Water and Urban Resilience Paper

7/28/2019 Water and Urban Resilience Paper

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Water and Urban ResilienceXYLEMS CONTRIBUTION TO FLOOD MANAGEMENT


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Letter rom XylemsPresident and CEOCities all around the world regularly conront natural

disasters that threaten human lives, livelihoods and

the natural environment upon which we all depend.

In a world where many cities are growing rapidly and

acing increasing exposure to water scarcity, changes

in weather patterns, and other risks, todays municipal

leaders have to work harder than ever to make theircities more resilient.

Fortunately, city leaders do not stand alone. It is now

widely accepted, including as part o the United

Nations Hyogo Framework or Action, that the private

sector has an essential part to play in disaster risk

reduction. Companies like Xylem are working to help

communities anticipate, prepare or, respond to, and

recover rom natural disasters, and to ensure continuity

o basic services, no matter the circumstances.

Xylem is a global water technology company with almost

$4 billion in annual sales, operating in more than 150

countries around the world. We are a trusted provider

o innovative and reliable technologies that help to

manage water sustainably across its entire cycle

rom the headwaters o rivers to cities and arms and

back to the oceans. Our tagline, Lets Solve Water,

points to our commitment to addressing the worlds

most pressing water challenges through partnership

and collaboration. We work with partners including

government agencies, municipalities, industry, univer-

sities and NGOs to deliver solutions that protect our

cities against a volatile and uncertain uture.

We believe increasing the resilience o urban areas is one

o the most complex challenges acing public leaders

around the world. Cities account or the majority o the

worlds population and much o the worlds economic

activity and this growing concentration in both areas

means that they are acutely exposed to natural disaste

risk. Moreover, many o the worlds most destructivenatural disasters involve water, whether through

ooding (too much water in the wrong places); drought

(not enough water in the right places); or contamination

(unusable or hazardous water). These phenomena

threaten human lives, endanger property and livelihoods

and inict environmental damage. And in any disaster

natural or otherwise, ensuring the supply o clean and

sae drinking water to aected populations can become

an urgent challenge.

This paper provides real-lie examples o productsservices, and solutions that Xylem oers as part o

our contribution to building urban resilience, with a

particular ocus on helping cities manage ood risk

But it is really intended to be a conversation starter

We are here to listen and participate in discussion

and we stand ready to share our global experience with

leaders around the world as they seek to build more

resilient and sustainable cities.

Gretchen McClainPresident and CEO

Xylem Inc

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Building urban oodresilience with innovative

water technologies andbusiness models


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Flooding is one o the most universal and destructive challenges acingcities around the world. World Bank research suggests that oods are themost requent o all natural disasters and that the number o ood eventsis rising rapidly. In 2010 alone, 178 million people were aected by oods,with losses exceeding $40 billion.

When it comes to managing ood risk, there is no substitute or eectiveurban planning and strong community engagement. But there is also animportant role or technology and the private sector. Private companies areimportant partners that can bring new approaches, know-how, and surgecapacity to help cities anticipate and address the complex realities ourban ooding. Xylems innovative technologies and business models helpcities minimize and recover rom ood losses by supporting early warningsystems, 24/7 disaster response, and resilience planning or the uture.

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CASE STUDY 1

Monitoring the Onsetof Hurricane Sandy

When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Mid-Atlantic andNortheastern United States in late October 2012, disaster

management experts were able to track the hurricanesimpact in real time without putting people in harms way.This was possible because response crews all along the At-lantic seaboard could rely on feld monitoring stations equipped with Xylems sensor instruments that were in placebeore, during, and ater the storm.

In coastal Delaware, Xylem instruments are used as parto an ongoing marsh and water-monitoring cooperativeproject between the U.S. Fish and Wildlie Service and theDelaware Department o Natural Resources and EnvironmentalControl. During Hurricane Sandy, the project team watchedthe instrument readings closely to measure the impact o thesuperstorm on water levels in low-lying populated areas.

Throughout the storm, real-time data were transmitted romour YSI multiparameter sondes to the web, using our YSIEcoNet monitoring system. The data showed water levels inthe area drastically increasing between three and our eet asSandy made landall, causing severe ooding and erosion toshorelines and roadways.

In Delaware Bay, several Waterlog bubbler systems rom Xylemhelped the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationrecord storm surge water levels at their Physical Ocean-ographic Real-Time System stations. The stations recorded

storm surges that were anywhere rom our to six eet higherthan predicted water levels. Many homeowners in coastal

Delaware relied on real-time data rom YSIs EcoNetmonitoring system to warn them to ee beore rising oodwaters covered roads and stranded them.

Similar systems in Virginia and Maryland verifed that Sandysimpact was not severe, because winds rom the west pushedmost o the water oshore, sparing these states rom themassive ooding that occurred elsewhere.

Early Warning Systems

Early warning systems increase urban resilience by providing valuable lead time to preparecommunities or incoming problems. City managers and community leaders can use this leadtime to implement disaster plans to reduce vulnerability and minimize expected losses. When itcomes to ood risks, real-time inormation on precipitation and water quality, water levels, andow rates can not only reduce economic losses it can literally save lives.

Xylems Analytics business provides intelligent sensors, platorms and systems to measurewater quality, level and ow. These technologies can be deployed in oceans, coastal zones, rivers,reservoirs and other surace water bodies to provide real-time inormation on environmentalconditions. For example, Xylems Flood Alert Kits, built around YSI amily o sensors andcommunications protocols, have been used by all major U.S. government monitoring agencies,including the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps o Engineers, to monitor conditionsthat can lead to urban ooding.

Xylem also provides important technical advice and services to help cities implement new toolsand technologies. Our teams work with partners to integrate, install, and maintain systems that canmeasure and transmit inormation on water levels, precipitation, and discharge rates in real time,

providing city managers and emergency responders with actionable resource intelligence toguide decision-making and increase resilience during and ater ooding events.

Atermath o Hurricane Sandys foodwaters


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CASE STUDY 2

Shimen Reservoir, Taiwan

Typhoons regularly strike the mountains around the Shimenreservoir. Rapid oodwaters can wash millions o tons osediment into a critical water source or the people oTaiwan with potentially catastrophic consequences.

In 2004, Typhoon Ailii unleashed 20 million tons o sedimentand debris rom the surrounding mountains into thereservoir. Sediments travel in subsurace plumes that canquickly overwhelm a dams water treatment acility. Thesediments rom Typhoon Ailiis oodwaters choked thereservoirs water treatment plant, cutting o water supply

or days to thousands o households downstream and orcingresidents to rely on water trucked in by the Taiwan WaterSupply Corporation.

The next year, beore the 2005 typhoon season, TaiwansWater Resources Agency deployed unmanned YSI VerticalProfling Systems to measure water quality. These sensorsreport turbidity, chlorophyll, pH, and dissolved oxygenreadings every fve meters rom surace to bottom, everythree hours. When turbidity reaches critical levels, the sensorstrigger an emergency plan at the water treatment plant,enabling operators to respond.

Advance warning enables decision-makers to choose roma number o management options. For example, based osensor readings, decision-makers can choose to acceleratthe fll-up o the storage pond immediately above the watetreatment plant beore sediment plumes reach the intakeOr they can close any o the plants fve water intakes anopen others to draw in waters rom clearer levels in thewater column and avoid a turbidity plume. Alternativelythey can draw water into the plant rom a backup sourcin a nearby river. Real-time intelligence enables real-timresponse that can prevent costly inrastructure ailures with readownstream eects.

The chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen sensors could somedaalso be used to track the movement o algae in the reservoiprotecting the lakes carp fshery by helping managemenprevent anoxic events.

Shimen Reservoir, Taiwa

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CASE STUDY 1

Dewatering Argentinas CitiesAfter a Massive Storm

A massive rainstorm swept through Buenos Aires Province onApril 1, 2013, causing ash oods and extensive ooding thatswept away cars and killed at least 60 people. In the provincescapital o La Plata, 40 centimeters (16 inches) o rain ell in justtwo hours, overwhelming drainage systems and ooding somehomes up to their roos. The Argentine government calledthe storm an unprecedented catastrophe. More than 3,000people were evacuated rom their homes during the storm,and tens o thousands were let without electricity.

The downpour also caused a power outage and fre atEnsenada Station, Argentinas largest oil refnery, operatedby YPF. President and CEO o YPF Miguel Galuccio said ina press conerence that while the plants drainage systems

could process and properly dispose o 95,000 cubic meterso rainall in six hours, the April 2013 storm ooded the plantwith 315,000 cubic meters o water, well beyond its capacity.Stormwater rose to 1.7 meters (almost 6 eet) in some areaso the plant.

During and ollowing the storm, Buenos Aires city ofcials andprivate customers contacted Xylem or help in removingoodwater rom buildings, underground parking lots, andsupermarkets. A sta o six people rom Xylems Rental &Atermarket division provided 24-hour service throughout theentire crisis.

Disaster Response

When storms strike, ooding can be immediate, disruptive, destructive, and even atal. To cope withthe onset o water pouring into streets, homes, commercial buildings and subway tunnels, cities needresilient drainage systems powered by reliable and powerul pumps. They also need 24/7 drainageassistance to dewater ooded areas quickly during and ater the crisis.

Xylem oers innovative technologies and business models designed to help cities control the ow owater through drainage networks and remove stormwater rom ooded areas. Xylems monitoring andcontrol technologies, or example, provide real-time situational awareness and control o wastewaternetworks, allowing city managers to manage capacity through lit station networks and lower theprobability o dangerous sewer overows.

Xylems dewatering and ow control businesses provide products and services that can quicklyremove water rom ooded areas to promote public saety and minimize damage. For example, ourrental business model enables cities to contract or emergency, 24/7 dewatering services allowingthem to avoid capital expenditure on dewatering equipment while securing access to vital oodcontrol services in times o crisis.

Xylems dewatering pump products are designed to work in any environment on a range o powersources, including gas, diesel, and in some cases, even car batteries to ensure resilience even in theevent o power ailure. And Xylems dewatering smartphone application allows cities to locate the near-est Xylem service provider and calculate requirements based on riction loss, pressure, powerand ow conversion coefcients.

Godwin pumps dewatered approximately 30,000 cubic meters o water in Buenos Aires


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Our Godwin pumps dewatered approximately 30,000 cubicmeters o water in Buenos Aires city, says Osvaldo Greco,Managing Director at Xylem Water Solutions Argentina.In the ooded neighborhood o Barrio Privado San Andrs,Tigre, the operational ow was 29,000 cubic meters, and inPasionaria, San Isidro, our Flygt equipment transported wateramounting to 9,000 cubic meters.

Xylem was also called in to dewater the Ensenada oil refnery

in La Plata. We drained 4,000 cubic meters rom the refneryspump house and 205,000 cubic meters rom the streetsand area around the plant, says Gustavo Ortega, Heado Atermarket and Rental. We began our technical assis-tance at the plant on April 2nd and fnalized our work onApril 4th, though our equipment continued to operate aterthat. Overall, we have learned a lot rom this experienceand have now ormed a crisis committee or these kindso emergencies.

CASE STUDY 2

Hurricane SandyThe devastating impact o Hurricane Sandy on New YorkCity and the northeast U.S. surprised some people, but thepeople at Xylem were not among them. Xylems dedicatedwater proessionals stood ready to fght the surging seawatersand torrential rainall that threatened thousands o homes andcommercial properties in Sandys path.

As early warning systems began to predict Sandys path, MikeDelzingaro, Vice President o Xylems Godwin dewateringbusiness and his entire team sprang into action. They spentthe days leading up to the hurricane gathering hundreds opowerul Godwin brand dewatering pumps rom all across the

country and pre-positioning them in Xylem branch locationsand distribution sites near the hurricanes projected path.

We have a lot o experience with tough storms like this, saidDelzingaro. We think o ourselves as the ourth emergencyservice 24/7 rapid reaction is part o our culture and ourcommitment to our customers.

As this super storm raged across the region on October29 and 30, 2012, causing massive ooding and poweroutages, hundreds o Godwin brand Dri-Prime and hydraulicsubmersible pumps were deployed to customers who neededto move massive amounts o water without any availableelectricity. Distributors o Xylems Flygt brand submersiblepumps prepared to help customers, as well. For us, its notjust about selling or renting pumps, said Andrew Jones, VPo Xylems global dewatering business. We have a missionto help people stay sae and dry and we will install, maintain,service, and provide valued engineering advice to ensure thatwhen the ooding comes, our customers are ready.

Xylems dewatering pumps are made or various applications,including large-scale emergency and on-the-move projects.They are portable, capable o moving lots o water quicklyand can be rented or purchased as required. In addition, theyeature the breakthrough Godwin Dri-Prime capability that

provides automatic sel-priming so operators dont have to fthe pumps with water manually.

From the World Trade Center site in New York City to a refneryin New Jersey, to numerous wastewater treatment plants andother ooded locations throughout the Northeast, customerused the pumps to minimize or eliminate ood damage atheir operations.

One customer, a major wastewater treatment plant, waswamped by the storm surge and out o commission dueto ooding. Xylem provided technical support along withdiesel-driven hydraulic submersible pumps, centriugal pumpand electric submersible pumps driven by generators, todewater the plant that was our eet (1.2 meters) under wateSince completing the dewatering process, Xylem has continuedto supply back-up equipment to ensure that the plant iprotected rom uture storms or oods.

Xylem also moved quickly to ensure that homeowners andsmall businesses had the pumps they needed to recover inthe wake o Hurricane Sandy. Pump distributors throughouthe Northeast were supplied with excess inventory o Bell &

Gossett and Goulds Water Technology branded sump pumpthat could be used once power was restored to remove oodwaters rom basements and other low-lying structures.

Where power wasnt restored or days, customers used ouEvacuator Series o dewatering pumps, which run on DCbatteries and are capable o moving anywhere rom 2000to 8000 gallons o water per hour depending on the modeXylem donated a number o Evacuator units to the aectedcommunities, ocusing on specifc locations where they werebest used.

Xylem launched a website with helpul inormation on how torecover rom a ood at http://www.getwaterout.com.

At Xylem, our goal is to solve water and thats especiallyimportant in emergency situations like this one, sayKen Napolitano, president o Xylems Applied Water Systembusiness. Ater Sandy slammed into the U.S., everyone wita ooded actory or wet basement was looking or solutionsThrough the quick actions o our employees and oudistribution network, plus an industry-leading dewateringproduct portolio, we were able to provide the right type osolutions or thousands o people.

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Hurricane Sandy fooded streets o New York City, N


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CASE STUDY 1

SMART Urban Developmentin Kuala Lumpur

Located at the conuence o the Klang and Gombak rivers,the area around Kuala Lumpur is prone to serious ooding. Asthe city continues to develop, growth has placed additional

pressure on its drainage systems ability to cope with ashoods. Between 2000 and 2003, the city experienced devas-tating oodwater damage.

In 2004, the SMART project was initiated as a solution to controlstormwater. Kuala Lumpur would divert stormwater beoreit entered the city center by constructing a 9.7-kilometerlong tunnel, which could hold up to 1.0 million cubic-meterso water. The water could then be released into the riverdownstream rom the city to prevent ooding. One o themost innovative eatures o the tunnel was that it includeda three-kilometer double-decker motorway. During drierperiods, vehicles could use the SMART tunnel motorway, thusrelieving trafc on the citys main highways.

This US $600-million project included several elements: aholding basin with a oodwater storage capacity o 600,000cubic meters, a reservoir with a capacity o 1.4 million cubicmeters, and the bypass tunnel. It also included a control centeror managing, operating and maintaining the SMART system.

Sensors orm an important part o the SMART system, providinginormation that control center operators need to manage theinnovative tunnel and motorway system. The SMART systemuses 16 o Xylems SonTek brand Argonaut acoustic Dopplercurrent meters, positioned at specifc heights in the water, tooer real-time data on water level and velocity. As river levelsrise, the SMART control center uses water level and velocityinormation owing rom Xylems Argonaut Doppler units toguide decisions.

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To handle large volumes o water in extreme storms, pumpsalso have a huge role to play as in any project involvingoodwater control. In the SMART project, 23 pump stations

were installed, to ensure that all oodwater in the tunnelcould be dewatered within 24 hours. To power these stations,the SMART project reviewed a vast array o pump oeringsrom multiple manuacturers and selected 76 o Xylems Flygtpumps due to their superior perormance and quality.

Flygt has a proven track record, with many successulinstallations in irrigation and ood control applications, saysKoon Sing Low, Director o SMART. That, combined withtheir competent technical support and ater sales service,and our close relationship via requent in-house trainings andseminars, is why we chose them or this project.

The main pumps were installed right next to the tunnel gate,where strong turbulent ow was expected as the oodwaterhit against the tunnel gate, so the strength and efciency othese pumps was crucial. Beore starting the project, Xylemdid several calculations to minimize power requirements.We were told that our client was able to downsize thegenerator setup by 1000 KVA with our assistance, saysWilliam Choong, Transport Business Unit Manager in Malaysiawho was involved in the SMART contract.

The SMART project was successully tested and commissionedin late 2007 and to date has prevented the city o Kuala Lumpurrom urther serious ooding. The project was a novel exampleo a public-private partnership to improve the unctionalityand aordability o resilient urban water systems and was

recognized with considerable media coverage and severalinternational engineering awards. The National GeographicChannel dedicated an episode o its Megastructures seriesto the SMART system.

The key to success was careul planning, design andimplementation, plus selecting the best construction methodand equipment which also come with local expertise support,says SMART Director Koon Sing Low.

Other cities that ace similar ooding issues such as Singaporeand Jakarta have also visited the SMART tunnel to investigatea similar project back home.

Planning or Resilience

The best time to build resilience to a natural disaster is beore it strikes. As cities learn rom pastdisasters, Xylem works with urban planners and community leaders to build both the physical andsocial inrastructure needed to reduce uture risk exposure and create more resilient cities. Physicalinrastructure includes solutions ranging rom backup dewatering stations that can survive poweroutages to stormwater pumping solutions that can reduce the risk o overows. Social inrastructure

includes disaster planning, capacity-building and training that can help communities mobilize in theevent o disasters. Both are critically important elements o an urban resilience strategy.

A diagram o the SMART system

Upper Carriageway

Lower Carriageway

Water Tunnel


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Working Together City leaders around the world have made it clear that theyare stepping up to increase urban resilience and that they need partners in civil society and the private sector to

contribute to the effort. Together we recognize that building resilience is a large and complex challenge that will require

collaboration to share experiences, expertise, and knowledge about how to reduce vulnerability and accelerate recovery.

Xylem is proud to step forward to answer the call. Our work on urban resilience covers the world from Buenos Aires to

Kuala Lumpur to the subway tunnels of New York City. Xylem has more than 12,700 employees, an unparalleled breadth

of leading water-related technologies, a global footprint, more than 100 years in the water business, and a commitment

to solve the worlds most pressing water challenges. We welcome the opportunity to bring our collective experience

and technical expertise to even more cities. For further information, please contact: [email protected].

Since the success o the SMART project, weve receivedmany orders rom other ood mitigation projects acrossMalaysia, concludes Choong. This has confrmed our positionas the market leader in ood mitigation projects.

CASE STUDY 2

Community Educationin Atlantico, Colombia

Ater torrential ooding in December 2010 and January 2011,nearly 90% o the southern area o the Department o Atlnticoin Colombia was submerged by water; in some places, waterreached the rootops. It took three months or the water torecede and or residents to begin slowly trickling back to theirhomes. Now more than a year later, some amilies are stillreluctant to return.

Mercy Corps, one o Xylems partner NGOs, is helping thosewho returned to prepare or uture disasters. One o themethods being employed is a ood simulation. As part o

a water-related disaster risk reduction initiative (DRRI-Water),unded by Xylem Watermark, the companys global corporatecitizenship and social investment program, Mercy Corpstrained and organized a group o community leaders,collectively reerred to as ECOPAD (Equipos Comunitariospara la Prevencin y Atencin de Desastre) to work with thecommunity on emergency response and prevention.

ECOPAD members participated in extensive disaster riskreduction trainings, and then went door to door talking withamilies about how to prepare or emergencies and why itmatters. The group has helped community members developemergency plans and emergency kits, consisting o importantdocuments, such as birth certifcates, diplomas, and identif-

cation, as well as medicine, ashlights, and a change o clothes.The frst community to enact a ull-scale disaster simula-tion was Candelria. ECOPAD worked tirelessly to prepareresidents, many o whom are reugees still living in makeshithousing, as their original homes remain uninhabitable.

Energy was high on a Friday morning in anticipation o theood simulation. When the whistle blew, sounding the call tostart the evacuation, residents gathered their emergency kitand walked calmly rom their homes to the assigned meetingpoint on higher ground across the highway. When everyone hadreached the meeting point and was accounted or, memberso ECOPAD thanked everyone or coming and ater a roundo applause, instructed everyone to return home just as calml

and in the orderly way that they had come.One participant remarked on the way back, This exercise haeducated us and prepared us or an eventual disaster shouldit come. The eeling o preparedness rom the mock exercishelped reassure the community residents that they are nowready or whatever the uture may bring.

Colombia is one o six countries included in the DRRI-Wateprojects being implemented by Mercy Corps with undingrom Xylem Watermark. The program in Colombia is expectedto beneft over 55,000 people. Other DRRI-Water projects arunderway in China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal and Tajikistan

Atlantico, Colombi


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Xylem Inc.

1133 Westchester Avenue

White Plains, NY 10604

United States o America

[email protected]

www.xyleminc.com

2012 Xylem Inc. WUR001 MAY2013

1) The tissue in plants that brings water upward rom the roots;

2) a leading global water technology company.

Were more than 12,700 people unifed in a common purpose: creating innovative

solutions to meet our worlds water needs. Developing new technologies that will

improve the way water is used, conserved, and re-used in the uture is central to our

work. We move, treat, analyze, and return water to the environment, and we help

people use water efciently, in their homes, buildings, actories and arms. In more

than 150 countries, we have strong, long-standing relationships with customers who

know us or our powerul combination o leading product brands and applications

expertise, backed by a legacy o innovation.

Xylem, Lets Solve Water, YSI, EcoNet, WaterLog, Godwin, Dri-Prime, Flygt, SonTek

and Argonaut are registered trademarks o Xylem Inc. or one o its subsidiaries.

For more inormation on how Xylem can help you, go to www.xyleminc.com.

Xylem

Water and Urban Resilience Paper

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