Together with SWECO, Calejo participates in a water and sewerage project for Kungälv municipality. The purpose is to create a smarter control of the pumping stations with the help of an AI-enhanced forecast model of future wastewater flows.

The background to the project is that a large part of the amount of wastewater that flows in the sewer network is so-called additional water in the form of precipitation or groundwater, which for various reasons penetrates into the sewer lines.

- It is not uncommon for the supplementary water to account for up to 70 percent of the total wastewater flow into a treatment plant during a year. Decisive factors for the amount of additional water include material composition and moisture in the soil, quality and age of the pipes, time of year, current groundwater level, pipe height above sea level, nearby watercourses, number of incorrectly connected pipes and more, says Jonas Hed, responsible project manager from SWECO Environment.

The size of the supplementary water often means that in connection with precipitation there is a large increased risk of overflow of the wastewater when the pumping stations in the pipeline network are no longer able to continue pumping the growing, incoming volume.

Purpose and goal In the municipality of Kungälv, there is a 25 km long wastewater network with around 100 pumping stations.

- Through the project, we hope for SWECO and Kungälv municipality to achieve an increased knowledge of control systems and flow models, as well as a more efficient management of the operation of the facilities. In the long run, we see that the use of AI can also be used in collaboration between different municipalities, says Jonas Hed.

The intention is to be able to use the AI ​​forecasts in the future to reduce overflow through optimized control and achieve a lower operating cost for the entire wastewater network. The forecast for the next 2-3 days over the water flow in the municipality's wastewater network is also intended to be used as an input signal for a future control system. Through active participation in the project, competence is also developed in Kungälv's VA organization within AI.

- The goal is that through better control of the entire sewage systems we will be able to achieve significant energy and environmental gains, as well as a lower operating cost, Jonas Hed concludes.