WaterSync

Denmark’s water sector is facing increasing demands for efficiency, documentation and sustainability. With WaterSync, a national demonstration project is being established to make it significantly easier for Danish water utilities to share and utilise data across production, distribution, consumption and water quality – to the benefit of climate, environment and security of supply.

WaterSync is a company-led innovation and demonstration project supported by the Environmental Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (MUDP) under the Danish Ministry of the Environment. The project develops and demonstrates a common, open data model and a secure, decentralised data platform where data remains with the individual utility, but can be shared and accessed according to clear and transparent rules.

At full scale, the project demonstrates how better and more integrated data can help reduce water losses and consumption, prevent water quality incidents, and strengthen documentation, reporting and decision-making in the water sector.

Vision and ambition

The vision of WaterSync is:
“To create a shared data foundation that supports a more efficient, resilient and sustainable water sector.”

The project’s ambition is to:

• make it easier and safer for water utilities to share and use data
• support data-driven decision-making that reduces water losses and resource consumption
• strengthen prevention of water quality incidents
• improve documentation and reporting in relation to regulatory requirements

At the same time, WaterSync aims to shorten the path from idea to operation for Danish SMEs and make it easier to scale and disseminate documented green environmental technologies nationwide.

Focus areas

WaterSync works across four interconnected focus areas:

• A common and open data model for water data
• Secure and decentralised data sharing across utilities
• Full-scale demonstration in Danish water utilities
• Standardisation and governance to enable broad adoption

The project is formally linked to the government’s Utilities Digitalisation Programme (FDP) and contributes to alignment between standardisation, governance and practical implementation in the water sector.

Project content

WaterSync develops and demonstrates a shared data infrastructure that enables connection and use of data from across the entire water cycle – from abstraction and treatment to distribution, consumption and monitoring of water quality.

Project activities include, among others:

• development of an open, common data model for water data
• establishment of a secure, decentralised data platform where data remains with the individual utility
• demonstration of concrete use cases that reduce water losses and consumption
• prevention and faster handling of water quality incidents
• strengthened documentation and reporting based on improved data foundations

The solution is demonstrated at full scale with participating water utilities and is developed to be scalable and applicable across the Danish water sector – and, in the longer term, internationally.

Collaboration and organisation

The project is carried out by a broad, cross-sector consortium consisting of water utilities, technology companies, knowledge institutions and cluster organisations.

Partners in WaterSync include:

• Center Denmark
• Clean
• TREFOR Water
• SONFOR
• Kalundborg Utility
• Hjørring Water Utility
• Energi Viborg
• SmartBrønd
• Aqua Alarm
• EWA Sensors

SmartBrønd, Aqua Alarm and EWA Sensors are members of Clean and have been brought into the project through the cluster organisation’s work to connect SMEs and utilities in concrete innovation collaborations.

Impact and perspective

WaterSync establishes a shared foundation for improved use of data in the water sector. Project outcomes contribute to:

• more efficient and sustainable operation of water utilities
• reduced water losses and resource consumption
• increased security of supply and improved water quality
• a stronger foundation for innovation and green transition

Project results are made applicable through open standards, tools and a scalable model that can be adopted across the water sector and support the export of Danish environmental technologies.