How Digital Twins Are Revolutionizing Water System Design, Management, and Risk Mitigation – Ep 074

In this episode, we talk with Colby Manwaring, an expert in water management and Vice President of Innovyze at Autodesk about how digital technology is transforming the way water systems are designed, analyzed, simulated, and managed as well as how risks are mitigated. We also explore the advantages of using digital twins to enhance performance and decision-making across an asset's lifecycle. Engineering Quotes: Here Are Some of the Questions We Ask Colby: Can you tell us more about Innovyze and its role in the water industry, and what aspects of the industry they focus on? What are some of the biggest challenges facing the fresh water supply today? How are water utilities utilizing digital technology to address the challenges facing freshwater supply? How does the challenge of digitizing a water system compare to the challenge of digitizing systems in other industries? What are digital twins and how can they be utilized to enhance decision-making processes and optimize performance? Can you explain how your team's model of Jackson's water distribution network is being used to identify issues within the system? What are some challenges that come with building these models, and how do you overcome them? What technological advancements do you predict will be the most significant in the field of water management in the future? How can geotechnical engineers ensure that the adoption of technological advances in water management is done ethically and sustainably to address water challenges? Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About How Digital Twins Are Revolutionizing Water System Design, Management, and Risk Mitigation: Innovyze has been empowering water experts worldwide with software solutions for over three decades. They have a global reach across 86 countries and serve thousands of water and wastewater utilities, engineering consultants, flood management agencies, and water infrastructure asset managers. While their initial focus was on water utilities, since joining Autodesk, they now can extend their expertise to all civil infrastructure assets. Innovyze is dedicated to improving the water industry and now has the resources to enable the same outcome across other infrastructure assets. Freshwater supply faces challenges due to an aging infrastructure and workforce, inefficient distribution causing water leakage, and water quality issues from flooding and sewer closures. These issues need to be addressed to ensure a safe and sustainable freshwater supply. Digital technology has been used in the water industry for decades, but there is a growing opportunity to use more advanced technology to address challenges like aging infrastructure, water leakage, and water quality. Water utilities typically use hydraulic modeling for proper management and operation as well as asset management to understand the condition of infrastructure assets. In recent years, there has been a trend toward merging hydraulic modeling and asset management with real-time data monitoring and analysis, creating a digital twin that allows for efficient and cost-effective solutions to water challenges. The challenges of digitizing water systems include the loss of as-built data and the hidden underground infrastructure, which is unique to the water industry. The lack of willpower and funding to digitize systems is also a significant challenge. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a real-world system that can be built in stages, including an asset model, performance model, and behavioral model. Each stage serves a different purpose and provides value, but the goal is to reach the behavioral model stage, which allows for real-time optimization and decision-making. A basic digital twin of the water distribution system in Jackson, Mississippi,