- The Global Water Awards celebrate the most important achievements in the water, wastewater and desalination industries with a strong focus on innovative technology
- ABB is recognized for its work on the implementation of intelligent water management technologies that make Wellington Water’s network more resilient and future-ready
- The technologies integrate instrumentation and digital solutions, helping the water services provider manage its infrasctructure in a way that is sustainable, cost-effective and safe
ABB has won a 2023 Global Water Award in the category “Smart Water Project of the Year” for its collaboration with Wellington Water, the water services provider for the Wellington region of New Zealand. The award was presented during the Global Water Summit in Berlin, Germany. ABB’s solution now enables Wellington Water to measure and store data about the water flow in real time and delivers up to 10% in energy savings per month.
Wellington Water worked closely with ABB to take the resiliency of its drinking water infrastructure to the next level, implementing smart flow meters that track water flow in real time, and variable speed drives to deliver greater energy efficiency – benefitting the community through cost savings and resilience. With pumping accounting for the majority of a utility’s energy consumption, ABB’s intelligent drives deliver crucial efficiency gains, squeezing important savings from one of the water cycle’s most intensive energy users.
At the same time, built-in verification tools and anomaly detection capabilities enable the operators to secure the longevity of their devices. Recorded data is easily exported for further analysis and evaluation so that critical factors can be identified earlier, and corrective actions are taken more quickly. Wellington Water manages the water infrastructure for six New Zealand councils, including 105 water pump stations, 248 wastewater pump stations, 148 reservoirs and 27 storm water pump stations at various sites.
“If there’s a ‘Water Oscar’ out there, this is it, and we just won it. This is an incredible recognition,” said Amina Hamidi, Managing Director, ABB Instrumentation. “Innovation is at the core of everything we do, and the Global Water Summit is one of the most important gatherings within the international water industry. This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication that the ABB team demonstrates in helping the industry supply safe and healthy drinking water to communities around the globe.”
“The award is a recognition of the very successful collaboration between Wellington Water and ABB,” said Paul Winstanley from Wellington Water. “We know very well that you can’t manage what you can’t measure. This is precisely why ABB’s solutions are so important to Wellington Water and our sprawling network of water pipes. With ABB’s technologies we can ensure that every drop of water is accounted for.”
This is the ABB team (left and center) accepting the award on behalf of ABB and Wellington Water. 
Wellington-Water facility 
Wellington-New-Zealand-sunset – A view of Wellington (Unsplash)
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