Innovyze Releases BalanceNet for IWLive, Next Generation of Real-Time Operations Optimization Software for Smarter Water Utilities

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Innovyze Releases BalanceNet for IWLive,
Next Generation of Real-Time Operations Optimization Software for Smarter Water Utilities
New Release Raises Bar for Energy Management and Sustainability Software,
Delivers Economic, Operational and Environmental Benefits
Broomfield, Colorado USA, February 12, 2013 — Innovyze, a leading global innovator of wet infrastructure modeling and simulation software and technologies, today announced the release of BalanceNetfor IWLive  This new state-of-the-art real-time energy management and sustainability solution for drinking water distribution systems is designed to change the way water utility operators around the world make informed decisions on operating and managing their complex water networks to minimize energy costs and environmental impact while meeting production and performance requirements.

Water utilities are energy-intensive, and consumers use water in energy-intensive ways, like water heating and pressurizing. Approximately 80% of municipal water processing and distribution costs are for electricity, the vast majority of it consumed by pumps. In California, water-related energy use consumes roughly 20 percent of the state’s electricity, 30 percent of its natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel every year — and the demand is growing. Nationally, About 13 percent of U.S. electricity consumption is related to water, and the CO2 embedded in the nation’s water represents 5% of all U.S. carbon emissions.

BalanceNet is designed expressly to assist water distribution system operators and train new operators in managing their energy consumption more effectively. It does so by equipping control rooms with the unprecedented real-time ability to develop sound, cost-effective pump scheduling policies that reduce operational and chemical costs, improve system performance and enable more reliable operations.

Designed for online applications with existing SCADA systems, BalanceNet reads real-time field data, instantly updates the network model and determines which pump and treatment plant schedules will yield the lowest operating cost while satisfying the desired system performance requirements (e.g., target tank trajectory curves, minimum and maximum flows and velocities, total pump flows). It uniquely combines an optimized mass balance model with an advanced network solver to quickly produce a set of near-ideal solutions for improving system operations. The network solver automatically defines the mass balance model, accounting for changes in demand, controls and other factors in each time step. The mass balance model is then optimized using Genetic Algorithms. Both energy consumption and pump switching costs are explicitly considered, and JET, Oracle, SQL and Pi databases are fully supported. The optimized pumping schedule can then be fed to the SCADA system for use in implementing resulting network control policies. These advantages represent fundamental advances in how readily water utilities operators can evaluate the efficiency of their water networks, then quickly and confidently develop improved system operations and more reliable performance.

“Since day one, our mission has been to bring powerful product development capabilities to the smart water network modeling community and foster its expansion,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE,Dist.D.NE, F.ASCE, President and Chief Operating Officer of Innovyze. “BalanceNet is a significant leap — an invaluable new water distribution systems planning and operations tool that will greatly aid utilities in improving the efficiency of their distribution systems and ensuring more reliable operations at maximum cost savings. This new software greatly enhances their ability to produce the best possible pumping schedules with minimum effort, reduced labor requirements and significant cost savings. The release demonstrates our strong commitment to continually delivering innovative technologies and superior value to our customers who manage, operate and sustain safe, reliable drinking water distribution systems. Innovyze is very proud to offer this revolutionary new power tool to the global waterworks industry.”

Pricing and Availability
BalanceNet for IWLive is available by subscription worldwide. For the latest information on the Innovyze Subscription Program, visit www.innovyze.com or contact your local Innovyze Channel Partner.