Monitoring Beijing’s Drinking Water Network in Real-Time

The total length of the pipe network is more than 14,000 km, serving more than 5.3 million households. By the end of 2019, they supplied 4.85 million cubic meters of water every day.

Beijing relies on over 20 water sources, reflecting the complexity and diversity of its water quality. The aging urban network poses a risk to water quality. Limited installation space and old cast-iron pipes may affect turbidity readings, for example due to the formation of iron oxides or sediment decomposition over time.

Due to the complexity of the source water, automatic water quality monitoring equipment must be installed in the pipe network to confirm that clean drinking water is being delivered to residents.

In-Network Monitoring of Source Water Quality

The utility has been using Badger Meter solutions since 2017, when it first deployed 50 i::scan spectrometer probes for real-time turbidity monitoring. Due to long urban water supply distance, in-network monitoring with the pipe::scan can confirm water quality at the tap meets standards. If water quality abnormalities are detected by the devices, disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite or chloramine) can be added to the pipeline at a secondary water supply (usually pumping stations), to mitigate the risk of contamination.

Multiparameter Water Quality Measurement

For parameters like turbidity, free/total chlorine, pH and conductivity, the system was equipped with Badger Meter sensors, automatic brush cleaning and the con::cube terminal. For the aged pipe, a double-layer filter was added to make sure that iron particles do not interfere with measurement results. The data is sent to the SCADA system via the RS485/Modbus protocol from the con::cube.

Total chlorine monitoring in the pipe network not only determines the multiplication activities of microorganisms in water quality, but also controls the process operation of water systems, effectively controls the amount of added chlorine and reduces the formation of disinfection by-products. With the insertion installation, there is no discharge stream and pollution is limited, which leads to water savings.

With the insertion installation, field and manual maintenance is extremely low compared to other similar devices. Additionally, continuous monitoring with this installation eliminates the waste stream and keeps discharge and pollution at bay, saving valuable water in the process.

Benefits of Continuous Monitoring

There are several benefits of real-time water quality monitoring. Data drives a deeper understanding of the water quality changes across the entire water supply network, based on historical and actual readings.

Changes in water quality can be detected in a timely manner, which speeds up the maintenance response time and improves network reliability.

Total chlorine monitoring in the pipe network not only determines the multiplication activities of microorganisms in water quality but also controls the process operation of water systems and effectively controls the amount of added chlorine and reduces the formation of disinfection by-products.