How to Anticipate Public Health Indicators Using Wastewater SARS-CoV-2 Concentration During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Madrid Region Case Study

This study analyzes the presence and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage sanitation systems in the Madrid region. The statistical results and data generated are presented daily via a platform as a tool for the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 and its spread based on the WBE (wastewater-based epidemiological) approach. The number of sampled points amounts to a total of 289 sampling points in terms of SARS-CoV-2 concentration that collects over six million and a half inhabitants’ discharges. The project was developed by Canal de Isabel II, the water utility company from Madrid. The research evaluates the correlation found between SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater and the following public health indicators: incidence rate, reported active cases and COVID-19 hospitalization data (regular hospitalization and ICU admission cases).SARS-CoV-2 presence and dynamics in wastewater show a strong connection with both 14-day incidence rates with active infection and reported COVID-19 hospitalizations. A lag varying from 3 to 8 days between wastewater presence and hospitalizations is explained because the infection is found in the feces of patients before symptom onset. The resulting data are available for consultancy on the company’s website (named VIGÍA project) as well as on the regional government’s websites.The results have already been useful to anticipate the second and third COVID-19 waves in Madrid. Information is shared daily with health authorities for consultancy and decision-making. The results are available as an aggregation for the entire region and for each sewershed.

Internet of Things Technologies for Smart Grid

Smart grid is a new revolution in the energy sector in which the aging utility grid will be replaced with a grid that supports two-way communication between customers and the utility company. There are two popular smart-grid reference architectures. NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) has drafted a reference architecture in which seven domains and actors have been identified. The second reference architecture is elaborated by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), which is an extension of the NIST model where a new domain named distributed energy resources has been added. This chapter aims at identifying the use of IoT and IoT-enabled technologies in the design of a secure smart grid using the ETSI reference model. Based on the discussion and analysis in the chapter, the authors offer two collaborative and development frameworks. One framework draws parallels' between IoT and smart grids and the second one between smart grids and edge computing. These frameworks can be used to broaden collaboration between the stakeholders and identify research gaps.

IoT Based Non–Technical Loss Detection and Mitigation System for Power Distribution Networks

Electrical Energy crisis is a major problem faced in the world today and it’s increasingly significant in this part of Africa. A perfect solution seems not to be feasible as several solutions have been proposed in the past by various authors with little impact on the power sector. In this work, we present a method of Non-Technical Loss (NTL) detection consisting of a microcontroller interfaced with a current sensor that measures the current on the power line. A sensor node is placed at the supply end of the pole while two or more others sensor nodes are connected to the output of the pole depending on the number of consumers. The measured value of current is sent via the microcontroller to a web cloud that is accessible by the consumers and the utility company from any part of the world by simply logging on to the website; www.electricity-theft.herokuapp.com. The design uses the principle of Kirchhoff Current Law (KCL) to achieve this aim. The consumers can therefore monitor their power consumption from any location in the world and prevent theft on the network. The results obtained from the installation of the sensor nodes were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. A correlation analysis of the data results gave us a correlation coefficient of 0.9802, while a regression analysis provided us with a linear relationship between the dependent and independent variable expressed mathematically thus Y = 0.916x + 0.254. A regression graph is also plotted. Furthermore, a T-Test and F-Test was conducted to statistically test the sensor nodes. A NodeMCU Wi-Fi microcontroller and a self-powered Phidget current sensor is used for the sensor node design. Communication between the sensor nodes is via Wi-Fi while a 4G router was used to provide internet services.

Resilience to climate change: adaptation strategies for the water supply system of Formia and Gaeta (Province of Latina, Central Italy)

The aqueduct serving the municipalities of Formia and Gaeta (Latina province, Italy), an area under the enforcement and control responsibility of “ATO 4” Autorità d’Ambito Territoriale Ottimale – (Integrated Urban Water Management Agency), is supplied by two important karst springs. These springs, fed by the western Aurunci Mountains system are known as Mazzoccolo and Capodacqua having an average flow rates of 1100 l/s and 1300 l/s, respectively. Although these sources have been used since ancient Roman times and the quality of their water is excellent, variations in the precipitation regime, possibly related to worldwide climate changes, has exacerbated the following problems: a decrease in the flow rates of the springs caused by the reduction in winter rainfall, and an increase of turbidity due to concentrated rainfall events. In order to mitigate these problems, which affect a resident population of about 150,000 inhabitants, Acqualatina S.p.A. - the water utility company - promoted a series of geological and hydrogeological surveys. These studies aim at increasing the knowledge on the geological setting and to find additional sources to improve the existing supply. Within the framework of these activities, we studied a strategy aimed at diversifying the water supply by identifying new exploitable aquifers in the area, to reduce the aforementioned problems. This paper presents the results of research carried out before and during the construction of the water well field “25 Ponti” located in the coastal area of the plain of Formia. The research consisted in laboratory analyses of 130 groundwater samples and in monitoring of piezometric trends. The data show a seasonal variation in groundwater chemical composition caused also by aquifer exploitation, which in some periods of the year affects the regulated reserves. This seasonal phenomenon was however present in absence of pumping.

Design and Development of a Power Quality Based Digital Energy Meter

In power distribution systems of many countries, service lines are directly connected to the consumer meters without any load management system. Conventional meters lack in internal power quality measurement, and utility also cannot measure the power factor and other values during the month. This study aims to design a smart kit that aids conventional single-phase energy meters and calculates the power values of all phases by measuring the voltage, current, and power factor on the load side; and the calculated power values will be sent to the cloud data base Voltage and current are measured by a current transformer (CT) and a potential transformer (PT) connected on both the incoming side and the load side in order to avoid meter bypassing. A program-based algorithm has also been developed to calculate the power factor and other power quantities. This IoT-based energy meter uploads the measured quantities to an online database, and the same are also displayed on an LCD meter. An Android™-based application is also developed for user-end control. Consumers can observe the resultant values, switch loads remotely, and pay electricity bills through the same application. When the power factor of any consumer is less than the standard value, the system will automatically notify utility company about the affecting load.

Optimal Design of a Standalone Hybrid Energy System for a COVID-19 Quarantine Center Energization

This work is motivated by the need to overcome the electricity crises in Gaza that is initiated in Gaza due to political reasons. In addition, it is related to current situation in the world in particular the spread of COVID-19. Building quarantine centers is one of the most important means used in combating the Corona epidemic, but connecting these centers to the electricity distribution network at the appropriate time is not always possible and increases the burden on the local utility company. This paper proposed a Hybrid off-grid Energy System (HES) to effectively energies the quarantine centers economically and environmentally. To achieve this aim, the load profile of the quarantine center is estimated, the system components are modeled and the system design is optimized. In addition, the developed approach was tested using a real case study considering realistic input data. HOMER-pro program is used to simulate and optimize the system design. The results revealed the potential of the HES to provide environment-friendly, cost-effective, and affordable electricity for the studied quarantine center, as compared to only diesel generators system. For the considered case study, it is found that the PV-Wind-Diesel hybrid power system is able to cover the connected load with the lowest cost in comparison to other possible HES structures. It also environmentally friendly as it has the least harmful emissions. Finally, it is proved that the developed approach gives a reasonable solution to the decision-makers to find a fast, economic and reliable solution to energies the quarantine centers.

Development of IoT Real-Time Groundwater Monitoring System

Internet of Things (IoT) Real-Time Groundwater Monitoring System is a system built to monitor groundwater extraction and consumption. Groundwater scarcity has become a major threat to the government especially water utility company. Water theft, inaccuracy meter reading & lock out access are some problems contributing to water scarcity. In this research, data obtained from the groundwater consumption using flow sensor will be sent to the server where all this data will be recorded for future analysing by respective authorities. The system has been tested thoroughly using of Long Range (LoRa) communication module together with Thingspeak cloud and mobile application. The results showed promising coverage with Line of Sight (LOS) is tested at 900m maximum while for Non-Line of Sight (NLOS) is at 600m. A very small standard deviation up to 4.93 was observed for received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) value for LOS and NLOS. Compared with the existing manual method, the proposed IoT system will water authority to monitor water consumption effectively through real time and better coverage.

FINANCING OF MUNICIPAL UTILITY ENTERPRISES UNDER CONDITIONS OF BUDGET CONSTRAINTS

Background. The article investigates the principles of budget financing, the principles of enterprise and corporate financing, and the principles of social entrepreneurship. The scientific approaches on the interpretation of the given principles of financing are generalized and systematized. Expediency of the separate principle’s application in the context of the municipal enterprise functioning is substantiated. The principles of the municipal utility enterprises financing are proposed with consideration to social significance of the municipal enterprises in the system of economic activity of the territorial community. Materials and methods. The historical method, analysis and synthesis, the method of deduction were used in theoretical systematization of the budget financing and enterprise financing principles. Derivation of the principles of financing utilities on the basis of scientist’s opinions systematization is performed using the inductive method. The conclusions of the study are formed by the abstract-logical method. Results. The principles of municipal utilities financing should be based on the principles of budget financing, as these enterprises are recipients of funds from local budgets.However, the utility enterprise operates on the commercial basis, the principles of its financing should take into account the principles of private sector enterprises financing. We have developed the principles of a municipal utility company financing, which are grouped into two categories – general and specific principles. Conclusion. We have proposed the principles of utilities financing with their division into universal and specific, taking into account the commercial nature of such enterprises and their social significance. And furthermore, these principles allow to justify the functions, methods and approaches to utility enterprise financing, which will be a topic for future research. Keywords: municipal utility enterprise, financing principles, budget financing, corporate financing.

Remote Microgrids for Energy Access in Indonesia—Part II: PV Microgrids and A Technology Outlook

This paper is the companion paper of Remote Microgrids for Energy Access in Indonesia “Part I: scaling and sustainability challenges and a technology outlook”. This part II investigates the issues of photovoltaic (PV) systems with respect to the planning, design, and operation, and maintenance phases in microgrids in Indonesia. The technology outlooks are also included as PV has an important role in providing electricity in the underdeveloped, isolated, and border areas. The data in this paper are from PV microgrids located in Maluku and North Maluku, which are two provinces where there is barely any grid connection available and thus very dependent on remote microgrids. The data are obtained from interviews with Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and NZMATES, which are an Indonesian utility company and a program for supporting role for the PV systems in Maluku funded by New Zealand respectively. Common issues with respect to reliability and sustainability are identified based on the provided data. Advanced technologies to increase reliability and sustainability are also presented in this paper as a technology outlook. Among these solutions are online monitoring systems, PV and battery lifetime estimation, load forecasting strategies, and PV inverters technology.

Performance Evaluation Using Reward Point and Social Media (Case Study in Utility Company)

This paper aims at two things; first, see the participants' interest if learning is carried out with e-learning. Second, how the impact of the use of social media and reward point methods on the improvement in evaluation of learning outcome. The method used is a survey and experiment. The survey is used to find out whether the reward point and/or social media method will affect employee motivation in e-learning process. Experiments are used to see the impact of the use of both methods on selected samples. The sample used was employees of PT PJB Services located in Head Office and selected by purposive technique. Data analysis used ANOVA Test to measure whether the treatment had a significant effect on the dependent variable. This paper is expected to prove that learning, especially studied in this paper, that combined with these both methods will affect positively to employee learning motivation and support the improvement of learning outcome. The results obtained are e-learning with reward points and posting the learning process on Instagram significantly increase employee motivation in learning. However, e-learning with reward points and posting the learning process on Instagram did not significantly affect on increased of evaluation of employee learning outcomes. Keywords: Performance Evaluation, Reward Points, Social Media, Evaluation E-Learning