How to achieve water goals with AWS technology (SUS204)

Water Sustainability at AWS and Generation Park

AWS Water Infrastructure Team

Overview

  • AWS has set a goal to be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities than they use in their operations.
  • This presentation covers the progress and strategies AWS is using to achieve this goal, as well as how they are helping other organizations, like Generation Park, manage their water usage.

AWS Water Sustainability Goal

  • AWS aims to be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities than they use in their direct operations.
  • Current progress: 41% of the way towards being water positive.

Water Efficiency

  • AWS has reduced their water usage per kilowatt-hour by 28% since 2021.
  • They have implemented automated systems to monitor water usage, identify inefficiencies, and notify operators.
  • This includes a custom gateway device to collect data from remote flow meters and integrate it into their centralized monitoring system.

Sustainable Water Sources

  • AWS is working with utilities to develop new sources of recycled water for their data centers.
  • They plan to increase the number of data centers using recycled water from 24 to over 100 by 2030.
  • AWS is also exploring ways to capture and reuse rainwater for cooling.

Water Replenishment

  • Where AWS can't be more efficient or use sustainable sources, they are funding watershed restoration and agricultural water efficiency projects to return water to communities.
  • Examples include:
    • Restoring river habitats in California's Central Valley to support salmon populations.
    • Helping farmers transition to more efficient drip irrigation systems in Chile and Brazil.

Generation Park

About Generation Park

  • Generation Park is a large-scale, greenfield development project in Houston, Texas, being developed by Mord Development.
  • As a private-public partnership, Mord is responsible for building the city's infrastructure, including water and wastewater systems.

The Water Challenge

  • Mord faced challenges with water accountability and non-revenue water loss in their new water distribution system.
  • They wanted to better understand water usage patterns and optimize the system to reduce waste.

The Solution

  • Mord built a digital twin of their water distribution system, ingesting data from flow meters and other sensors.
  • This "Mizu Watch" platform uses the open-source Fiware/Garnet framework to integrate diverse data sources and provide a centralized platform for monitoring, analysis, and automation.
  • Key features include:
    • Anomaly detection to identify leaks and other issues
    • Capacity planning to optimally time infrastructure investments
    • Integrations with billing and other systems via APIs

Benefits and Lessons Learned

  • The platform has allowed Mord to proactively address water losses, saving millions of gallons.
  • It has also improved collaboration with their water utility operator, as Mord can now provide data-driven insights.
  • Mord emphasizes the importance of a holistic, modular approach to smart city infrastructure, avoiding vendor lock-in and enabling easy integration of new technologies.

Conclusion

  • Both AWS and Generation Park are using innovative approaches, including IoT and data analytics, to improve water sustainability and management.
  • By sharing their experiences, they hope to inspire and enable other organizations to tackle water challenges proactively.

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