In an effort to optimize water consumption and to minimize leakages in the Mediterranean region, the AQUAKNIGHT project is deploying smart water meters as part of five pilot actions in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Italy and Cyprus. A first international conference on water leakage, attended by distribution network operators, recently took place in Alexandria in order to showcase the best practices tested by the project in view of improving the efficiency of water management.
It is estimated that most of the distribution networks in the emerging countries leak 50% of the water distributed. In response to this situation, the AQUAKNIGHT project aims to develop advanced technologies and to transfer know how for minimizing leakages and reducing non-revenue water (water which cannot be metered and invoiced).
This goal will be achieved through pilot actions in the Mediterranean region in Egypt (Alexandria), Tunisia (Tunis), Jordan (Aqaba), Italy (Genoa) and Cyprus (Limassol). Mr. Ahmed Gaber Chéhata, the CEO of AlexWater – the drinking water company in Alexandria and the Egyptian partner in AQUAKNIGHT – explains: “we installed volumetric meters in the entrance hall or under the stairwell in each building to enable the metering of very low flow levels. These devices are also equipped with pressure regulators in order to better manage the backflow and leakage of water. We also deployed smart meters equipped with state-of-the-art AMR (automated meter reading) technology which provide detailed and accurate information on household consumption and transmit it by telephone to the data manager at the drinking water facility”. According to Mr. Gaber Chéhata “the AQUAKNIGHT project enabled us to reduce our natural losses – due to old pipes and connections etc. – by 2% in the Arama neighbourhood, the district selected in Alexandria”.
“Stopping water leakages” is the third issue of a series of features prepared by the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre on the projects funded under the ENPI CBC Med Programme, following those on ShMILE 2 “Hotels are going green too” and MEDOLICO “Turning olive oil waste into Euros while protecting nature”.
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