Source: http://malaya.com.ph
Links: http://malaya.com.ph/index.php/news_business/ai-tapped-for-metro-faucets
By: Paul Icamina
The idea is to streamline water management at the Manila Water Co.
Manila Water, which serves the eastern part of Metro Manila, has water deficits because of increasing service connections, from 325,000 in 1997 to 990,080 in 2019.
Since 2016, Manila Water has relied on the buffer supply from La Mesa Dam to augment the deficit.
In 2019, Manila Water’s La Mesa Dam reached its lowest level in 12 years. At the time, it was unable to rely on the emergency supply of rain water collected from the La Mesa Watershed.
Manila Water has a treatment plant in Cardona, Rizal, which is supposed to draw up to 100 million liters of water a day from Laguna Lake.
The La Mesa dam supplies water to Metro Manila and feeds irrigation in Bulacan and Pampanga. It sources water from the Angat Reservoir and Dam.
Ipo Dam gets water through two tunnels from Angat Dam which generates hydropower for the Luzon grid as well. Three tunnels from Ipo Dam separates into aqueducts that feed the La Mesa Dam.
“The forecast models will serve as a tool in day-to-day operations of Manila Water to cater to the needs of households, businesses and industries,” says Dr. Christopher Monterola, head of AIM’s ACCeSs laboratory.
The research team integrates statistical, machine learning models and input parameters in the development of reliable forecast models from the water source to Manila Water treatment plants.
The team has completed the development of forecasting models for each dam tapped by Manila Water.
Currently, the project team is tweaking and redesigning the simulation model software by adding more input parameters.
Its modeling software can also be used to forecast the water supply of other dams in the Philippines.
The AIM-ACCesS team, in collaboration with Manila Water, started the project in February 2020 with support from the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) program.
CRADLE is a program of DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD).
“With much data that is already out there, it is high time that we maximize the power of emerging technologies like AI and machine learning to improve the daily lives of Filipinos,” says Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, PCIEERD Executive Director.
‘’AIM’s forecast modeling fulfills this by seamlessly providing agencies with helpful data as basis for decision and policy making on water supply to avoid shortages.’’
