Abstract
Water losses and maintenance difficulties are some of the common problems faced by the current water pumping infrastructure systems globally. In South Africa, water pumping infrastructures have significant management challenges. The use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as sensors connected to a water network to efficiently monitor and manage the water supply system, is critical. These devices can help overcome the challenges faced by the current systems on a significant level. A centralised smart digital water management system could be a solution, not only for improving the aged water infrastructure but also to solve the global water crisis.
Maintenance is key and needs to form an integral part of operations requirements to prolong equipment or system life. Organisations use digital maintenance management systems to control and manage water pumping assets. The alignment and application of digitalisation requires detailed strategic planning of assets and the assessment of physical assets to be able to link the advanced technologies needed in water infrastructure assets to align with company objectives.
The adoption of data-centric water pumping infrastructure makes it easy to disseminate assets’ data. Organisations will have access to data on demand and in real-time, even if the system is disrupted. A data-centric approach also provides the necessary system performance, covering the necessary capacity, scalability and higher security and assist water pumping infrastructures to evolve in a fast pace working environment in meeting the workload demands.
In this research Integrated business processes through systems enablement, such as Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) is adopted in conjunction with having an efficient and effective maintenance management systems in place. The adoption of an Integrated System Architecture Model allows data security, control, digitalisation, monitoring in real-time, improve the overall productivity, lower operating costs and integrating all business operations, including maintenance, engineering services, management and create an environment that is driven by innovative strategies to monitor assets remotely.