The final session of the 4th SWAN Asia-Pacific Workshop focused on the next frontier of water management: combining artificial intelligence and digital twins to create safer, smarter and more sustainable utilities.
Moderated by Aaron Calfas, Head of Digital Risk and Assurance at Sydney Water, the panel brought together Oras Abbas from SA Water, Arvin Seevaunnamtum from Water Corporation, and Mudasser Iqbal from TeamSolve.
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How is SA Water using digital twins for real-time operations?
SA Water’s Network Operations Modelling Engineer, Oras Abbas, described how the utility’s Network Operation Model (NOM) acts as a live digital twin of the state’s complex water and wastewater systems.
Integrating more than 3,000 live data feeds from SCADA, demand forecasting and asset information, the system allows operators to simulate network changes every two hours.
It enables real-time decisions on outages, pump optimisation and incident response.
During the state’s dry season, the model was used to identify water carting locations outside the grid, ensuring safe access for thousands of properties without disrupting the supply.
Abbas said the tool has accelerated decision-making and improved coordination between the Operations Control Centre and field crews.
“Trust in the model grows with every use,” he said. “It has changed how we plan, respond and communicate during incidents.”
What lessons emerged from Water Corporation’s AI-driven pipeline project?
Water Corporation’s Arvin Seevaunnamtum shared how the utility and SUEZ collaborated to automate the historic Goldfields and Agricultural Water Scheme pipeline.
The 560-kilometre network, built in 1903, supplies over 100,000 customers across Western Australia. Rising electricity costs and alarm overloads made manual operations increasingly difficult.
Using AI-driven control logic, the system analyses trends every 30 minutes, calculates optimal pumping strategies and automatically updates set points through SCADA.
The automation reduced alarms, improved energy efficiency and cut costs, delivering a three-year return on investment — two years ahead of forecast.
Seevaunnamtum emphasised that trust and collaboration were crucial. “This worked because we partnered transparently. It was about solving problems, not assigning blame.”
How is AI capturing human expertise at Wannon Water?
Mudasser Iqbal, Founder and CEO of TeamSolve, presented Lily Knowledge Twin, an AI-powered system developed with Wannon Water, Detection Services, and the Intelligent Water Networks (IWN) program.
The tool converts decades of unstructured maintenance records and operator notes into usable insights.
By analysing work orders, SCADA data and handwritten logs, Lily creates a “knowledge twin” that learns from past incidents to guide future maintenance and training.
Early results show that junior operators reduce their learning curve by up to three months, while senior staff save an hour per day on diagnostics and fault finding.
Iqbal said the system addresses a growing challenge: capturing institutional knowledge before it’s lost to retirement. “We’re not replacing experience,” he said. “We’re making it accessible.”
How can AI and digital twins build trust and sustainability?
Moderator Aaron Calfas tied the discussion back to ethics, governance and long-term resilience.
He noted that Sydney Water’s digital strategy emphasises transparency and accountability, ensuring new technologies strengthen community trust.
The panel agreed that successful digital transformation depends not just on innovation but on collaboration and culture.
Calfas said, “It’s our responsibility to build solutions today that future generations can manage with confidence and integrity.”
What were the key takeaways from the workshop?
The closing session concluded with reflections from across the event.
Speakers noted that AI, smart metering and digital twins are no longer isolated technologies. They are converging into unified systems that integrate operations, customers and sustainability goals.
Human capability, not technology, remains the sector’s tipping point.
As Calfas summarised, “Technology will keep evolving, but what matters most is how we use it to build trust, value and environmental responsibility.”