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BRK Ambiental

BRK Ambiental strengthens predictive maintenance of its dams with AVEVA PI System

BRK Ambiental, a Brazilian environmental services operator, needed to secure 32 dams against failures, overflows and structural instability amid worsening climate change. Manual collection of operating data was time-consuming and ill-suited to a truly preventive strategy. The company developed a proprietary algorithm based on AVEVA PI System to collect and analyze data in near real time, cross-referencing it with historical and climate data. Operators now have predictive analytics that anticipate water availability and structural behavior. This new decision-making capability enabled true predictive maintenance and 30-day water level forecasts. Projected savings reach $20 million over the next ten to fifteen years, while ensuring better resource management and overflow prevention.

Objectives

  • Securing 32 dams against ruptures, overflows and structural instabilities in a context of climate change
  • Replace time-consuming manual data collection with automated acquisition in near real-time
  • Develop a proprietary algorithm based on AVEVA PI System to cross-reference operational, historical and climate data
  • Implement predictive maintenance and a 30-day water level forecast to anticipate the availability of the resource

Solutions

  • AVEVA PI System

Results

  • The projected avoided costs are estimated at US$20 million over the next 10 to 15 years
  • Near real-time monitoring enabled preventative maintenance, allowing operators to make faster, more informed decisions
  • A 30-day water forecast, which helped to better manage water levels, prevent overflows and ensure water availability.

Testimonials

"Before, operators and engineers had to personally go to the dams and write down all the data, and then upload it back into our system. Today, this [data] automatically arrives every hour from the sensors in the dam."
Andre Park
Operational Technology Coordinator, BRK Ambiental

FAQ

How does AVEVA PI System secure the operation of a portfolio of 32 dams?
AVEVA PI System collects all operational data from BRK Ambiental's 32 dams in near real time and cross-references it with historical and climate data. Combined with a proprietary algorithm developed by the operator, it identifies weak signals of potential failures, overflows or structural instability. This continuous industrial supervision replaces time-consuming manual data collection and enables teams to act before an incident occurs, in a context of climate change where the safety of hydraulic structures is becoming critical.
What is predictive analytics applied to water management?
Predictive analytics uses real-time and historical data to anticipate the future behavior of infrastructure and water resources. At BRK Ambiental, AVEVA PI System feeds models capable of forecasting water levels 30 days ahead and anticipating resource availability. This decision-making capability turns corrective maintenance into predictive maintenance, prevents overflows and optimizes trade-offs between production, distribution and dam safety.
What ROI can be expected from a data management project in the water sector?
BRK Ambiental projects $20 million in savings over the next 10 to 15 years thanks to AVEVA PI System. These gains come from avoiding major incidents (ruptures, overflows), predictive maintenance, better planning of interventions and optimized water availability. For an environmental services operator exposed to climate hazards, ROI is measured as much in terms of social responsibility and service continuity as in financial terms.
Why combine operational, historical and climate data on the same platform?
AVEVA PI System aggregates dam sensor data, operating history and external climate parameters into a single repository. This contextualized combination is essential for building reliable predictive models: the same turbidity or flow level does not mean the same thing depending on the season or rainfall. Digital transformation in the water sector relies precisely on this ability to turn scattered data silos into actionable operational intelligence.
How does AVEVA help water operators cope with climate change?
Climate change increases the risk of dam failures, overflows and water stress. AVEVA PI System gives BRK Ambiental real-time visibility across its entire asset base and feeds predictive analyses that anticipate resource availability. This proactive industrial supervision makes it possible to continuously adapt operating strategies, plan interventions preventively and ensure the safety of downstream populations, a major challenge for any modern environmental services operator.