Only for IIT Jodhpur Students

Water sustainability means the ability to meet the water needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Water sustainability also means effective and holistic management of available water. Water demand is rising. Aquifers are being depleted. Threat of extreme weather is increasing. The growing water demand presents a growing challenge for meeting the water needs. Smart Graded-Water Supply Grid appears to have a promising potential for water sustainability.

The concept of smart graded-water supply grid is based on exploring the possibility of maximum water utilization at minimum cost by optimally mapping multiple water sources having different water quality to multiple end-users having different consumption and quality requirements. The concept has potential to be adopted in rural as well as urban areas at micro or mega scale. It is based on mapping the graded-water (such as wastewater, groundwater, canal water) based on the quality for a variety of applications in the area including domestic, irrigation, and converting wastewater into a valuable resource. Different sensors, smart water/ energy meters may play an important role in intelligent monitoring and efficient water use. An IoT framework has potential to achieve intelligent automation in sensing, monitoring, as well as in controlling. The approach may explore smart management in supply systems which is essential to utilize water resources, avoid waste in water distribution and to preserve water quality. Additionally, modelling and computer simulation of the water distribution grid has promising potentialto predict the hydraulic and water quality behaviour in bulk water transport and distribution. Developed models may be useful in implementing advanced optimization approaches to make optimal decisions for allocation of water while honouring social, economic and operational constraints in the grid. Optimization of water and energy consumption has potential to explore various synergies and trade-offs in the water-energy nexus, as well as correlate with the environmental aspects.

In short, the problem ‘Smart Graded-Water Supply Grid’ may be attempted as a challenge in the area of water sustainability either in part or in totality, as mentioned above. It is a transdisciplinary/ interdisciplinary/ multidisciplinary problem as a challenge useful to national cause for present next three to four decades