August 26, 2024 Rugged Mobile Tech to Overcome Water Utility Challenges

To tackle water industry challenges, Chad Hall shares how rugged technology solutions can transform operations and protect communities.

By Chad T. Hall, Executive Business Development Manager, Panasonic Connect

According to the Marine Water Utilities Association, many U.S. cities have decades-old water distribution systems. While there are efforts to modernize these systems, it requires a comprehensive overhaul, addressing both immediate and long-term needs, and requires significant ongoing investments of dollars, labor, and infrastructure.

The scale of modernization needed involves extensive planning, coordination, and execution. Utilities must balance modernization with the urgent need to repair aging pipelines that are increasingly susceptible to bursts, leaks, and decay.  Aging pipelines can cause business financial losses and water quality issues affecting public health. Deferred maintenance rather than preventative maintenance also makes it more likely that even more expensive repairs will be needed later.

Deploying rugged technology solutions designed with water utility workers in mind can help accelerate both modernization and repair efforts. Unlike consumer-grade solutions, rugged laptops, tablets, and 2-in-1s are built with specific utilities jobs in mind. These devices help workers and companies effectively manage resources, optimize repair schedules and routes, and eliminate laborious manual tasks, thereby enhancing overall efficiency and reliability in the water utilities sector.

Overcome labor challenges and build a workplace of the future

A wave of retirements and generational knowledge loss presents a major workforce challenge. More than 10,000 openings are projected each year over the next decade for water and wastewater treatment plant and systems operators alone. This doesn’t even consider support functions such as electricians, managers, and other occupations that impact the water utilities industry.

Technology plays an important role in closing the worker gap, both for recruiting and retention. It appeals to younger, digitally inclined generations of workers who are used to having technology by their side. It also helps retain skilled workers who can better leverage their experience and domain expertise. And it also allows water utility companies to be more productive, and get more done with fewer workers, which is critical right now.

Having the right technologies in workers’ hands is imperative to streamline routine and urgent tasks. It gives technicians more time for preventative inspections and maintenance and the ability to respond to urgent repairs and manage emergency responses. When a worker is enabled with a rugged device, they gain access to real-time communication, preventive maintenance, urgent repairs, reporting, project management, and delivering safety notifications from a single device. They do not have time to waste troubleshooting repairs with incomplete non-electronic information, struggling with poor connectivity or going back to the office to write reports. Such inefficiencies can be extremely costly and frustrating for employees.

Optimize maintenance and repair fleets for improved response times

Installing, servicing, and repairing water utilities infrastructure can take workers to remote locations during extreme weather conditions. Every ZIP code provides unique challenges. Workers – who may have to travel from job to job, covering many miles, in a variety of conditions – can’t afford to have their technology companion break down, overheat, or fail to connect. The right rugged device is viewable in bright sunlight and won’t overheat or shut down inside a field vehicle in extreme heat.

This is where rugged solutions set themselves apart from consumer-grade solutions. Rugged solutions – which are MIL-STD or MIL-SPEC and IP-rated – are engineered to withstand the rigors of a water utility workday. They are waterproof, temperature-resistant, and glove-touch-enabled for jobs on the go. Furthermore, for unpredictable workdays or high-powered computing that requires a lot of power, some rugged solutions feature hot-swappable batteries. This allows work to continue, even without access to electricity or a charging station.

Having an always-on, reliable computing solution also helps workers quickly locate, identify, and repair pipes. For example, tapping into GIS systems to gather the precise location of utility lines saves time and energy on digging and rework. Advancements in thermal imaging can help workers identify the source of leaks, send visual reports of incidents, and provide real-time updates to central command centers directly from a site. Teams can communicate live and optimize work schedules and routing based on the type of repair, the tools needed, and the location of the right worker.

Transform operations to take advantage of the latest tools

An added benefit of water utilities transformation is to create the right environment to access digital and automation tools. For example, shifting from paper-based systems to digital meter readings has saved utilities significant time and promotes accurate recording and reporting. It also leads to more informed decision-making. It allows the ability to communicate faster for better customer and employee experiences. Digitizing everyday tasks also helps promote compliance with evolving – and increasingly stringent – regulations.

Rugged mobile solutions support automation efforts by providing rapid access to large amounts of data. As the breadth and quality of data captured from devices on-site grows, water utilities can bring both proactive and preventive measures to operations. For example, systems can be triggered to automatically flag anomalies and potential risks in real-time. Predicting when issues may occur or identifying patterns that show which sites are most at risk can prevent small problems from becoming full-scale disruptions.

Find an experienced solutions partner to transform water utility operations

Each water utilities operation is unique, as is each mobile technology implementation. The variables range from the distance between sites to weather patterns, climate, and size of the workforce.

It’s important to partner with an organization that can help prioritize technology implementations that meet the current needs of the workforce and operations. This includes comprehensive support and services tailored to your requirements. Your solutions partner should also be able to scale with your needs, ensuring the device hardware remains up-to-date and capable of meeting future demands.

Think beyond the day-one implementation. Having rugged mobile solutions that can evolve with your needs saves time and money while boosting operational efficiency and resilience. Transform your water utility operations with a trusted solutions partner and leverage the power of advanced technology to ensure public health and protect the environment.

About the Author:
Chad serves as Executive Business Development Manager at Panasonic Connect, overseeing the development of rugged mobile solutions to support the utilities sector.  He obtained his bachelor’s degree in geography and master’s degree in geographic information science and cartography from Texas State University.

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