Vienna University of Applied Sciences Campus and Neuhaus Municipality (Carinthia): Ensuring water supply in times of climate crisis

2023-07-31 05:31:11

Project Argos delivers first results

Vienna (OTS) The FH Campus Wien, Austria’s largest university of applied sciences, has been cooperating as a scientific partner with the Carinthian municipality of Neuhaus for regarding a year in the “Smart Village Neuhaus” project. The focus is on security of supply in times of the climate crisis.
The first step is the water supply of the Carinthian municipality with just over 1,000 inhabitants. Other partners are involved in the project, such as Kelag, the Minol Zenner Group and RSE.

Research focus “Smart Village Neuhaus”

Small Austrian communities are faced with a problem: Rising temperatures and long periods of drought lead to increased water consumption, and budgetary and personnel restrictions further increase security of supply. The result: Technical solutions are required. “Across Europe, many research institutions have specialized in the needs of smart cities. We deliberately chose the “Smart Village” research focus, because almost two-thirds of Austrian municipalities have fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. The need for digital solutions, especially with a view to adapting to the climate crisis, is particularly important here,” says project manager Heimo Hirner, head of the Vienna Institute for Safety and Systems Engineering competence center at the FH Campus Wien.

FH Campus Wien focuses on digital topics as an answer to the climate crisis

Several student projects from the FH Campus Wien degree programs Computer Science and Digital Communications (Bachelor) and Software Design and Engineering (Master) were implemented with the focus on “digitalization solutions to increase the security of supply of municipal water supply systems”. Many of the projects are pioneering and pioneering, tailored to the needs of small communities in times of climate crisis. “The expertise of the FH Campus Wien is in high demand. Our activities in the field of applied research and development create the basis for sustainable solutions that help communities like Neuhaus to adapt to changing conditions,” says Elisabeth Haslinger-Baumann, Vice Rector for Research and Development at FH Campus Wien.

Under the scientific direction of the FH Campus Wien, the two-semester software engineering project Argos with the support of the cooperation partners Club, Minol Zenner group and RSE developed an application for digital monitoring solutions that is unique in Austria. This offers the municipality a reliable and efficient basis for operating the water supply and thus increases the security of supply.

“In recent years we have recorded historically low levels in the municipal drinking water supply, while at the same time the demand for water is increasing due to the high temperatures,” says the mayor of the Neuhaus municipality, Patrick Skubel. “As a small community, we are looking for new technical and scientific solutions to ensure long-term supply.”

Cooperation between teaching, research and industry in favor of municipal water supply in the Carinthian pilot project

The Argos project is a milestone in municipal water supply: The application has adaptive alarm solutions for digital water meters. In addition, water balances were programmed for each water supply system, which now monitor the feeding from the elevated tanks into the mains network and the withdrawal on an hourly, daily and weekly basis. For the first time, these calculations and visualizations provide a detailed insight into water losses in the respective system, and broken pipes can also be detected more quickly. In the event of water shortages, it is now possible for community employees to actively intervene in water management. In addition, events and alarms in the water supply can be stored in the system. The prototype has been in real operation in the Neuhaus municipality since July 2023. In the future, it is planned to expand the monitoring solutions to other areas, such as winter service.

FH Campus Wien – University for future topics

With more than 8,000 students at three locations and five cooperation locations, the FH Campus Wien is the largest university of applied sciences in Austria. In the departments of applied nursing science, applied life sciences, building and design, health sciences, social affairs, technology as well as administration, economy, security, politics, there is a choice of more than 60 study and training courses in part-time and full-time form. Application-oriented research and development is bundled in nine subject-specific competence centers. The University of Applied Sciences covers further and advanced training in the form of seminars, modules and certificate programs via the Campus Wien Academy. FH Campus Wien is a founding member of the Alliance for Sustainable Universities.

> Visit our Press Room: www.fh-campuswien.ac.at/pressroom

Questions & contact:

Silvia Haselhuhn, MA
University of Applied Sciences Campus Vienna
corporate communications
Favoritenstrasse 226, 1100 Vienna
T: +43 1 606 68 77-6418
silvia.haselhuhn@fh-campuswien.ac.at
www.fh-campuswien.ac.at

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