Call for evidence to support digitalisation water sector

The European Commission has launched a call for evidence to support digitalisation in the water sector, including an initiative on smart metres for all. The European Commission aims to modernise water management through data-driven innovation. Stakeholders are encouraged to take part in the online consultation, which is open until 24 June.

The call for evidence was launched on 27 May. According to the European Commission water management requires a smart, digital system to improve real-time forecasting and reduce costs. “The Water Resilience Strategy supports the large-scale deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT), including smart sensors and meters, to enable more agile water management. Smart metres can reduce water use by up to 25%, with digital systems saving an additional 5–8% and leak detection reducing consumption by a further 7–14%”, a Press Release states.

Water leakage assessment

Across the European Union water leakage is being tackled under the revised European Drinking Water Directive, which came into force in January 2021. It states that with the improvement of monitoring techniques, leakage rates have become increasingly apparent. Water leakage levels should be assessed by all Member States and reduced if they are above a certain threshold. Member States were required to assess water leakage levels from suppliers that produce more than 10,000 m³ of drinking water per day or supply more than 50,000 people, and inform the European Commission by early 2026.

Increase water efficiency with new technologies

“With our Digitalisation Action Plan on water, we aim to unlock the potential of new technologies and digital solutions. These can help to increase water efficiency, reduce leaks and improve how water infrastructure is managed. I look forward to ideas and contributions from experts, innovators and stakeholders across the board to strengthen digitalisation in the water sector”, said Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy in a Press Release.

Artificial Intelligence

The call seeks to gather evidence and best practices on how technologies such as artificial intelligence can improve efficiency and infrastructure resilience, as well as the challenges that must addressed when implementing them, including regulatory bottlenecks which prevent scaling-up solutions across EU countries. The EU Action Plan for the Digitalisation of the water sector is one of the flagship initiatives under the European Water Resilience Strategy.  It operates at the intersection of the green and digital transitions, directly supporting the objectives of the Competitiveness Compass to secure resource availability for different sectors.