Fountains are valuable elements in the urban streetscape of Antwerp. Not only have they a cultural value and entertaining function, they also offer refreshment to the citizens. Currently, the city has 47 fountains in use, which require a lot of maintenance due to obsolete techniques, and are consequently related to high intervention costs. Any downtime should be avoided since it leads to complaints by citizens and even affects the way visitors perceive the city.
The installation of sensors and intelligent systems in each fountain enables to reduce the use of water, and to optimize maintenance works by limiting manual interventions and dealing proactively with potential defects. With the new online IoT-platform the status of each fountain will be monitored in real-time. By doing big data analysis, parameters as the water quality and energy consumption are processed, generating a smart action. For instance, the platform will anticipate on weather conditions, detect the presence of people passing by, and adjust the sequence and pattern of the water flow.
The innovative aspect of this project lies in the development, testing and optimization of the configuration, connection and communication between the different components in each fountain. Sensors, the use of an online platform, and the accompanying reporting tools enable to collect a huge volume of data that can be used to adjust all parameters individually to create a more cooperating and efficient system covering all 47 fountains.
These tools will provide more insight with regard to future maintenance with all its aspects: an ecological mind-set, care for the historical heritage (statues), interaction with citizens, ... It is a necessary step to develop a whole new generation of sustainable fountains.
