EMASESA, Seville's municipal water utility, is responsible for managing the entire water cycle in the Spanish city of Seville and in 12 other municipalities in its metropolitan area. This leading Andalusian utility was set up in 1974 by the Seville City Council and currently supplies more than one million people.
The utility manages a 3,924 km supply network and a 3,022 km sewer network, as well as six water reservoirs with a storage capacity of 641Hm3, 37 drinking water pumping stations and 24 wastewater pumping stations, 28 municipal water tanks, six wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and three drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). It also has five stormwater detention tanks and a composting plant, and operates three hydroelectric power plants.
Challenge
EMASESA's aim was to reduce water consumption, increase water and energy efficiency, and enhance customer service in the municipalities it serves. This required improving the monitoring and control of its operations and assets.
In its 2030 Strategic Plan, the utility included the integration, processing and dissemination of large amounts of data from different sources, including those generated by smart meters, as a starting point for digitally transforming its processes. The use of advanced analytics, AI, and machine-learning algorithms was required to improve decision-making at the technical, operational, and production levels. In addition, it was vital to foster more responsible water use amongst the population.
Solution
The Xylem Vue platform was implemented to integrate data from over 100,000 signals from multiple sensors, 200 water sectors, over 400,000 water meters, 75% of which have remote reading capabilities as of mid-2025, and other types of data in a single repository, thanks to its big data capabilities and Smart Water Engine (SWE). Its data intake layer brings together information from different sources, which is subsequently acquired, digested, and stored in the data lake. The Domain Master Data (DMD) standardizes and unifies the data, which is centralized in the IoT layer of the platform for further exploitation. The company also leverages other insights generated by EMASESA, including customer management system (CMS) information and other third-party data.
The project provided EMASESA with a Data Science Framework (DSF) for controlled analysis and integration of information into the system through advanced algorithms, which can be connected to future AI and machine-learning modules. As part of its Operational Intelligence module, Xylem Vue also includes a BI panel and advanced dashboards where data can be visualized and exploited by all business areas to improve processes.
Additionally, the implementation of specific drinking water and wastewater applications gave EMASESA better control over its infrastructure. The drinking water applications deployed were Xylem Vue’s Meter Data Analytics, for AMI/AMR monitoring; Leak Detection, for advanced leak location; Real-Time What-If Scenarios, for developing the network’s digital twin, and Plant Management, for advanced DWTP monitoring and operations. Xylem Vue’s Plant Management application for wastewater was also chosen to develop a digital twin of the Ranilla WWTP. The implementation of Xylem Vue enables the future deployment of additional applications and use cases depending on the utility’s needs.
The project included a customized consultancy and training service for internal and external staff, as well as the development of new functionalities that address different areas of the water cycle, from water collection in reservoirs and distribution to users, to discharges into the environment in optimal conditions.
Outcomes
The Xylem Vue platform has boosted digital transformation in EMASESA, centralizing information from different sources to optimize management, enhance customer service, and make data-driven decisions. Water balances are calculated continuously across the supply network thanks to the implementation of AI algorithms and automated processes. This helps EMASESA to measure network performance improvements, reduce non-revenue water (NRW), and detect fraud.
Moreover, the advanced data insights and anomaly detection capabilities have enabled the utility to reduce operational costs and comply with environmental obligations. The system also supports forecasting and preventing water quality issues, predicting consumption demand, and implementing predictive maintenance strategies, thus contributing directly to increasing water, energy, and economic efficiency.
Xylem Vue has also helped the Spanish utility to adapt to climate change thanks to its simulation and scenario modeling tools, included in its digital twin. The reduction of per capita water consumption is also bringing EMASESA closer to achieving its sustainability goals.