Qatium speeds up our processes and helps us save on water. We’re not wasting our time anymore trying to figure out what to do — we’re just going out into the field and doing what needs to be done. – Tim Silvers
Rural Water District No. 4 (RWD4) serves 3,000 rural residents in the southeastern part of Douglas County, Kansas. The entire district is 70 square miles, or approximately 180 square kilometers. The area, like the rest of Kansas, is unique in its flatness. The area is also prone to extreme weather patterns, which can present infrastructure challenges.
A focus on transferring knowledge
Tim Silvers, Operator at RWD4 in Douglas County, has been in the water industry since he was a teenager. When he first started, the only way to check tower levels and system pressure was to head out into the field. What’s more, the only way to detect a leak was through trial and error — or just hope that a customer noticed extra water in a ditch.
Tim first heard about Qatium at the Kansas Rural Water Conference, and was immediately intrigued. He was particularly interested in how Qatium could be leveraged to pass information on from one generation of water employees to the next. Because RWD4 is a geographically expansive network, it was important to Tim to have digital visibility into the entire area rather than expecting new hires to repeatedly cover the entire area by car when they’re starting out.
In addition to the smooth transfer of knowledge, Tim and his manager were interested in:
Visualizing customer pressure zones
Flushing and the impact on the customers
Main break repair simulation
Understanding the impact of new development(s)
Simple impact assessments
Leak detection
Easy data onboarding
It’s sometimes unusual for a small, rural water utility like RWD4 to have GIS data available — but Tim had already started digitizing and mapping underground assets. And even though the GIS data he had was missing some key infrastructure references needed for Qatium’s digital twin (e.g. water sources, tanks, and pump stations), Tim managed to easily identify and fill in the gaps, putting RWD4 in a great position to create an accurate network with Qatium.
Our customers need to know that we’re keeping an eye on them, and Qatium helps us do that across a large distance.” – Tim Silvers
Enhancing operational insights
RWD4 already had a SCADA platform with an overview of their pumps, tanks and pressure regulating valves. Qatium was quickly able to connect to their SCADA system, allowing implementation of a real-time decision platform for the RWD4 network and making network visualizations easy. Excited about the potential, Tim aims to continue integrating pressure sensors in the network and in Qatium to enhance operational insights and efficiency.
Qatium is just such a valuable resource for new employees. It gives them another avenue to better understand our water entity. Our second operator has only been with us for seven months, but he’s used Qatium to really understand and help with main breaks. He can pinpoint the shutdown and know which valves to operate.
– Tim Silvers
A focus on the future
With his innovative approach to problem-solving, Tim identified opportunities for Qatium to streamline processes, improve data visualization, and enhance decision-making capabilities for his team. The RWD4 consultant and other RWD4 staff are also eager to explore the benefits of Qatium, indicating a strong internal alignment towards adopting innovative solutions.
If you think about something that’s not on Qatium, you just give them a call and they’ll help you figure out a solution. – Tim Silvers
Tim’s interest in Qatium extends beyond operational efficiencies to include scenarios like leak detection, network overview, pressure zone visualization, and customer impact assessments. The next step for RWD4 is to integrate Qatium with their customer management system so they can immediately notify customers of potential shutdowns.
Small utilities benefiting from big-picture solutions
When I first heard about Qatium, I didn’t know it would be possible for a water utility of our size. But now, I use it almost daily to answer questions about my district and better understand our capabilities and our impact.” – Tim Silvers
RWD4 is currently the smallest utility using the Qatium platform. With smaller budgets and even smaller teams, rural water utility operations can sometimes feel that digital solutions are out of reach. But what forward-thinking operators like Tim Silvers understand is that expertise and efficiency is best leveraged out in the open. For greater visibility into your water network, no matter the size, check out the Qatium platform — the core functionality is always free.
