BEPROACT: smart technology for proactive management of water infrastructure

Imagine if a probe, lock or bridge could automatically “tell” us where and when there is a problem. With a “talking component”, we can monitor the health status of the water infrastructure.

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BEPROACT stands for Building an Ecosystem to ProActively develop data-driven asset management and is the first EU project to focus on these challenges. The VMM wants to use it to manage its multi-parameter probes more efficiently.

Goal of the project

The aim of this project is to develop methods and services that can be applied and replicated across national borders. In this way, BEPROACT wants to implement the transformation to smart technology. In Flanders, this involves smarter and more efficient management of our multi-parameter probes.

What does the VMM do within BEPROACT?

The VMM uses multi-parameter probes (MPS) to collect data on water quality parameters. These probes control the permanent environmental incident response system. We now have more than 100 of these probes, which provide data on water quality every 5 minutes, generating a huge amount of data. Data-driven monitoring of indicators for fish mortality, salinisation and overflow operations, among other things, enables problems to be identified more effectively and environmental incidents to be prevented. The VMM therefore wants to become smarter, faster and more effective in detection and intervention, but also in the operational functioning and management of the probes.

Collaboration with Geosparc and the University of Lille

Within this project, VMM works closely with Geosparc as a technical partner. This Flemish company specialises in user-friendly geospatial applications. Geosparc helps us set up a comprehensive incident management system and supports us in other applications, such as detecting the source of pollution in watercourses and mapping its impact downstream. In addition, Geosparc coordinates proactive response actions to prevent fish mortality and works towards optimal management and extended service life of our measuring probes.

The VMM also collaborates with the University of Lille (Lille, FR). They help us develop a prediction model for oxygen. As a result, they coordinate proactive response actions to prevent fish mortality and work towards optimal management and extending the lifespan of our measuring probes.

BEPROACT in Europe

A total of eleven project partners from six different countries are working on the BEPROACT project.

• België
• Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij
• GEOSPARC
• Nederland
• Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research – TNO
• Foundation IMEC Netherlands – IMEC
• Luxemburg
• Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology - LIST 
• Duitsland
• Federal Highway Research Insitute – BASt 
• The Autobahn GmbH of the Federal Government - AdB
• Ierland
• Dublin City Council – DCC 
• Frankrijk
• University of Lille – Ulille 
• Burgundy-Franche-Comté Regional Council – Région BFC