ABB Ability Symphony Plus SCADA for water industries is being used by Ho Chi Minh City’s local water utility Saigon Water Supply Corporation to address water leakage challenges and support long-term growth.
Ho Chi Minh City lost nearly 30%—more than 150 million cubic meters—of clean water in a recent year through leaking and damaged pipes, at a rate considerably higher than in many developed cities. Major sections of water distribution infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City are aged, with some sections built more than 30 years ago, or even dating to the colonial era. The city continues to grow, increasing pressure on existing infrastructure.
The city’s local water utility Saigon Water Supply Corporation (SAWACO) has undertaken a major renovation of the city’s water distribution network and has adopted ABB Ability Symphony Plus to support the goal of reducing water leakage from 30% to 10% by 2020. ABB Ability Symphony Plus is an automation system designed for the power and water industries. This control system, which is part of the ABB Ability portfolio of digital offerings, adds value by collecting, analysing and providing actionable insights on plant and engineering data in systems, ultimately lowering project risk, reducing cost and throughput times and improving asset performance and profitability.
Tran Quang Minh, deputy general director of SAWACO, commented: “The water supply system in Ho Chi Minh City has been in place for 60-70 years. Over time, the infrastructure has deteriorated and water losses are high.
“Ho Chi Minh City is making the transition to digital technology. A modern water management system is very important to customers and businesses to meet rising demand. ABB Ability is one of the solutions SAWACO has been using to help us detect leaks and monitor and control the network in real-time.”
The renovation includes expansion of the current network capacity, integration of more isolated sections, reduction of water leakage and real-time control and monitoring of the network conditions to prevent major disruptions as part of the project scope.
ABB Ability Symphony Plus integrates TaKaDu’s network management solution, supporting SAWACO monitoring the network conditions digitally through multiple data collection points, such as sensors and meters, and offering actionable insights to reduce non-revenue water. SAWACO will then be able to increase the amount of water delivered to the city’s industries and eight million residents. At a first estimate, SAWACO will hit 50 million cubic meters per year of water savings, equivalent to 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, while production cost savings could be higher than US$10 million a year.
Danilo Moresco, global product manager, power and water, ABB, concluded: “This project in Ho Chi Minh City shows how advanced automation impacts our daily life. The smart collection of digital data from the field offers real-time insights on the network status, allowing SAWACO to increase the quality of its drinking water and improve living conditions for millions of people.”
