Investor Presentaiton
PANORAMA OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR'S PARTICIPATION IN SANITATION 2021
A NEW SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FRONTIER FOR BRAZIL
Águas do Brasil Group - Automation of WTPs
In April, the Águas do Brasil Group, as part
of its strategic planning, implemented Au-
tomation for the Water Treatment Stations
(WTP) of Coroa, the largest WTP of the
Group, in the Águas do Paraíba Complex,
and also the WTPs of Tapera and Santa
Margarida, of the Águas de Nova Friburgo
concessionaire.
Conducted by the Research and Technolo-
gy (R&T) area with the support of the Cor-
porate Management of Automation and
Energy, this project aims to automate the
quality monitoring of treated and filtered
water, in addition to allowing the automatic
dosage of chemicals (coagulants, chlorine
and fluoride) in the stations.
Not having dedicated operators, the Units
of Nova Friburgo will also have remote op-
eration with automatic closure of the whole
of the WTP, should the quality parameters
reach defined critical values. These are not
the first WTPs of the Group to be automat-
ed: WTP Juturnaíba was the first to rely on
automation in its processes.
Now everything is done automatically and
remotely. The installation of in-line instru-
ments for analysis of quality parameters,
such as turbidity, pH, color, chlorine, fluo-
ride and load potential, together with pro-
cess control automation (PID), allows the
automatic dosage of chemicals (coagu-
lants, chlorine and fluoride). The activation
of the dosing pumps occurs through the
supervisory system installed at each of the
WTPs; the monitoring of the entire process
can be done directly from the Laboratory.
In the Águas de Nova Friburgo and Águas
do Paraíba concessionaires, the superviso-
ry system is monitored from miles away, at
the Operational Control Center (OCC) at the
company's headquarters.
Another key point is the monitoring the
quality of treated and filtered water, and the
sending of the quality parameters to the
SIGO (Integrated Operating Management
System) are very important as, with in-line
instruments, the measurement of quality
data occurs every 5 minutes and the data is
stored in a database, allowing operators to
devote their benchtop analysis time (with
such analysis being made every 2 hours)
to more important tasks within the water
treatment process.
The project received a total investment of
almost BRL 800,000 in 2020. This year, the
Automation and Energy Management is di-
rectly leading the WTP Alegria projects - of
the Águas das Agulhas Negras concession-
aire -, WTP Jundiaquara - of the Águas de
Araçoiaba concessionaire - and the WTPs of
Rio Grande de Cima and Jason - both of the
Águas de Nova Friburgo concessionaire.
Águas do Brasil Group
Agua de Valor Programme
The Água de Valor Programme, of the
Águas do Brasil Group, has already cut
water losses by more than 17 million m³
equivalent to 6,800 Olympic swimming
pools over the last three years. Last year
alone, this amount worked out at a saving
worth almost BRL 10 million. The company
has been stepping up efforts and invest-
ments in this area, achieving better results
in the cities where it operates.
The mission of the Água de Valor Pro-
gramme, that started in 2018, is to increase
the efficiency of distribution systems, main-
ly in a move to reduce water losses, thereby
ensuring the water supply to the population
and contributing to extend the guaranteed
right to future generations.
The programme was the winner of the 2020
Firjan Award, in the Water and Effluents cat-
egory. Thanks to the implementation there-
of, the company was able to reduce the vol-
ume of water harnessed from springs and
the need for investments in the expansion of
production capacity, reducing economic and
environmental impacts as well as slashing
the consumption of energy and chemicals,
so also contributing to the preservation of
the environment and to reduction of operat-
ing costs. Other good results were obtained
with regard to the occurrence of fraud and
the number of clandestine connections.
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