City of Dubuque Teams with IBM to Provide Smarter Water Services

IBM and the city of Dubuque, Iowa, announced the launch of the Smarter Sustainable Dubuque Water Pilot Study. The IBM Smarter City Sustainability Model will help Dubuque understand and jointly manage water resource consumption and optimization.

Volunteer citizens in Dubuque will monitor their water consumption and conservation practices via a smart water meter that the city of Dubuque has installed. IBM will help collect the water consumption data of these citizens via a cloud computing platform, which will then be analyzed, providing information and insight on consumption trends and patterns that will enable both the volunteers and city management to conserve water and lower costs.

The study’s goal is to demonstrate how informed and engaged citizens can help make their city sustainable. By providing citizens and city officials with an integrated view of water consumption, the project will encourage behavior changes resulting in conservation, cost reduction and leak repair.

IBM’s water management technologies use a real-time advanced analytics system that tracks and reports on the condition of an infrastructure from filtration equipment, water pumps and valves to collection pipes, water storage basins and laboratory equipment. The ability to monitor these systems in real-time means that potential problems, such as a burst water main, a slow leak, a clogged drain or a hazardous sewage overflow, can be quickly identified and resolved.

Source: IBM