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