City of Baunach
The town of Baunach modernizes its water supply with devices from SebaKMT®
In Baunach, a small town in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg, the water supply is being digitized step by step. Around 4,200 people live here and are supplied via a 50-kilometer-long drinking water network. This also includes a wastewater network covering around 40 kilometers. Like many other municipalities, Baunach was faced with the question of how to identify water losses at an early stage and thus future-proof the water network.
Mayor Tobias Roppelt did not want to wait any longer for cost-intensive damage to occur in 2023. A few years ago, the decision was made to invest in modern monitoring technology. "We wanted to act in good time and not wait until it was too late to react," says Roppelt. The aim was to secure the company's own water supply in the long term and make the network more stable overall.
Products in use
Cooperation with SebaKMT®
The town enlisted the support of SebaKMT® and Megger Germany GmbH for the implementation. Together with the team from the waterworks in Baunach, a concept was developed that combines various measurement and monitoring technologies and is perfectly tailored to the needs of the municipality.
Today, several systems are in use in Baunach, including:
- SmartEAR® and SmartEAR®+ for acoustic monitoring of the pipe network
- POSEYEDON® as a platform for data collection and evaluation
- SebaFlow, HL 7000, HL 50-BT and Correlux C-3 for precise leak detection and flow measurement
The result is a system that significantly improves the monitoring of the drinking water network. All important measurement data is available in real time and enables anomalies to be detected immediately.
Initial practical experience
After almost three years of cooperation, the city has drawn a positive conclusion: the interaction of the new devices means that leaks can now be localized more quickly. "We can see immediately if something is wrong somewhere," explains Jörg Reich, a specialist in water supply technology. The employees also no longer have to go out at night to measure manually. "The technology does it for us. That saves time and nerves," adds Ulrich Schmittlutz, the city's water warden.
The reliability of the water supply has also improved. If something is noticed, we can react more quickly and rectify problems before the population even notices.
Hardly noticeable for citizens, but of great benefit
Most people in Baunach hardly notice this technical modernization: and that is precisely the point. A functioning, stable water supply ensures that there are no outages in the first place.
"Water is a sensitive topic, even for us," says Roppelt. "We want to strengthen our own supply in the future and create additional security by connecting to the Upper Franconia long-distance water supply."
Baunach shows that digitalization in municipal water management is no longer a topic for the future, but can already be part of everyday life.
Outlook for the future
The city wants to continue on this path. Further investments in infrastructure are planned, for example in new elevated tanks and the expansion of the district water connection. Digitization processes are also to be further expanded in the administration and building yard.
"The relief in everyday working life is already clearly noticeable," says Roppelt. "This investment will pay off in the long term. Not only for us, but above all for the citizens."