Imtiaz Sooliman – Gift of the Givers and Microsoft Smart Water Project

Imtiaz Sooliman
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AI: Summary ©

A scientist explains how technology has made a big impact on society, reducing the risk of water damage and saving lives. The technology allows for monitoring usage and identifying leaks, which is a way to control water usage. The scientist also discusses a solution to control water usage and mentions that water is a national challenge for the world.

AI: Summary ©

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			With the advances in technology that we have
		
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			seen,
		
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			clearly there's a role for technology to have
		
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			a huge impact on the way we live,
		
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			the way we work, the way we play,
		
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			and basically on humanity and society.
		
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			This was something we had to take a
		
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			role in, and we looked at how we
		
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			could have a meaningful contribution.
		
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			And, it has been an amazing journey with
		
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			the gift of the givers as well as
		
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			the department of health. We found 2 partners
		
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			who have who are similarly looking at this
		
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			problem, and together, we found a way forward
		
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			to to participate together in addressing this challenge.
		
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			Historically,
		
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			we see a cyclic pattern
		
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			that repeats itself round about every 220
		
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			years,
		
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			of
		
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			exceptionally
		
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			dry years for a period of 10 years.
		
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			And at the moment, we are in roundabout
		
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			year 7 of 10 years
		
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			of below normal rainfall.
		
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			So it seems like to me as a
		
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			scientist that we are not out of the
		
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			dry cycle.
		
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			When we detected detected the leak in,
		
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			the reticulation
		
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			network at Crude de Ski Hospital which is
		
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			one of the 2 largest hospitals
		
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			in the province,
		
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			conservatively,
		
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			we think we saved R5,000,000
		
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			in terms of water over a year.
		
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			And then in a smaller hospital in Montague,
		
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			I think we saved,
		
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			a R100,000
		
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			once the leak was was detected and remedied.
		
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			So this gives you some idea of the
		
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			potential,
		
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			savings that can be achieved. Essentially, the technology
		
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			bits that come together, it allows you to
		
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			be able to control your device,
		
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			from a point of view of control your
		
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			usage rather based on measurement of the device.
		
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			So the intention of this is to make
		
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			it as easy as possible.
		
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			It gives you a view and and color
		
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			coded as well. So visually, you can tell
		
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			if you're in trouble. The beauty in it
		
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			lies in the technology chosen. It doesn't
		
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			chew, data. In fact, if you can compare
		
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			your consumption versus this device, it's minuscule in
		
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			consumption.
		
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			This is a great system because it's basically
		
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			in your pocket. You have an app on
		
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			your phone.
		
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			You can set alarms or SMS's can be
		
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			sent to you. An email can be sent
		
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			to you warning you of a leak, warning
		
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			you of a tap that's running unnecessarily.
		
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			This system has been initialized due to the
		
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			drought in the Western Cape. And then this
		
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			will flag the customer when there is a
		
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			leak
		
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			or whether there is a high usage.
		
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			And it'll also
		
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			point out to the customer when the high
		
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			usage is happening on the whole system at
		
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			the hospitals.
		
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			So what we've given them is the ability
		
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			for them to monitor the water consumption near
		
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			real time. That gives you much more control
		
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			on the impact it has on the cash
		
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			flow, and this is why it's important for
		
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			us to now control every single element of
		
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			water consumed in a property. The beauty of
		
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			the system is that it's fairly simple to
		
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			install, especially if you've got an existing meter.
		
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			Then all you need to do is retrofit
		
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			the communication module that sits onto the meter
		
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			itself with an optical or pulse pickup.
		
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			Gift of the Givers has been involved initially
		
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			with bringing bottled water,
		
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			stockpiling it in 12 different warehouses
		
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			throughout the city of Cape Town,
		
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			and whilst doing that delivering water both to
		
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			human in all age homes, children's homes, pet
		
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			shelters,
		
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			hospitals,
		
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			and communities in need of water suddenly shut
		
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			off. Right now we're pumping close
		
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			to 200,000,000 liters of water per month. You
		
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			know, Microsoft
		
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			came to us, selected us as a partner,
		
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			and to us it made sense. And Microsoft
		
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			is very open to dealing and discussing those
		
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			issues with us. So together, we come up
		
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			with a comprehensive solution because we want something
		
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			permanent,
		
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			efficient, and that we can implement not only
		
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			the country, but in the continent and in
		
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			the world where there are similar problems. South
		
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			Africa often appears in the list of top
		
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			20 driest places in the world.
		
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			So water scarcity is not a Western Cape
		
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			or provincial problem. This is a national problem.
		
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			And of course, going forward, I do believe
		
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			water is going to be a challenge for
		
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			the globe.