Reinventing Smart Water Management System through ICT and IoT Driven Solution for Smart Cities

Abstract

Purpose: Worldwide water scarcity is one of the major problems to deal with. Smart Cities also faces this challenging problem due to its ever-increasing population and limited sources of natural water. Additionally, careless usage of water and large water wastage has made the water issues as a serious concern. Today Smart Cities are using advanced technical solutions to deal with various problems, to deal with water shortage problems, Smart Cities uses Smart Water Management System, an intelligent system which distributes and control existing water supply on need basis, and also it facilitates recycling of water for again using for specific activities. In this paper I have provided the overview of Smart Water Management System, its features, and functionalities. I also reviewed available literature on Water Management Systems for Smart Cities and considering the latest tools and technologies and understanding some of the limitations of existing Smart Water Management Systems, I proposed an easy to develop, operate and maintain Smart Water Management Solution called as "iWMS". The proposed conceptual framework of iWMS is modular and is based on secure Blockchain based Application Layer. The iWMS solution supports entire water management and recycling functioning cycle and can easily integrate with other services of Smart Cities. The evaluation of iWMS framework provided very encouraging results. It is revealed that iWMS meets the stated objectives of water savings through automated operation and also through controlled water recycling. Unlike other Smart Water Management Systems, iWMS also carefully complies the cybersecurity requirements. Based on evaluation, the advantages, and limitations of iWMS are also stated in this paper. Finally, I have also specified the future plans about iWMS to undertake its full-fledged implementation and addressing of its limitations. Design/Methodology/Approach: Primary Data collection through Interviews and Questionnaire responses from Industry Professionals, SMEs, and Researchers working on development, operation, and maintenance of Water Management Systems in Smart Cities and secondary data collected through detailed review of existing literature containing Journal Papers, Conference Papers, and Whitepapers available on Water Management Solutions for Smart Cities, are used to derive the new findings and results presented in this research paper. Findings/Result: Smart Water Management System not only efficiently handles water distribution across Smart Cities but also plays an active role in Water Recycling, Water Control and Monitoring, Estimation of the peak water requirements, and detection of water leakage if any. Smart Water Management System is an essential system in Smart Cities and is the backbone behind Smart Water Service of Smart Cities. Originality/Value: The Information presented in this paper is original and genuine and completely based on own data analysis and findings. It is derived from a systematic literature review of existing research papers and whitepapers on Smart Water Management System and interactions carried out with industry professionals, SMEs, and Researchers working on Water Management Solutions. Paper Type: Technology oriented Research