Bentley Systems, Inc. recently announced that the Bentley and United Utilities PLC collaborative project “Optimization Method and Modeling Tool for Leakage Detection in Water Distribution” has won the Honor Award for Applied Research in the International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Award 2008 competition for the European region. The IWA Project Innovation Awards recognize excellence and innovation in water engineering projects around the world.
The focus of the Bentley and United Utilities award-winning project was the development of an innovative optimization methodology and modeling tool for detecting unreported leakages in water distribution systems—a problem that results in the annual loss of more 20% of potable water by water utilities worldwide. The new version of the Darwin Calibrator modeling tool automates the new methodology, providing engineers and GIS professionals in water utilities and municipalities with a pioneering and cost-effective way to identify the location and extent of underground water leakage.
Dr. Zheng Yi Wu, Bentley director of applied research in engineering optimization, said, “The enhancement to this innovative optimization tool solves a long-standing problem for the water industry. It enables cost-effective water loss reduction strategies and facilitates the creation of accurate hydraulic models by undertaking both leakage detection and hydraulic model calibration. Therefore, the software module maximizes water utilities’ investments in hydraulic modeling technology.” The new Darwin Calibrator is included in the latest version of Bentley’s WaterGEMS V8 XM and is available for Bentley’s WaterCAD V8 XM.
Having won in the European region, Bentley and United Utilities will now submit the project to IWA’s global awards program, in which they will compete with winners from East Asia, the Pacific and North America. The winners of the IWA Project Innovation Award Program for Excellence in Innovative Water Engineering will be announced during the IWA World Water Congress in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 8 to 11, 2008.
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