Reservoir Information Platform: Manage reservoirs with mobile phones, reducing flood losses by 801T and 3T

1. Introduction

​

The reservoir information platform is equivalent to equipping the reservoir with a "digital brain", integrating all the scattered modules such as water level monitoring, dam safety, and gate control into one system for management. The matrix platform developed by the Water Resources Department of Liaoning Province relies on over 2,700 sensors to capture data, generating more than 6,000 real-time messages every day and cloning the entire reservoir in a 1:1 scale in the virtual world. The staff can see the real data such as the reading of the piezometer and the opening degree of the gate on the screen. Even the heat map of the sediment accumulation after the heavy rain is updated dynamically. Xiaolangdi is even more ruthless. The system has rehearsed how the flood will flow in the next three days. Before the flood comes, the computer has already calculated 100 ways to die.

​2. Uses​

​Flood control and drought relief are top priorities. Liaoning platform plays the "Four Predictions" trick - before the heavy rain comes, AI calculates the flood discharge volume based on meteorological data. In the actual combat in 2024, the response time is reduced from 3 hours to 10 minutes. While the dispatcher of a reservoir in Shenyang was scrolling through his phone in the toilet, he opened the flood discharge gate, and the relocation plan for 40 villages downstream popped up automatically. ​Even daily inspections have turned into science fiction filmsIn Yihuang County, the dam patrol workers scan the QR code with their mobile phones, and the photos of the cracks are instantly transmitted to the platform. The AI automatically compares the historical data. If a 3-millimeter displacement increase is detected, a repair team is directly dispatched, which is two days faster than the naked eye of the experienced workers.

​Gate control is like playing a game. The system of Xiazhuwu Reservoir in Shandong Province is connected to SCADA. Just swipe your finger twice to adjust the opening degree, and the video surveillance system can monitor the water flow effect in real time. The most amazing feature is the self-rescue in case of power failure - the edge computing node takes over the control within 0.5 seconds, and the flood discharge is still precise even in heavy rain.

​3. Advantages​

​Save lives and money. The Chengdu system covers 235 reservoirs. Water and rainfall data is transmitted to the platform within 30 seconds. When a sudden seepage alarm occurs, maintenance workers directly head to the hazard point based on AR navigation, reducing the number of high-risk dam-climbing operations by 600 person-times annually. ​The cost has been slashed severelyAfter the platform of Shenzhen Beisheng was launched, the operation and maintenance team of the county-level water management office was reduced from 15 to 6 people, saving 700,000 yuan in labor costs annually.

​Predicting risks is like fortune-telling. The dam break rehearsal function in Liaoning Province simulated a plan of "opening the sluice at a depth of 0.75 meters for 32 hours" during the flood peak in 2024. The error of the submerged water depth in the downstream Jinjiagou was only 3 centimeters, and 40 people were evacuated without any casualties. The system of Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute is even more amazing - after learning three years of data, it can issue early warnings for earth-rock dam pipe surges 72 hours in advance, which is ten times more accurate than traditional manual inspections.

​4. Application​

​Joint control of cascade reservoirs. Xiaolangdi and Sanmenxia are playing a relay race. During the flood peak in 2024, the upper reaches will be used for peak shaving and water storage, while the middle reaches will be used for staggered flood discharge. The entire process will be simulated by dragging the progress bar on the digital twin platform, generating an additional 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

​A miraculous operation for water conservation in agriculture. In Xingan County, Jiangxi Province, 98 reservoirs are managed by a platform. The water demand data of the irrigation area is analyzed in real time, and the canal is opened in whichever field is short of water. During the severe drought in 2024, precise water distribution saved 400,000 mu of wheat fields 4 million tons of water.

​The terminator of illegal sand and gravel mining. Anqiu City installed positioning chips on sand dredgers. The electronic fence in the no-mining area would trigger an alarm upon touch. As a result, the number of illegal mining incidents dropped to zero in 2023.

​​5. Product advantages​​

​Three-dimensional maps open the sky eye. When the GIS system of the Liaoning platform is opened, the status of all reservoirs in the province is marked with red, yellow and green lights - if the red light flashes, it means that the seepage pressure of the Qingyunhe Reservoir exceeds the threshold. When clicked, it directly shows "Measured value 16 meters, exceeding the threshold by 2 meters", and the maintenance plan pops up automatically.

​Mobile devices outperform traditional ones. The APP developed in Chengdu enables the person in charge to check the reservoir archives at any time. On rainy days, dispatching instructions can be issued from the ridges of the fields. On the way to school, a certain administrator received a warning and casually opened the spillway gate.

​AI on duty never sleeps. In Yihuang County, drones conduct automatic dam patrols. AI can identify floating objects on the water surface eight times faster than human eyes. Last August, an illegal fishing gang was caught. It only took 17 minutes from reporting the case to the arrival of law enforcement officers.

​​6. Typical applications​​

​Flood Control Practice in LiaoningDuring the "July 20th to August 20th" flood season in 2024, the platform will conduct 12 flood rehearsals and issue dispatch instructions within seconds. A certain reservoir in Chaoyang District released floodwaters ahead of schedule according to an AI plan, reducing the submerged area downstream by 130 square kilometers and saving 37 million yuan in losses.

​Jiangxi's disease database has staged a remarkable comebackIn Xingan County, 98 old reservoirs are equipped with piezometers and displacement meters. By 2024, 42 dam body cracks will be identified. After the renovation of Huangnibu Reservoir, the maintenance cost dropped by 601 tons and the irrigation efficiency increased by 251 tons.

​Shandong responds within secondsIn 2023, during typhoon days, the system of Anqiu Xiazhuwu Reservoir automatically initiated the gate joint adjustment. It only took 8 minutes from the water level exceeding the warning to the full opening of all 5 gates, which was 3 hours faster than manual operation.

​Nuclear power plant grade securityMillimeter-wave radar was used to scan the dam body of the reservoir supporting the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, and 0.02-millimeter cracks were nowhere to hide. Each year, 30 million yuan of manual flaw detection costs are saved, and the number of shutdowns for maintenance is reduced to zero.

​Policy dividendThe Ministry of Water Resources requires the completion of a 47,000 reservoir air-ground monitoring network by 2025, and a market worth hundreds of billions of yuan is about to explode

​​Technical egg​The new generation of AR inspection glasses has been launched. Workers can view the dam body as if it were X-ray vision, and the seepage path is displayed in real time superimposed

​Boss's account bookA system with an investment of 2 million yuan can save tens of millions of yuan in losses during floods and 600,000 yuan in annual operation and maintenance costs, with a payback period of less than 2 years