MSD honored with innovation award

Edelman
May 24, 2019

Louisville MSD’s embracing of technology in helping maintain safe, clean waterways was acknowledged April 15 in winning the 2019 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award. MSD received the award in partnership with Canadian engineering services firm Tetra Tech.

The award acknowledges MSD and Tetra Tech in pioneering the first major application of Csoft Real-Time Control (RTC) for system-wide sewer optimization.

During periods of heavy rain, Louisville’s sewer system can exceed capacity. When this happens, rainwater mixes with wastewater and can overflow into the Ohio River and area streams. MSD enlisted engineering services firm Tetra Tech  to implement Csoft as part of its Long-Term Control Plan seeking to reduce these overflows significantly, and the technology is an integral part of MSD’s Integrated Overflow Abatement Plan.

Csoft is an RTC software solution developed by Tetra Tech to efficiently manage sewer networks in real-time based on rain forecasts and sensor readings. It has been successfully implemented in the U.S., Canada and France. MSD’s fully automated Real-Time Control system responds to rainfall and actual system conditions with the software in the ground determining how to maximize MSD systems that manage the excess water.

“Csoft and real-time control has dramatically changed the way we operate our system,” Louisville MSD Chief Engineer Angela Akridge said. “At MSD we are letting science and innovation guide what we do, and the benefits are unmatched. Real-Time Control has saved MSD more than $200 million in infrastructure costs and has helped us provide safe, clean waterways for Louisville.”

The 2019 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award competition recognizes incredible ways that operations research and analytics are improving how people work and live around the world. MSD was one of six finalists for the 2019 honor. Other nominees were Boston Public Schools, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, Spanish National Aviation Authority (EASA) and Vattenfall.

2019 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award competition submittal videos