i2oWater Malaysia Sdn Bhd

Company Profile

• i2O Water Ltd was established in 2005 to develop some exciting new technology for reducing leakage in water distribution systems

• Water scarcity is afflicting a growing proportion of the world. The UN predicts that by 2025,
  

  two-thirds of the world’s population will have inadequate water supply. These shortages are driven by a range of factors, including climate change, rising populations, increasing prosperity, urbanisation and industrialisation. The shortages are exacerbated by poor management of resources and high levels of waste, including leakage. Unless these issues are solved, there will be a growing number of “water crises” - not just among the world’s poor but in developed countries such as the US, Australia and many parts of Europe, which in 2006 suffered its worst drought for 20 years. There will also be chronic widespread shortages in rapidly industrialising nations such as India and China. With water becoming an increasingly scarce resource, reduction in leakage has become a key issue for governments and water companies throughout the world. Urban systems worldwide lose more than 32 billion cubic metres of water per annum, equivalent to the consumption of 350 million people. In some countries, water companies face stringent fines of a significant percentage of their annual turnover if they fail to achieve leakage reduction targets set by the industry regulators

• i2O identified that the most cost effective and fastest solution to reducing leakage is through better management of pressure in water networks. Many networks either operate at too high a pressure all the time and/or at a pressure which swings up and down depending on the demand for water. Clearly, if the average pressure in the pipes over a 24 hour period can be reduced, the loss of water from leaks in the pipes will also be reduced. Less obviously, the lower average pressure also leads to a dramatic reduction in the number of burst pipes and improved customer service. i2O has developed an innovative new advanced pressure management system for controlling the pressure on the networks reliably and accurately. This is based on several new pieces of technology for which patents are pending and being filed in all key international markets. The technology has proven extremely successful in operation with 13 UK water utilities, and is now being rolled out internationally. It is expected that the i2O solution will have a major impact on water leakage around the world. Overseas sales subsidiaries have been established in Spain and Malaysia, with Partners appointed in a number of territories. Systems have been installed in Spain, Italy, South Africa and the Philippines, with 50 systems installed in Malaysia.  Further installations are scheduled in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal and Australia, with expressions of interest shown from many other parts of the world.

• The i2O’s Intelligent Water Controlsystem continuously adjusts and controls the pressure of water going into a DMA (District Metering Area)so that under all demand levels, low to high, the average zone pressure is kept to the minimum required, consistent with good service.By applying a range of algorithms which vary the output pressure of a PRV (pressure reducing valve), pressure at the critical point in any DMA is kept at a more stable level, irrespective of demand.  An advanced pilot valve replaces the conventional unit, while the controller to the pilot valve and a sensor located at the DMA’s critical point communicate with i2O’s server over the GSM network. Once data has been received, i2O’s software transmits specific algorithms for each DMA back to the controller, which then continuously calculates the optimum output pressure, adjusting the pilot valve accordingly.Intelligent Water Control is more than better technology. It is a completely new and innovative system. The algorithms are updated daily by i2O’s software, enabling them to respond to any changes in the DMA, such as new houses or factory openings or closings. Featuring a 5 year battery life and with manyfailsafe back-up features, the i2O system has virtually eliminated unreliability.

• A web interface enables customers all over the world to monitor and control their water networks around the clock. Customers are able to adjust pressures, monitor the performance and condition of the network equipment and adjust alarms via a secure web server. They can see the flows and pressures on an intuitive graphical user interface. This gives them much better information about the performance of their network, enabling them to be more proactive in solving problems.

• R&D is ongoing and new technology under development that will be launched imminently includes:

• Pump Control Systems – By optimising the performance of pumps, i2O’s technology will also reduce leakage and burst frequency on trunk mains and on DMAs which operate without PRVs. Even more significantly, this will result in a substantial reduction in the energy consumption of water pumping stations, which are major consumers of electricity, and consequently greatly reduce the level of carbon emissions resulting from the operation of water distribution networks

• Network Data Systems – functionality in this area is being constantly enhanced to enable water companies to manage their networks more efficiently, for example giving them advance warning of performance and maintenance issues prior to equipment failure; in the future these systems will also include applications for monitoring water quality and turbidity

• i2O’s applications are developed around the SaaS business model, which means that customers  benefit from fast implementation, flexibility and scaleability