95935 - SMART AND SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT

Learning outcomes

A successful learner from this course will gain (a) theoretical understanding of and (b) practical experience on key factors and main hydrological design variables of water management in anthropogenic landscapes, in the light of sustainable development and climate resilience. In particular, the course will address three main subjects: (1) smart water systems management, including energy recovery; (2) distributed hydropower generation; (3) sustainable urban drainage and urban flood-proofing.

Course contents

The course is structured into two modules that are taught in series; the first module has a stronger hydrological focus, while the second privileges technological solutions. The course focuses on the water cycle in human-impacted systems, as well as on its opportunities (resources, e.g., water allocation, distributed hydropower generation) and threats (hazards, e.g., urban flooding) by addressing the following subjects:

• Basics of hydrology and surface water management: measurement of main hydrological variables, hydrological balance and runoff production, assessment of surface water availability (flow-duration curves) and environmental flows (Module 1)
• Sustainable stormwater management:  basic principles and examples of devices for sustainable urban drainage, rainwater harvesting systems (Module 1)
  
• Distributed hydropower production and energy recovery: plants layout, selection criteria for hydraulic turbines, hydroelectric production assessment, monitoring and control systems (Module 2)
• Smart water-demand monitoring in drinking-water supply and irrigation systems: available technologies, data analysis, engineering applications on demand-side water management (Module 2)

Practical activities (on students' laptops and devices) and real-world examples from the city of Bologna will enable students to deepen their understanding of theoretical concepts.

All classes will be taught in English. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the English language to attend the course successfully and to be able to use the teaching material.

Readings/Bibliography

Teaching materials, papers, textbooks' chapters and sections from engineering manuals on the course topics will be provided via the official repository of the course on Virtuale.

Suggested textbooks for further information:

• Brutsaert, Hydrology An introduction, Cambridge University Press
• Bignami, Rosso, Sanfilippo, Flood Proofing in Urban Areas, Springer
• Scozzari, Mounce, Han, Soldovieri, Solomatine (Editors), ICT for Smart Water Systems: Measurements and Data Science, Springer
• Gulliver, Arndt, Hydropower engineering handbook, McGraw-Hill

Teaching methods

The course consists of frontal lectures and practical activities (which will be developed under the Professors' supervision on students' laptops and devices); these latter are designed to apply theoretical concepts addressed during frontal lectures, and to prepare students to address the engineering problems presented during the course.

Assessment methods

The learning assessment aims at verifying the achievement of learning objectives, i.e. to gain a theoretical understanding and practical experience on design variables, methods, and technologies for sustainable water management in anthropogenic landscapes.

The final exam, which may include a preliminary written test, mostly consists of an oral assessment focusing on:

• theoretical topics covered during classes, and
• a discussion on the report illustrating the practical exercises developed during the course.

This assessment consists of questions on the theoretical topics addressed during the course and includes a discussion concerning the report prepared by the candidate to present the practical activities carried out during the course; this discussion, stimulated by the teacher, is aimed at verifying in-depth the theoretical-practical level of the candidate's preparation on the different topics addressed during the exercises that were proposed during the course.

Candidates who demonstrate knowledge and mastery of the fundamental concepts illustrated in the teaching will pass the exam, and a higher score will be given to those who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of all the contents provided in class, both from a theoretical and a practical viewpoint, and who will be able to illustrate these contents accurately and with correct technical language.
(Exam dates are posted and accessible on Almaesami).

Teaching tools

The theory illustrated during classes is supported by supervised practical activities on spreadsheets, or specific software. All practical activities will resort to licensed software that is accessible to UniBO Students (e.g. Microsoft Excel), or cross-platform Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) that can be installed on all major operating systems.

Handouts on the topics covered in the course, exercises and their draft solutions are accessible for registered students and during the classes on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Attilio Castellarin

See the website of Cristiana Bragalli