Monitoring valves position in Dutch water supply network

PWN supplies drinking water to more than 800,000 consumers, who have a total consumption of around 110 billion liters of drinking water every year. Almost half of the amount of water supplied by PWN is purified from surface water in the North Holland dunes.

PWN has 33,000 valves in their water distribution network managing the drinking water in North Holland.

All valves are important, but for some valves it is critical to know with absolute certainty whether the valve is open or closed. Worst case scenario, a wrongfully opened or closed valve can influence other measurements such as flow or pressure, and thereby give incorrect information about the distribution network. As this can affect the ability to ensure a fully functional water network and the best service for consumers, it is valuable information for PWN – as for any other utility – to know if their valves at critical points are open or closed.

As a pilot project at PWN, VIDI Positioners have been installed on three valves for digital monitoring of the valve open/close positions, and a test environment was built to monitor data from the Positioners. The installation gives PWN the opportunity to react quickly in case of incidents requiring their attention, and also allows for optimisation of maintenance activities in the network.

The project was scheduled for six months and was completed successfully and to the satisfaction of the utility. PWN and AVK Nederland have had an excellent relationship for many years, and we look forward to a continued successful collaboration.