Living and Prototyping Digital Twins for Urban Water Systems: Towards Multi-Purpose Value Creation Using Models and Sensors

Abstract

In this paper, we review the emerging concept of digital twins (DTs) for urban water systems (UWS) based on the literature, stakeholder interviews and analyzing the current DT implementation process in the utility company VCS Denmark (VCS). Here, DTs for UWS are placed in the context of DTs at the component, unit process/operation or hydraulic structure, treatment plant, system, city, and societal levels. A UWS DT is characterized as a systematic virtual representation of the elements and dynamics of the physical system, organized in a star-structure with a set of features connected by data links that are based on standards for open data. This allows the overall functionality to be broken down into smaller, tangible units (features), enabling microservices that communicate via data links to emerge (the most central feature), facilitated by application programing interfaces (APIs). Coupled to the physical system, simulation models and advanced analytics are among the most important features. We propose distinguishing between living and prototyping DTs, where the term “living” refers to coupling observations from an ever-changing physical twin (which may change with, e.g., urban growth) with a simulation model, through a data link connecting the two. A living DT is thus a near real-time representation of an UWS and can be used for operational and control purposes. A prototyping DT represents a scenario for the system without direct coupling to real-time observations, which can be used for design or planning. By acknowledging that different DTs exist, it is possible to identify the value-creation from DTs achieved by different end-users inside and outside a utility organization. Analyzing the DT workflow in VCS shows that a DT must be multifunctional, updateable, and adjustable to support potential value creation across the utility company. This study helps clarify key DT terminology for UWS and identifies steps to create a DT by building upon digital ecosystems (DEs) and open standards for data.