Water Safety Strengthens a Shared Situational Picture

In Finland, we take pride in having some of the world’s cleanest drinking water—and rightly so. Our water services are of an internationally high standard, and trust is built on the expertise of our water utilities, proven processes, and continuous development. 

The next step in water safety is to strengthen a shared situational picture. 

Deviations in drinking water quality will from now on be detected in real time—not during the next sampling round. This changes the entire operating model: response is no longer based on delay, but on an up-to-date situational picture. 

Liqum and Digita are bringing a new water safety service to water utilities nationwide. With the new, state-of-the-art solution, water quality monitoring is moving over to continuous, real-time monitoring from a centralized supervision environment.
The model has already been tested, and it is now being put into practice in cooperation with the Kuusamo Energy and Water Cooperative, in readiness for nationwide rollout.

The Critical Role of Water in Society Also Requires Preparedness For Deliberate Disruptions

The operating environment is changing. The ageing of Finland’s water distribution network increases the likelihood of disruptions and makes early detection critical. The consequence of pipe breaks and exceptional situations can emerge quickly, and the potential for wastewater to enter the drinking water network is a risk that requires a real-time situational picture. 

Climate change and extreme weather events increase peak loads and unpredictability. At the same time, the critical role of water in society also requires preparedness for deliberate disruptions. In these situations, response speed becomes the decisive factor: how quickly an anomaly is detected and how effectively it can be addressed. 

Towards a nationwide water safety solution

Liqum and Digita are bringing a new water safety service to water utilities nationwide. With the new, state-of-the-art solution, water quality monitoring is moving over to continuous, real-time monitoring from a centralized supervision environment. 

The model has already been tested, and it is now being put into practice in cooperation with the Kuusamo Energy and Water Cooperative, in readiness for nationwide rollout. 

This enables data-driven management, where water quality risks can be addressed proactively and decision-making is based on an up-to-date, comprehensive situational picture. 

Three Elements of the Solution

The solution combines three key elements: 

  • Liqum’s 6th Sense technology 
  • Digita’s nationwide NOC operations center 
  • Digita’s nationwide LoRaWAN IoT data transmission infrastructure 

 

Digita’s NOC monitors water quality 24/7/365. Any deviation is detected, analyzed, and immediately communicated to the utility, which receives a clear situational picture and is thereby enabled to take appropriate action without delay. 

This enables rapid root-cause identification and the launch of properly targeted corrective measures. In addition to water utilities, the model scales to all critical sites, such as hospitals, health centers, and operators in the food and tourism industries. 

The long-term goal of the partnership is to make Finland a forerunner in water safety, where water security is based on continuous situational awareness—not on invalid, expired data.