Ripple Effect: Weathering climate challenges

As climate impacts escalate, utilities worldwide are reimagining water system management to build resilience against more frequent floods. In Ontario, Canada, Kitchener Utilities uses digital technologies to enable quicker response times and make smarter investment decisions.

Here, Bu Lam, the utility's Director of Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, sits down with Xylem's Michele Samuels to discuss how Kitchener is weathering the storm and harnessing nature-based solutions by putting data to work.

Michele Samuels: In today's climate-challenged world, data and digital solutions are transforming water management. How is Kitchener utilizing data to make smarter decisions?

Bu Lam: We're quite early in our digital transformation journey but understand the urgent need to build system resilience. For us, the cornerstone of our digital strategy is better data. We're a mid-sized utility serving around 300,000 people, and it's easy to get caught up in the data deluge. Instead of collecting vast amounts of information, we have taken a step back to determine what data matters most. We are focused on using the best data to understand what's happening on the ground.

Michele Samuels: Having the right data and the right insight is so important. How is the utility making sure it is collecting the right data to enhance resiliency?

Bu Lam: The main climate concern in our region is increased precipitation. Storms are becoming more frequent and more intense, and that increasing intensity is impacting our network. Most Canadian stormwater networks, including our own, are designed for a one-in-five-year return storm. That one-in-five-year storm is now hitting us several times a year.

For instance, in July, a significant storm system came through that caused localized pockets of flooding. Our system functioned exactly the way it was designed; it just wasn't designed to have that much water inundate the system all at once.

The localized flooding wasn't the result of any sewer blockages; everything was flowing. The issue was volume. A quarter of the typical rainfall volume for the month fell in the span of less than 2 hours, and it takes time for the system to drain.

So, a lot of the data that we're collecting right now and in future will help us better design our systems. When flooding occurs during a storm, we are looking at the data to determine what factors led to the localized flooding.

We're also looking to be more proactive. In 2025, the utility will install flow meters and about 15 weather stations across our city to get near real-time updates on precipitation volume and rate, wind speed and direction, and temperature, providing critical information on how storms affect the city.

The weather stations will have the capability to update every few seconds if needed, so we can quickly assess high-risk areas of the city and send emergency crews to close roads, inspect drains, or set up flood barriers to minimize potential flood impacts and better protect the community.

This live, high-resolution data will be a game changer. Not only will it allow us to see which areas may be hit hardest and respond faster, but it will also help refine our 1D/2D hydraulic models to improve our future planning and prioritization of infrastructure upgrades that will build resiliency in higher risk neighborhoods that may be more prone to flooding.

Michele Samuels: In addition to flood control and emergency response measures, Kitchener is also taking a digitally enabled approach to improve operational efficiency. Can you tell me more about this?

Bu Lam: We are still incorporating digital technology into our daily work, but one simple yet effective change has been updating our work order templates. Previously, our templates required utility workers to write observations in comment boxes, making it difficult to get consistent, useful information and subsequently query it for analysis. Now, new structured templates with dropdown menus to collect the right type of information have been created. This ensures that important information for decision-making is consistently collected and expands our utility's data processing and analyzing capabilities.

We are also exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI), such as machine learning, to speed up other processes, such as reviewing CCTV footage of pipes.

By using AI to review inspection videos, we can save hours of an operator's time watching the whole footage and instead focus only on the most relevant sections. If we can use AI to get a ten-hour job down to just one, we can significantly speed up our analysis and decision-making processes and be more efficient in using staff resources.

Michele Samuels: Looking ahead, what is your long-term approach to climate resilience, and how much of a supporting role will data and analytics play?

Bu Lam: We have been rethinking how we manage stormwater over the last decade. Instead of relying on concrete channels to push water away from neighborhoods, we've launched an innovative creek naturalization program. By removing concrete and replacing it with natural, absorbent creek beds, these waterways soak up rainwater like sponges and minimize the speed and volume of water that flows downstream, where it can potentially cause damage to infrastructure and the environment.

We also use nature-based solutions such as infiltration galleries, bioswales, green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavers to slow water flow and prevent our system from becoming overwhelmed during heavy rainfall.

To incentivize private property owners to adopt these green solutions, we are offering credits of up to 45% off the monthly stormwater fee per property.

At the same time, we're using advanced data tools to guide our investment decisions. Our ultimate goal is to shift to a data-first strategy. With better data and information, we can invest in infrastructure that makes the most impact.

Combining digital tools like real-time monitoring and machine learning with natural solutions helps us prepare for climate challenges, from our emergency response program to our long-term infrastructure planning.

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