ACCIONA and the City Council of Toro, located in the province of Zamora (north-western Spain), have implemented a real-time sensor-based monitoring system for the city’s main urban services, making Toro one of the most advanced smart cities in Europe.
The system consists of 200 low-consumption wireless sensors connected to a network that records -in real time- data from the city’s street lighting, the end-to-end water cycle, garbage collection and municipal vehicles that cover parks, gardens and general urban maintenance.
The sensors collect key data from each of these services, which are then analysed through Big Data technology to take real-time management decisions that affect the following services:
- Street lighting: the sensors determine the need (or not) to light street lamps, as they allow the light intensity to be adjusted to the lux available at any given time (not only to the hour of day or night, but also weather conditions, etc.)
- Garbage and recycling: sensors for the filling of containers and temperature to organise garbage collection routes in a dynamic manner, avoiding one-off accumulations of garbage and odours and unnecessary garbage truck movements. This improves the service to citizens while reducing CO2 emissions and operating costs.
- Urban service (maintenance and municipal works) and gardening vehicles: the sensors monitor the position of these vehicles to reduce response times to a minimum in the event of incidents, as well as optimising routes.
- Water management: the information from water meters is monitored, as well as through the installation of ad hoc sensors. This protects the environment by reducing water losses, and also avoids problems of excessive invoicing due to undetected leaks. Furthermore, water outages are reduced by making it easier to locate faults.
Apart from the sensors, the project - called “SmartWaterLights”- includes the deployment of a low-consumption wireless communication technology that can transmit data over long distances.
This technology has the advantage of reducing battery consumption so that the sensors installed can operate autonomously for a long duration (essential for the viability and scalability of the system). It is an excellent alternative for balancing the power required for the collection and processing of data with the duration of the battery and maintenance needs.
ACCIONA has managed the urban water supply system of Toro since 2001, covering water supplies, the sanitation network and the treatment of water generally through a 25-year concession.
The contract covers the management of subscribers, meter readings, quality control of the water, repairing breakdowns, the construction of new networks and supply points, the maintenance of catchment devices and the wastewater treatment plant, etc.
The water supply infrastructure managed by ACCIONA’s Water Division consists of modern catchment facilities located in Eras de Santa Catalina. ACCIONA has also carried out the replacement of street lighting to improve energy efficiency in this locality.
