Solutions: Water System Operations
Using KnowledgeKeeper to Reduce Electrical Demand Costs
Water Managers are Becoming Energy Managers
Demand response programs being offered by electric utilities are a good deal for utilities.
Why?
- Water Managers Can Reduce Electrical Demand Costs
- Funded by DOE and State PUC Dollars
- A Clever Way to Reduce Carbon Footprint
Video Benchmarking Your Company's
Safe, Reliable Water System Ops
Water system operators, mechanics, electricians and technicians can use KnowledgeCAMs or their Smart Phones to quickly video document the current practices they use to reliably deliver water that is safe to drink.
They can also video audit new ways they are changing operations in order to reduce electrical demand without sacrificing water quality and reliability.
Expand Operations Knowledge
to Safe, Reliable & Efficient
Water system operators are licensed and trained under “Safe Drinking Water” and health guidelines. Mechanics and electricians work to maintain water systems that are powered for reliability. Using a library of demand response knowledge, operators, electricians and mechanics can add “Efficient” as their third ops priority, behind safe and reliable.
Promoting Efficient
Water System Operations
Demand response is just as important for water system operations as it is for power system operations. It is the consumers that make possible the efficient use of our finite natural resources.
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Knowledge-Information-Optimization
(K-I-O)
The combination of operational knowledge combined with a state of the art process information system is proven to flatten electrical demand costs.
In addition to operating at maximum efficiency water managers can expect to save 5-15% in annual electrical costs. Even for smaller utilities the cummualtive savings over a decade can be in the millions of dollars.
Process Information System "I"
OpCon partners with OSIsoft to provide a best in class process information (PI) system that combines
monthly billing transactions with real time flow data giving the operators ratios of kw/acre-foot and cost/acre-foot that are constant and do not change with seasons, making it easier to monitor and reduce electrical demand.
Funding
Demand knowledgeable operators seek to deliver safe drinking water reliably using the least amount of power.
Water conserved is power saved and carbon reduced. It takes an average of 3000 kwh to pump 1 acre-foot of water.
That’s almost 1.5 to 2 tons of carbon.
Funding is available for water projects that reduce power or enable electrical demand
response. Funding typically comes in two forms: Energy Service Company's (ESCO's) or eletrical rate payer funds set aside to reduce electrical demand and increase electrical efficiency.
Two good presentations on these forms of funding can be found here:
[+} Funding & Implementing Energy Efficiency in Water, DistribuTECH Conference 2012
Schedule a Live Web Demo
Case Study: Moulton Niguel Water District
Managing energy usage requires a deep understanding of how a company's production processes are related to electrical generation, transmission and rate setting processes. Moulton Niguel Water District developed a repository of operational knowledge that is formatted to show operators not only how to meet customer water demand but also how to save energy.
A process information system (PI) shows the operators in real time how their knowledge based energy management decisions are working. This presentation will outline how the District continuously reduces electrical costs by using operational knowledge and plant information to navigate around electrical demand charges and demand response contract penalties.
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Demand Response: Both Sides of the Meter
In 2011 at the DistribuTECH Utility Technology Conference in San Diego California, a panel of water and electric utility managers convened to discuss electrical demand response programs. Since both water and power managers were attending the conference the venue was ideal to look at Demand Response from the perspective of both the electricity provider and the water utility customer.
- Power Utilities have been making steady investments in Demand Response infrastructures;
- These infrastructures are here to stay and continue to be build out;
- The Energy-Water nexus could become a large component of Demand Response;
- Water Utilities are in the early stages of understanding how to change their operations in ways that will leverage the financial and carbon reduction benefits of Demand Response
- Periods of high power demand often overlap with periods of high water demand;
- Using Advanced Metering Water Utilities can take a page out of the Electric Utility playbook and go beyond internal water system operations by integrating with customers to curtail water consumption during periods of high power and water demand;