Bangalore civic body to use IBM's technology for distribution monitoring

The main sources of water in Bangalore are Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers

US-based technology and consulting major IBM today said it is implementing its big data and predictive analytics technology for Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to create systems for monitoring and managing water distribution systems.

BWSSB supplies water to nearly 800 sq kms in the city. The main sources of water in the city are the Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers, which are not sufficient to meet the needs of the population that has risen to 10 million from 5.4 million in 2000.

“IBM worked closely with BWSSB to create an operational dashboard, based on the IBM Intelligent Operations Center (IOC), which serves as a 'command center' for monitoring, administering and managing the city’s water supply networks,” IBM said in a release.

According to Dr PN Ravindra, executive engineer (new initiatives and design cell) at BWSSB, around 45% of the water supply by the BWSSB goes unaccounted for, and implementing this solution would help minimise this.

“Our engineers will be able to assess real time water supply at the click of a mouse, per asset. This brings a degree of predictability and real time controllability into the water supply for the city,” he said.