VIVAN Life Sciences Blog
As part of its efforts to protect groundwater and achieve water security in Abu Dhabi, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company, has developed a smart management model for the strategic groundwater storage project -Makhazin AlKhayr.
The model aims to use artificial intelligence systems and machine language to manage and operate wells, determine the quantities of pumped water, and control the water quality, so the water pumped from 315 underground wells remains within the permissible specifications and standards for drinking water in Abu Dhabi. The project also contributes to significantly reducing cost, reducing human interference in the operation process, and achieving the highest efficiency in the project without any errors.
The project includes operating 315 underground wells which is the total number of pumping wells in the project. These wells can be used in times of emergency and can pump about 40 million gallons per day to overcome any shortage in the supply of freshwater resources. About 80% of these wells are operated to pump the required quantities in an emergency, and 20% are spare wells.
The new project was devised for a variety of reasons, including the possibility of an increase in salinity in one of the wells beyond the permissible limits in the specifications and standards allowed for drinking water in the Emirate. If this happens then a decision must be taken to stop operating the well and operate one of the backup wells. It was discovered that using the human element to implement this would take time and an error could occur in the implementation.
The project is considered one of the pioneering projects in this field.Three young UAE nationals have registered Master’s and Doctoral degrees to develop this system and build human capacities that can in the future develop such highly efficient systems to achieve water security and contend with any emergency situations in the emirate. The idea and project was approved by the evaluation team of the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Government Innovation for publication in the periodical book for the best creative projects for the year 2021.
Reference: go.green.ae
