VicWater, the state’s top industry association for the state’s 18 publicly funded water management companies, said its members have expressed interest in increasing data sharing across all levels of government to enhance AI capabilities.
Cho Lim, the association’s chief executive, said: iT News AI is starting to become a focus of the ongoing Intelligent Water Network (IWN) initiative, with most of the 16 participating members saying they are in favor of sharing data to accelerate innovation in water management.
“I think there is a strong appetite to explore that. Over the last few years, under the IWN banner, we have run several field-wide hackathons where people within our member organizations come together and use publicly available datasets to solve problems,” she said.
Mr Lim said the event had familiarized people with the idea of using and accessing shared datasets to develop AI applications.
But VicWater members were interested in more than data sharing within the company, she said.
“It would be beneficial for all customers. There is a huge potential to be able to collect data from other government agencies as well. That would be helpful,” she said.
In particular, companies are interested in having access to Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) data to enhance efforts to leverage AI in flood management following the state’s 2022 floods that caused landslides, damaged businesses, and directly cost the state $24 million in emergency relief payments.
“The data that BoM has is directly relevant to us in the water industry, especially when it comes to patterns such as rainfall and flooding. If we can use AI to integrate the data and help improve (flood) modeling, for example, it would be very beneficial,” Lim said.
Mr Lim said Big Water had not yet approached the Federal Weather Service with a specific proposal.
But some members had asked for access to the department’s data on specific projects, she said.
Mr Lim said Melbourne Water, for example, is in the midst of a major exercise to update floodplain models across the greater Melbourne region in partnership with local authorities, and is seeking access to the BoM’s data.
Explore AI use cases
The AI arm of Vicwater’s IWN program is currently running trials to explore how the technology can be used to accelerate development approvals as the housing shortage worsens.
We are also experimenting with using AI to process large amounts of sensor-based data to detect early harmful pressure transients that can cause material fatigue and lead to large-scale leaks.
“We’re using AI to collect all of these data points and analyze it so we can identify where pressure transients are occurring and react to them,” Lim said.
“Before, we couldn’t really do that because there was too much data to review manually.”
Mr Lim said water companies had not been given a blank check to pursue AI projects, but acknowledged there was an implicit mandate to use the technology as part of Victoria’s broader aim to improve efficiency through innovation.
“If it’s successful, it could potentially be rolled out across the network, but you always have to consider cost, which means you have to pay for these things, so you really have to build a business case around that as well,” she said.
VicWater also began exploring AI projects that would help the industry sustain intellectual property while putting it at risk of loss as engineers begin to reach a stage in their careers nearing retirement.
For example, Lim said a company developed a mobile application that uses agent AI and LLM to process infrastructure manuals.
Technicians can then add intelligence about how the infrastructure actually operates, thereby protecting intellectual property within the facility.
“We always pay attention to these things [innovation] It’s an opportunity,” Lim said.
VicWater’s facilitating role
VicWater was established as a way to bring a unified voice to the Victorian Government on water management on behalf of businesses. The companies effectively operate as independent companies, but receive government funding according to official instructions.
Unlike many other states in Australia where water is paid for through municipal rates, VicWater members submit their pricing to Victoria’s Essential Services Commission (ESC) every five years to set water prices.
Companies can use this mechanism to justify spending programs and advocate projects that have the potential to benefit all water users.
When it comes to technology, VicWater will act as a champion overseeing limited trials and proof-of-concept exercises that the association will introduce to its members, and will serve as an umbrella body to define industry needs.
