Consent Form

You are being invited to participate in this research study: the SmartWaterSurvey.

This study is a collaborative work carried out by an international consortium: The Smart Water Networks group at Technische Universität Berlin and Einstein Center Digital Future leads this research effort, in partnership with the Natural Resources Management group at Politecnico di Milano and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Your participation in this research study is entirely voluntary. You may choose not to participate. If you choose to participate, you may opt-out of taking part at any time. Only by clicking the "Submit Survey" button at the end of the survey, you will definately submit your results and take part in this study.

This survey does include some optional demographic questions to contextualize your answers. Please note that your responses are completely anonymous and confidential, with the results only being analyzed in aggregate. We will not collect personal information such as your name or IP address.

We will keep our best to keep your information confidential. All data is stored in a password protected electronic format. The results of this survey will be used for scholarly purposes only.

If you have any questions, please use the contact form on the Home page or contact Prof. Dr. Andrea Cominola. This research project has been reviewed according to TU Berlin procedure for research involving human subjects.

By clicking "I agree" below you are indicating that you are at least 18 years old, have read and understood this consent form and agree to participate in this research study.

If you do not wish to participate please click "I decline" below.

Personal information

Please provide some personal information. We will only use this to validify your contribution to our survey.

What is the name of your company?

What is your position in the company?

How many years of experience do you have in the water industry sector?

For how many years have you worked with your current company?

What is your age?

Finished!

Thank you very much for contributing to our survey.

Please provide an email address below, so we can follow up with updated results.

If you have any comments or want to share with us the details your specific situation regarding digitalisation, please unleash your thoughts in the box below.

Consent Form

Utility company information

Please provide some information about your company.

What is the country of origin of your company's ownership?

In which geographic area do you offer service?

What type of service do you offer to your clients?

(This will determine which parts of the survey you get presented!)

Additional services:

In which areas does your company mainly provide service?

What type of customer does your company mainly provide for?

Since when do you provide service for the stated region?

How many residents do you provide service for?

What length (km or mi) of water pipes does your network consist of?

(Please enter an approximate number, or "0" if you do not know.)

How is your company's ownership structured?

What type of revenue model does your company use?

What was the total investment sum of your company last year?

(Alternatively, please state the year)

Digitalisation and Smart Technology

Network of a modern digital utility

In which areas does your company prioritize the utilization of digital technology?

Water Sources & Drinking Water Treatment

Which Monitoring techniques do you currently employ or plan to employ with regards to Water Sources?

On-site

Remote

Where do you see the potential for digital technologies to solve pressing issues in your company?

Please rank the options by dragging them from the box and dropping them in order on the left.

Leave out elements that you don't see as having potential.

What is the total investment sum for digitalisation projects in the area of Water Sources and Freshwater Treatment?

Water Distribution Network & Operating Systems

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ on your Operating Systems?

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ on your Distribution Network?

How do you adapt your system to varying demand?

Where do you see the potential for digital technologies to solve pressing issues in your company?

Please rank the options by dragging them from the box and dropping them in order on the left.

Leave out elements that you don't see as having potential.

What is the total investment sum for digitalisation projects in the area of Water Distribution Network & Operating Systems?

Wastewater & Stormwater Management

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ on your Sewage Operating Systems?

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ on your Sewage system?

What type of sewage system do you have for Wastewater and Stormwater Management?

Do you adapt your system to extreme weather events?

Do you have sufficient additional storage capacity available to compensate for extreme conditions (e.g. green infrastructure)?

Since you are adapting your system, we would like to ask some further information:

Which technologies do you utilize when adapting to extreme rainfall?

Where do you see the potential for digital technologies to solve pressing issues in your company?

Please rank the options by dragging them from the box and dropping them in order on the left.

Leave out elements that you don't see as having potential.

What is the total investment sum for digitalisation projects in the area of Wastewater & Stormwater Management?

Customer Service & Demand Management

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ for Demand Monitoring and Customer Service?

Since you are operating Smart Meters, we would like to ask some further information:

How many Smart Meters do you have in operation?

In which frequency do the Smart Meters read and send data?

What is the main benefit of Smart Meters?

Which technologies do you currently employ or plan to employ for Demand Forecast and Management?

Since you are using Demand Forecast models, we would like to ask some further information:

How far forward in time do you model?

Which variables do you use in your forecast models?

What is the billing interval?

Which information do you use for billing purposes?

Do you gather additional customer information?

(e.g. demographics)

How often do customers receive feedback on their water consumption?

How do you make information available to the customer?

(Please check all that apply - or none)

Since you are using Apps or Portals, we would like to ask some further information:

Please name the specific app/portal, or state "in-house" in case you have a custom tool?

Where do you see the potential for digital technologies to solve pressing issues in your company?

Please rank the options by dragging them from the box and dropping them in order on the left.

Leave out elements that you don't see as having potential.

What is the total investment sum for digitalisation projects in the area of Customer Service & Demand Management?

IT systems & Data Warehouse

Which technologies do you currently use or plan to use in your IT systems & Data Warehouse?

Where do you see the potential for digital technologies to solve pressing issues in your company?

Please rank the options by dragging them from the box and dropping them in order on the left.

Leave out elements that you don't see as having potential.

What is the total investment sum for digitalisation projects in your IT systems & Data Warehouse?

Personal information

Please provide some personal information. We will only use this to validify your contribution to our survey.