The InSchuKa 4.0 project aims to protect Jena's sewer network from the consequences of climate change using AI-controlled sewer valves. The project has now been awarded the Sustainability Award in the digitalization category by the Zeitung für kommunale Wirtschaft (ZfK).
Cities and industry must adapt to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Flooding caused by heavy rainfall and unpleasant-smelling deposits during prolonged droughts are among the problems that the "Combined infrastructure and environmental protection through AI-based sewer network management" (InSchuKa) 4.0 initiative aims to prevent.
Project planning with Digital Twin
InSchuKa 4.0 wants to better prepare Jena's sewer network for such events and start installing flexible, AI-controlled sewer valves in the city's main sewer collector. These regulate the transport volume of the sewer fully automatically and are based on current measured sewer values and weather forecasts. In this way, damage caused by flooding or prolonged drought can be avoided.
The project is currently working on equipping its digital platform with the necessary data. To this end, for example, drone images were taken and a three-dimensional digital twin of the canal and its ancillary facilities was created using infrared measurements. The team can use this to simulate situations and make calculations. In this way, the optimum distribution of the butterfly valves can be determined.
Installation of the sewer valves to start this year
According to the current plan, two butterfly valves are to be installed initially, one directly at the end of the main collector just before the inflow to the central sewage treatment plant in Zwätzen, and one roughly in the middle, in the area of the so-called Landfeste. The purchase and installation of the sewer flaps is currently being planned and construction work is due to begin in late summer.
The InSchuKa 4.0 project brings together the JenaWasser special-purpose association and the universities of Hof and Magdeburg-Stendal. HST Systemtechnik GmbH, Pegasys GmbH and Nivus GmbH, three companies from the fields of measurement technology, automation and digitalization, are also involved in the project.
