A partnership was formed between the Town of Cary’s (Cary) water department and WithersRavenel, as our firm has been making investments in innovative technologies to support clients across the state. This partnership sought to establish a framework to navigate industry options and develop consistent guidance to collect, process, and analyze water system parameters beyond what is required at a regulatory level.
While Cary staff have a deep understanding of their water distribution system, they wanted to convert that understanding into quantitative metrics to better define and understand system performance. WithersRavenel’s investigative effort aimed to provide Cary a research-based context to inform their investment decisions with the resources to champion innovative growth and proactive management of the system.
WithersRavenel professionals began by acquiring and evaluating existing water system and hydraulic modeling data, along with previous studies and SCADA information. An extensive analysis of the existing data was conducted while collecting additional data with hydrant pressure recorders (HPRs). These specialized efforts were then framed within current industry options regarding the Internet of Things (IoT), vendor versus vendor-agnostic platforms, machine learning/AI, and digital twins.
Cary was advised on future investment in emerging technology to refine the data collection and analysis processes, thereby increasing understanding of the system’s current and future needs and trends. The final report frames known and future water industry options in the context of the desired pace of change and level of comfort with automated solutions, as the regulation-driven and risk-averse water industry in general has been slow to adopt modern solutions emerging in other industries.
Lastly, WithersRavenel delivered a specialized report which distilled complicated technical terminology, industry vernacular, and specialized concepts into approachable and relatable visuals, definitions, and analogies.