Posted by What are the causes of such monster fires? There’s a lot of finger pointing between the left and the right, with the Trumpster and his buddy in chief, billionaire Elon Musk, blaming California’s chief executive, Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor, and the leaders of the LA Fire Dept. I’ll show some of those clips, but I’m not interested in all that drama. What I am interested in are the weaknesses of the current water management, and how their technology weaknesses are opportunities for entrepreneurs in our community to propose ideas to improve their system, and ours in Texas, to save lives.
The horrific perfect storm of things that led to the catastrophic LA wildfires hit the area all at once, leaving many homeless, life less, jobless, carless and desperate for help. Both Pacific Palisades and Altadena, in two different areas of Los Angeles, both were either completely or almost completely wiped out. The most common problem firefighters and other officials pointed to was the lack of water and water pressure in the fire hydrants. Even homeowners didn’t have water coming to their homes so they can turn their water hoses on the fires themselves until overwhelmed firefighters could make it to their block.
When we hear there is no supply of water to the water hoses and hydrants, we have to start digging deeper and ask: how did this failure of water supply occur? Keep in mind that the keyword “supply” indicates a supply chain, something I’ve talked about in previous videos. Every supply chain has a source, a distribution network, and then an endpoint where the supply is delivered to. The fact that fire hydrants didn’t have any water means there was a major failure in the water supply chain. This, in turn, tells me that this supply chain was not properly monitored with alert notifications. Every step in the supply chain needs maintenance and monitoring to make sure things run smoothly and that failures are caught early before deadly fires breakout.
One of the most important developments is the use of AI and digital twins for predictive maintenance. Now, Digital Twins is a relatively new development in cloud computing that’s kinda nerdy for non tech people. But essentially, imagine, instead of having to physically visit every water reservoir and fire hydrant for maintenance, you can simulate the entire end to end water supply in virtual reality? That’s roughly what digital twins lets you do. I worked on an oil drilling project for a major energy company that used this technology to simulate doing maintenance to an offshore oil drilling platform. That same thing can be done for pumping water from the source to the hydrant.
Every hydrant and every water distributor needs regular maintenance. The water source that supplies water to your home needs maintenance. By creating virtual replicas of physical infrastructure, utilities can forecast potential failures and schedule preemptive maintenance, ensuring a continuous water supply for your needs, and for firefighting.
IoT devices like sensors and smart meters collect real-time data on water usage, quality, and infrastructure performance. This data is then analyzed by AI to detect anomalies and optimize operations. Imagine being able to address a sudden drop in water pressure before it becomes a major issue, or detecting a combination of strong winds and decreasing water pressure levels as well as the number of firefighters available for various areas! Note that when I say “smart meter,” I’m not referring to electric smart meters that some have blamed as being part of the problem. I’m leaving that topic alone on this channel, but I’ll just say anything is possible with this highly unusual catastrophe. Instead, I’m referring to modern meters strictly for water utilization.
Executive dashboards, powered by cloud computing, can visually track the top 10 most critical water supply problems that need immediate attention. These dashboards, with pretty little flashing lights and graphics, provide leaders with a comprehensive view of the water management landscape, from mountains and lakes, to rivers and pipelines into hydrants and your home, helping them make informed decisions and prioritize urgent issues. Imagine if this dashboard had blinking yellow and red lights for Pacific Palisades and Altadena as soon as low water levels were detected and immediately alerted by the IoT devices on the ground and analyzed by the digital twins for the proper emergency response. That’s a lot of tech jargon for giving leaders advanced notice every step of the water supply chain when things go wrong.
During emergencies like wildfires, AI and IoT can prioritize water distribution to critical areas, such as Altadena and Pacific Palisades, and even here in West Texas and yes, Dallas has droughts and fires, too, ensuring reservoirs, tanks and fire hydrants and firefighting efforts receive the necessary support. This targeted approach enhances the overall resilience of the water management system, even when water has to be pumped uphill through the mountains from tanks.
Beyond emergency response, these technologies promote sustainability. AI helps implement practices such as stormwater capture and groundwater recharge, reducing dependence on imported water and improving long-term water reliability.
By embracing AI, IoT, and cloud computing, California, Texas and other states can pave the way for a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable future water management system. Let’s harness the power of technology to ensure a brighter future for all.
And for our young people out there looking for a lucrative career, here’s an area of STEM that will boost your income above the median income, which our community consistently stays in last place. I want you to become tomorrow’s technology leaders. Our people can do it. And let’s help places like LA use modern technology to manage water supplies better.
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