Open-Storm Detroit Dynamics Wins The Inaugural Intelligent Water Systems Challenge
A University of Michigan and Great Lakes Water Authority team has won the first Intelligent Water Systems Challenge. The winning project, Open-Storm Detroit Dynamics, was awarded $25,000. The team used data analytics in the development of a tool to improve the efficiency of existing collection systems in Detroit, while minimizing combined sewer overflows.
The Intelligent Water Systems Challenge is hosted by a partnership between the Water Resource Foundation and WEF called the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (LIFT). The competition aims to give professionals, students, as well as technology experts an opportunity to innovate and find ways to deal with the numerous issues that face water and wastewater utilities. The executive director at WEF, Eileen O’Neil stated that with continued support, there would be effective adoption of smart water technologies in Detroit.
The Great Lakes Water Authority Team believed that their innovative solution could assist Detroit’s system to handle an extra 100 million gallons of water without any new construction. This alone would save an estimated $500 million, which would otherwise have been used to increase the size of storage.
The $15,000 second prize went to the Metropolitan Water Resources District of Greater Chicago. Their project developed an intelligent warning system for Odors at the Thornton-Composite-Reservoir. The $5,000 third prize was awarded to the Clean Water Services (CWS) team for their pump station optimization project. These innovations demonstrate Detroit’s commitment towards developing smart water technologies that solve current and potential future challenges.
