end-to-end

**24**

In order to maintain the previous ideas and the already established network of experts in the KOMMUNAL 4.0 funding project after the end of the project (31.12.2019), the Federal Association KOMMUNAL 4.0 (www.kommunal4null-ev. de) was founded in 2017. It supports the previous basic and competence transfer of the funding project and will work as a hub for the digitization of municipal infrastructures. It also takes care of central tasks such as public relations for digitization, training and further education, standardization and networking. The association sees itself as a central point of contact for planning and implementing the first steps toward the digitization of municipal infrastructures or for carrying out advanced technological expansions. Even though the current focus is on the municipal water sector due to the proximity to the funding project, all other relevant sectors of municipal infrastructure are to be added in the future.

A central importance for the water sector is the establishment of a KOMMUNAL 4.0 academy. So far, the sector is not be able to offer any application-related further training courses. The Federal Association KOMMUNAL 4.0 will offer a corresponding service which covers the topics IT security, IT systems, operational management, process control engineering as well as measurement and automation engineering. But there will also be application-related offerings, e.g. how digitization can look specifically in water supply or wastewater disposal or in special structures such as pumps, rainwater basins, sewage treatment plants, etc. In addition, there will be special seminars for mayors, heads of offices and planners so that these industry participants can set their very special requirements in relation to the challenges of digitization.

## **4.3 From smart machines to smart infrastructures**

Embedded systems have been around for a long time at the water management. The state of the art is that mechanical aggregates are connected to automation technology, which takes over monitoring, control and regulation functions based on various information (mostly from measurement sensors). Automation technology is also used for data acquisition and transmission to higher-level units such as SCADA systems. They form an important part of a complete networking solution (see **Figure 1**).

The stored specifications of a smart machine follow clear assignments and rules, especially for control. Changes to the specifications are made by the operator via set points or directly at the PLC level by a programmer. Data is linked locally by cable. And how do smart machines emerge from this? Thanks to the availability of rapidly increasing web-based application options, the monitoring, control and regulation of actuators no longer needs to be carried out in isolation with locally recorded data and locally used automation technology. For example, additional information

such as current precipitation data or status information from a piping system can be transferred from a central database to the local controller via a wireless Internet connection or data line. Based on corresponding algorithms, the controller permanently analyzes the functional environment (in real time) and independently adapts the control specifications (set points) to changing environmental conditions. This is illustrated by the example of a pumping station.

Pumps are designed for an optimal but static operating point based at only one expected operating situation. However, fluctuating water volumes and losses due to unfavorable piping or other operating conditions cause pumps to run outside their selected characteristic curve. This is also due to the fact that, unaware of the actual delivery peaks, corresponding safety surcharges/reserves are provided while dimensioning the pumps. This results in higher energy consumption and less efficiency of the overall system and thus also reduces the service life of the units. Innovative pump controllers (software solutions such as so-called IntelliPump system) permanently evaluate the entire operating situation and, by using frequency control, enable operating sequences that permit several optimum operating points depending on the requirements. This permanently guarantees the intended pumping safety and thus reduces wear and energy consumption of the pump. Another advantage is the continuous monitoring of system operation. This enables faults to be detected more quickly and a better condition assessment of the machine, thus increasing overall operational safety. The formerly simple pump becomes a smart pump system.

In the near future, smart machines will become standard equipment in water management, also as a result of the KOMMUNAL 4.0 project. The connection to web-based data portals, such as the precipitation portal NiRA.web, increases the adaptability and efficiency of individual machines and the system in complete. The virtual connection of the machines with the Internet allows access to all operating data from a central location. Selected operation-relevant data supports local machine control, link systems/objects with each other and ensure efficient operation throughout the entire infrastructure system. An example of this is a sewer network with various rainwater basins, pumping stations and a central connected sewage treatment plant.

The interconnection of the objects, as shown in **Figure 1**, permits an optimal congestion, flushing and operating regime of the entire infrastructure network. A central data evaluation of all structures decides about the right time to empty storm water tank, e.g. to keep sufficient storage capacities free for a next heavy rainfall or flood event, or to make optimum use of capacities or to control the relief events from storm water tanks in the sense of optimum water protection. The more quantitative and qualitative data are available for each structure/object, the better and more efficiently each individual machine, each object and also the entire infrastructure system can be operated. Similar applications, e.g. the intelligent basin cleaning system IntelliGrid, the self-regulating occupancy control system IntelliScreen for increasing the material retention in horizontal bar screens or the EMA flow rate recording system at rainwater overflows, are increasingly being used in water management. In the course of the KOMMUNAL 4.0 project, the prerequisites are now being created for networking individual applications across buildings in order to create a genuine, smart infrastructure.
