In Puglia water is remote-controlled thanks to Hydro Systems and EIT Smart

In Apulia water becomes “pay-per-use” thanks to a winning partnership between the Consortium Bonifica della Capitanata, Hydro Systems and EIT Smart

The relentless advance of climate change imposes major restrictions on water use, both for people and for agriculture. Apulia, too, is strongly affected by the sharp reduction in water resources over these past few years, a fact that turns out to be a serious problem since it is the main agricultural region in the South. Indeed, 80 percent of Italy’s olive oil production comes from here and it is one of the most important national sectors in terms of horticulture, cereal and viticulture (table and wine grapes).

In response to this new situation, Apulian farmers have adopted innovative and sustainable agricultural techniques able to reduce environmental impact and optimize the use of water resources without compromising productivity. Examples include the use of low consumption water-efficient IoT irrigation techniques.

The Consortium Bonifica della Capitanata, which operates in the northern part of Apulia more specifically in the province of Foggia, is one of the largest and most innovative irrigation authorities in Europe. In recent months it unveiled a project to modernize the Fortore irrigation district through a remote-controlled and remote sensing water delivery system.
The project, which has already been tested and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture under the NRRP financial framework, involves the first installation of 2,100 new water delivery units, already tested,  distributed over an irrigated area of 14,376 hectares. The units are equipped with electrical control boards operated by electronic withdrawal cards and are monitored remotely, thanks to a remote control. This makes it possible to check water consumption at all times with remote sensing IoT ultrasonic meters and to monitor water distribution, thus avoiding waste and abuse.
The modernization of the Bonifica della Capitanata Consortium’s water distribution system, already started about 4 years ago,
will continue with the installation of additional delivery groupsand the project will come to serve about 150 thousand hectares with 20,000 devices installed, of which approximately 15,000 are already active.

Hydro Systems’ solution for optimized water management based on 0G Sigfox communication protocols

The project was carried out by Hydro Systems, a CMC Group company, which has 30 years of experience in water management. The main fields of activity are:

• water lifting plants
• wastewater treatment plants
• remote controls on distribution and pumping systems
• automated devices for the distribution and metering of water for irrigation use

In recent years, due to the ever-increasing demand for water for agriculture against its diminishing availability, the company has been actively committed to the development of innovative IoT solutions: it had become essential to find a system able to rationally and responsibly manage this precious resource.
Out of this need Hydro Systems developed the DWS (Delivery Water Systems), which saves about 25% of water every year compared to traditional distribution systems. It uses delivery units that are automated and always connected thanks to IoT, an innovative irrigation solution that allows for a more sustainable management of the water distribution system.
In addition to the project of the Consortium Bonifica della Capitanata, the system is being implemented in other smaller projects, around 5,000 devices in total, in Campania, Lazio, Valle d’Aosta and Calabria.

Hydro Systems’ DWS system: how it works

The DWS system is an automated, remote-controlled and remote sensing system for the delivery of water from public irrigation systems and consists of a hydraulic device coupled with a control unit. The automated distribution system is aimed at rationalizing delivery and measuring the water delivered from collective irrigation systems operated by land reclamation authorities. Water extraction from totally independent delivery groups equipped with an electronic unit is now possible using a withdrawal card (user card) which is given to each user/farmer.
This solution detects and transmits data on consumption, flow rate, including instantaneous flow, volume, and information on valve opening and closing, as well as delivering periodic messages and any alarm messages.

Hydro Systems chose EIT Smart’s 0G Sigfox network

Initially, the control units communicated data via GPRS modem, but this communication system proved to be inadequate for two reasons:

• high power consumption was a significant problem, especially considering the absence of continuous power sources in the rural areas where the power packs were installed
• cellular network coverage in these remote and isolated areas was often insufficient, causing frequent interruptions in data transmission

The GPRS modem was therefore replaced by integrating a radio module into the control unit that communicates thanks to the 0G Sigfox network provided by EIT Smart exclusively for Italy.

This choice resulted in several advantages for Hydro System’s DWS system:

The benefits derived from the use of the DWS system

Adopting a system with automated delivery units such as Hydro Systems’ DWS “Delivery Water System” in 0G Sigfox technology from EIT Smart has significant advantages:

• The optimization of water distribution and use: the managing authority can adopt personalized and functional distribution criteria compatible with the available resources and the hydraulic characteristics of the distribution network (volume, shifts and withdrawal times), as well as assigning the user at the beginning of the irrigation season a seasonal volume of water (endowment). The user may use the endowment at the times and in the ways he or she sees fit, respecting the established distribution criteria.
• The reduction of waste and abuse in water use, given the direct allocation to each customer/farmer and the resulting continuous monitoring of consumption.
• The users save money: the users are charged for the actual volume of water withdrawn (“pay per use” system) and no field work or routine maintenance is required during operation.