As summer temperatures in northern Portugal consistently climb past 38°C, regional water utility Águas do Norte has successfully pivoted from reactive repairs to proactive management by leveraging Bentley Systems’ OpenFlows Water solution.
Serving nearly 2 million residents across 63 municipalities, the utility faced recurring crises where extreme heat caused water tanks to hit critical lows, skyrocketing pumping costs, and pressure drops that threatened service to both major urban hubs and remote rural villages.
To stabilize the network, Águas do Norte partnered with engineering firm H2OPT to implement a sophisticated digital modeling strategy powered by Bentley software.
The utility’s mandate is vast, covering drinking water treatment and transmission across thousands of kilometers of pipe. The network presents a diverse array of challenges, from high-demand city centers to tourist-heavy rural areas with massive seasonal spikes.
By using OpenFlows Water, the joint team modeled over 25 subsystems to gain a granular view of the network’s behavior. The software’s ability to integrate real-time data allowed engineers to simulate seasonal scenarios and predict how the system holds up during heat waves, while identifying hydraulic bottlenecks that were previously invisible. Furthermore, the integration of SCADA data has paved the way for future real-time monitoring of equipment status and voltage.
The transition to Bentley’s platform has yielded immediate financial and operational dividends. By using the software to identify 225 specific hydraulic improvements, the utility has moved forward with a high-priority investment plan totaling more than €4 million.
Key results achieved to date include the optimization of 45% of total pumping stations, which resulted in €176,000 in energy cost savings. Additionally, 52 improvement tasks have been completed, with another 42 currently in progress, focusing on valve adjustments and pressure zone changes that stabilized the network during peak demand.
The success of the OpenFlows implementation has laid the groundwork for a Digital Twin. This digital evolution will allow operators to instantly test “what-if” scenarios, such as the impact of a prolonged drought or sudden energy price fluctuations, before they happen in the real world.
As climate change continues to stress Mediterranean infrastructure, the utility’s shift toward Bentley-powered predictive management serves as a blueprint for water providers worldwide seeking to move from reactive to proactive asset management.
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