The water industry is undergoing a state of rapid change as it faces a $1 trillion global risk of damaging flooding and water shortages that could impact 5 billion people by 2050. It's estimated that 60% of global water utilities will be forced to undergo digital transformation of their infrastructure to adapt to growing risks and meet sustainability demands. Join the Autodesk water team as we explore how digital transformation is reshaping the way the world manages water and water infrastructure. Through the lens of Autodesk's desktop hydraulic modeling products—InfoWorks ICM, InfoDrainage, InfoWater Pro, and InfoWorks WS Pro—we'll explore practical examples of how rapidly advancing digital technology is helping transform the workflows of industry stakeholders, including utilities, consultants, engineers, water modelers, and others.

Hydraulic transients, commonly known as water hammer, pose a serious threat to water distribution systems, as they can often cause catastrophic pipe bursts. Simulating hydraulic transients remains a challenge due to the nonlinear governing equations, limited field data, and a host of operating conditions and requirements. We designed this session based on the adage that "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.” The purpose is to emphasize the importance of the topic, introduce the fundamentals of water hammer simulation, and caution against common pitfalls that could lead to catastrophic failures of pipes and appurtenances in hydraulic systems. In the session, you will explore case studies that show how InfoWater Pro is used to protect piping infrastructure from potential harm by transients. You will also acquire a solid understanding of InfoWater Pro software's Surge functionality, which will help you analyze and mitigate transients within your own systems.

Every water distribution, storm sewer, and sanitary sewer system throughout the world is unique, but many of them are running into the same problems. Water quality, public safety, and fiscal responsibility are at the forefront of every utility manager's mind. Traditionally, models have been updated and calibrated during master planning projects that might happen every 3–10 years depending on the utility. Sadly, during these long stretches between calibration, the model results start to deviate from reality, and trust in the model falls significantly in the eyes of the organization. If this sounds like your utility, we want to talk with you about the difference a live model can make in your workflows. By sharing examples of customer live-modeling use cases all over the world, we hope to inspire utilities and their consultants to recognize changes they can make today to get closer to a realistic digital twin of their water system.

In this cross-industry collaboration between Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) and the Autodesk Technology Centre in Birmingham, England, we're solving the challenges NWG has maintaining water infrastructure. By employing advanced manufacturing techniques—such as laser scanning, reverse engineering, and hybrid manufacturing—NWG can work with its supply chain to repair broken parts and extend the operating lives of the assets they maintain. NWG is responsible for many assets that were manufactured decades ago, and the original design data is no longer available, causing excessively long lead times for replacement parts. As a result, the downtime for key national infrastructure water systems is prolonged and costly. We will show how this important collaboration between the water and manufacturing industries will reduce the downtime and extend product life, improving NWG's resilience, and ultimately saving money for customers.

Many architectural designs incorporate a water feature as a prominent visual component of the structure. This class will explain how to implement 3ds Max Fluids software for the creation of these features. This class will take you through the process of creating animated water fountains and tranquil waterfalls that can be found in a variety of landscapes. You will learn how to simulate water flow using 3ds Max Fluids and the Motion Field space warp, and apply a custom material to render a realistic water. This class will step through the process of building a fluid flow from beginning to end using the capabilities built into the 3ds Max Liquid fluid dynamics system.

Water is essential infrastructure—and designing, modeling, and managing it requires purpose-built tools. In this session, Autodesk product and strategy leaders will share what’s new and what’s next for our water-focused solutions, with a spotlight on how we’re supporting civil engineers and utilities in planning and maintaining water systems. From early-stage design to lifecycle management, get an inside look at how our roadmap is evolving to improve performance, collaboration, and resilience in water infrastructure projects. You'll also see early demos of in-development capabilities and have the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the team.

During this session, you’ll learn about the various ways that extreme heat impacts water utilities, from decreased water supply and infrastructure challenges to worker safety concerns and increased costs of service delivery. We’ll explore the potential scale of these impacts and the varying ways that different locations are likely to be impacted. The presenters will then share several strategies for mitigating the impact of extreme heat, including optimized system modeling, predictive analytics, policy updates, and stakeholder outreach. By planning today for a future that is likely to be hotter than the past, we can create more-resilient communities that are ready to take on the heat.

Curious about the road ahead for Autodesk's product and service offerings for designing and maintaining water systems? Join Autodesk product and strategy managers to learn about new features and functionality supporting the capabilities and workflows you need to design and manage water systems and resources more effectively. Learn about the strategic insights and decisions driving development directions, and see early demonstrations of features and workflows yet to be released. Peer into the future of the products you use every day, and engage with Autodesk to help shape those products to better meet your needs and the needs of your company, project teams, and clients.

Many architectural designs incorporate a water feature as a prominent visual component of the structure. This class explains how to implement 3ds Max Fluids for the creation of these features. This class will take you through the process of creating animated water fountains and tranquil waterfalls that can be found in a variety of landscapes. You’ll learn how to simulate water flow using 3ds Max Fluids and the Motion Field Space Warp. Apply a custom material to render realistic water. This class will step through the process of building a fluid flow from beginning to end using the capabilities built into the 3ds Max liquid fluid dynamics system.

In this class, we discuss the process of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for water, wastewater, and headworks projects. The class covers established best practices, methodologies, process matrices, risk, and water or wastewater project management as required in a BIM deliverable. We cover the overall process of adopting BIM, including mitigating risk, management, preparation, and execution.

This presentation will demonstrate Autodesk's water solutions portfolio and how you can (1) achieve project Envision verification with strong backup documentation, (2) position your company as a leader in the sustainability infrastructure space, and (3) increase your chances of winning more work. According to Autodesk's 2023 State of Design and Make Report, 82% of companies are getting pressure from their customers to meet sustainability goals. Moreover, 80% agree that improving sustainability practices is a critical long-term strategy to drive company revenue. The value of Envision-verified projects supports the above trends. In 2013, the cumulative value was $0.13 billion which increased in 2022 to $118 billion. Up to 23% of the achievable points in an Envision verification are water-related. So, how can projects capitalize on this? Find answers in this presentation by exploring the breadth of Autodesk's water solutions.

Data is the foundation of any digital transformation, without which water utilities are unable to make informed decisions or optimize processes. Overcoming data hurdles in digital transformation is crucial for water utilities looking to merge IT and OT—with the greater aim to scale data's essential use across a given organization. With Anglian Water Services, the Autodesk team implemented operational smart technologies by clearly defining roles and responsibilities for data management, setting up data quality checks for water quality and distribution data, and implementing data security measures to ensure the integrity and protection of sensitive information. With data moving to the forefront of its operations, Anglian Water maximized advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to save £150,000 a year at certain treatment plants. Teams were able to make sense of large and complex data sets, uncover hidden insights, and automate decision-making processes.

This presentation will dive into a groundbreaking case study of BRK Ambiental, Brazil's second-largest water utility, which implemented advanced automation techniques in the design of water and wastewater treatment facilities. We will explore how the use of generative design software not only streamlined the utility's infrastructure design processes, but also significantly reduced project timelines and costs, while enhancing compliance with stringent environmental regulations. Attendees will learn about the specific challenges BRK Ambiental faced, including the need for rapid design of wastewater infrastructure to meet increasing demand and compliance pressures. The session will highlight how automated design tools facilitated innovative solutions and accelerated project delivery, setting a new standard for efficiency in the water utility sector.

Operational digital twins link real-time Internet of Things (IoT) data with digital representations of real-world processes to model what’s happening and to optimize what’s going to happen next. In 2021, Autodesk acquired Innovyze’s industry-leading water-modeling solutions, along with the Info360 SaaS platform, delivering an operational digital twin for water catchment, treatment, and distribution. Info360 joins water-simulation models used by most utilities worldwide with cloud technology, IoT monitoring, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and physics-based modeling techniques to create a dynamic digital twin for the entire water-processing cycle. In this session, we’ll demonstrate Info360. We’ll review trends in operational digital twins and how simulation models can move to the cloud to enable real-time simulation. We’ll review machine learning and AI modeling approaches that are being used to optimize in real time. And we’ll assess the challenges involved in deploying these systems, and what you should do to prepare.

Water distribution models are used throughout the world to provide customers access to clean, reliable drinking water, as well as sufficient pressure for fire suppression in emergencies. These models are only as valuable as they are accurate. The old process of updating the model every five years for a master plan is outdated and inefficient. The infrequent updating is a byproduct of the many sources of data needed to update your model. Using built-in tools for InfoWater Pro and incorporating telemetry data from Info360 Insight, we will walk through some of the many workflows that are involved in updating models and we’ll explore how much faster they can be accomplished with the right tools. Additionally, we will discuss the important analysis being done with water distribution models and how outdated models can be costly in social, environmental, and financial ways.

There is a global need to improve how we design and manage our water resources and facilities. The industry is learning new ways to meet their digital delivery goals by leveraging Autodesk tools to be the foundation for these types of projects. In this session, we will discuss project types (including dams, wastewater and water treatment and distribution facilities) and how to create a higher quality set of deliverables to create a true smart water network. We will also review how owners and clients can benefit for their projects and began to initiate new processes and workflows to take advantage of the content. Learn how to take your projects to new next level and improve outcomes with Revit and other Autodesk tools to meet your digital twin objectives.

Australia, one of the driest continents, faces critical water challenges. The country now looks beyond its dams to desalination plants and recycled water treatment to address this. However, constructing desalination plants traditionally consumes high energy and impacts the environment. This session focuses on how John Holland, an Australian contractor, successfully streamlined its major water infrastructure projects valued at $2.5 billion by implementing a common data environment hosted on Autodesk Construction Cloud. The firm replaced traditional tasks performed using desktop products—such as clash detection, information management, and design reviews—resulting in significant cost and time savings and improved efficiency across the project lifecycle, benefiting all stakeholders. We will share how we drive sustainability results by using building information modeling (BIM) to optimize recycled materials and reduce carbon footprint, ensuring the potential for environmentally friendly practices within the water infrastructure sector.

Many architectural structures incorporate a water feature as a prominent visual component of the structure. This class will explain how to implement the Particle Flow system in 3ds Max software for architectural use. We will take you through the creation of water fountains, waterfalls, and other water features that architects like to use. We will cover the creation of Particle Flow networks to simulate water flow, and we'll discuss the use of space warps to affect the motion of the particles. We will also examine the Point Cache and particle rendering.

Thames Water and Stantec in the United Kingdom have developed an innovative methodology to build a long-term investment plan for London’s clean-water network, serving 8 million customers. This work defines how the future London water network should look like using hydraulic modeling and an optimization framework to identify the best value investment options. It handled extensive data from various sources. A strategic network model (InfoWorks WS Pro software) was prepared, incorporating current and future (25 years) supply-and-demand scenarios to identify needs. Optimatics Optimizer tested numerous solution combinations, calculating cost and hydraulic performance to develop the best value plan. This optimization process required the combined effort of Optimizer processing power, hydraulic modeler input, and stakeholder engagement to select and refine investment plans of interest. The session will provide an overview of the approach we took, and present the results and lessons from the above project.