Only Water District in the World Recognized for Best Practices in Technology Innovation
Moulton Niguel Water District has earned top honors from Amazon for best practices in cloud innovation, becoming the only water district in the world recognized at Amazon’s annual global innovation competition.
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing branch of Amazon with more than one million enterprise customers in 190 countries, recognized the Orange County-based water agency for the way it manages data to provide its customers real-time water use information, in an effort to save them money.
“Just as Amazon strives to be the most customer-centric electronic commerce company in the world, Moulton Niguel is committed to advancing innovation as a customer-centric water agency,” said Moulton Niguel Board Member Duane Cave, who represented Moulton Niguel Water District at the 2018 global competition in June. “We’re honored to be recognized by Amazon for developing the best application of state-of-the-art technology and empowering our customers to manage their water use.”
Moulton Niguel earned praises from the e-commerce giant after the District upgraded its online infrastructure to provide customers with real-time water consumption data and visualization tools. That technological upgrade is helping the District and its customers detect leaks, conserve water and save money.
Data Increases Efficiencies, Lowers Customers’ Bills
An indoor leak can go undetected for days or even months, while excessive outdoor watering might go unnoticed for even longer. To address this challenge, Moulton Niguel launched a proactive, water-monitoring tool to provide customers with hourly water consumption data, which are stored, managed and analyzed with the help of Amazon web tools.
“A big challenge in identifying leaks is the lack of data,” said Moulton Niguel General Manager Joone Lopez. “Real-time water data provides early leak detection opportunities for our customers – with the potential for large water savings. Giving customers on-demand access to tools and information at their fingertips translates into more efficient water management.”
Under a pilot program that was partially funded by a grant received from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, customers now have access to the District’s advanced metering infrastructure program. Every customer has access to an analytics platform, which provides user-friendly dashboards and apps to track water individual water use.
Moulton Niguel: Leader in Water Innovation
Moulton Niguel has established itself as a leader in water technology innovation. In April, the District’s Board of Directors was recognized nationally by the WaterNow Alliance with its Impact Award for accelerating innovative and sustainable water solutions.
Last year, the District was also honored locally with the Association of California Cities – Orange County’s “Golden Hub of Innovation Award” for using water data tools to save customers nearly $20 million in water infrastructure investments.
“We look forward to continued innovation and developing cost-effective programs that help our customers achieve water use efficiency,” added Cave.
The District accepted the recent Amazon Web Services honor during its 2018 Public Sector Summit, which brought together leaders in government, education, and nonprofit organizations from all over the world.
Moulton Niguel Water District provides high-quality drinking water, recycled water and wastewater treatment services to customers in Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point. A leader in environmental protection, Moulton Niguel maintains the lowest average bill in South Orange County.