Adoption of satellite leak detection in South America is giant leap toward developing smart cities and protecting communities from water loss
San Diego, December 5, 2023 – Today, ASTERRA announced their rapid expansion in Brazil with three new contracts. Together with Nortech, an ASTERRA partner, ASTERRA solutions will be used by water and sanitation utilities in Curitiba, Joinville, and São Paulo.
“ASTERRA is the water and wastewater solution of choice for smart cities. We are thrilled multiple cities and utilities in Brazil are adopting this technology,” said Elly Perets, chief executive officer of ASTERRA. “We are shaping cities of the future by solving the problems of today. ASTERRA accomplishes this by also using artificial intelligence and our own patented algorithms to solve problems that would otherwise lie undetected below the surface of the Earth.”
São Paulo, already in line as a top smart, digitally connected city, is on a path to further its sustainability goals. The new contract with ASTERRA was effectuated with the support of Sabesp, the company responsible for supplying water to over 28 million people and collecting and treating sewage for over 25 million people in the 375 municipalities of São Paulo state. In addition to ASTERRA solutions, São Paulo leaders have implemented new information technologies to improve accessibility, inclusion, health, and safety. These include broadband internet, smart traffic lights, computerized real estate, and electronic health care records and access to appointments.
Curitiba was contracted through Sanepar for water authorities in Brazil. Curitiba has implemented numerous smart, digital, and connected city initiatives, including 4 technological centers and 7 business incubators yielding a growing number of new businesses. Curitiba has also invested significantly in infrastructure, mobility, and in broadband internet access. Joinville also has the support of the Inter-American Developmental Bank (IDB) and was contracted through Companhia de Água de Joinville (CAJ). ASTERRA has already brought a staggering 70x return on investment for water leak detection solutions and positive climate impact in five countries, including Brazil, all enabled by the IDB.
ASTERRA Recover solution enabled by EO Discover platform efficiently locates leaks of potable water and wastewater exfiltration because entire city-wide systems can be monitored and analyzed at one time, allowing ground crews to fix over 3 times more leaks than can be found via traditional methods alone.
“Many of these regions are in urban areas, where water pressure and other problems severely impact daily life. ASTERRA enables urban living to be more inclusive, safe, resilient, and environmentally friendly, which furthers United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 11 for Smart Cities,” Perets added.
About ASTERRA
ASTERRA (formerly Utilis) provides geospatial data-driven platform solutions for water utilities, government agencies, and the greater infrastructure industry in the areas of roads, rails, dams, and mines. ASTERRA services use Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data from satellites and use artificial intelligence (AI) to turn this data into large-scale decision support tools. The company’s proprietary algorithms, and highly educated scientists and engineers are the keys to their mission, to become humanity’s eyes on the Earth. Since 2017, ASTERRA solutions have been used in over 64 countries to over 600 customers, verifying over 100,000 leaks, saving over 368 billion gallons of potable water, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 235,520 metric tons, and saving 920,000 MWH of energy, all in support of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ASTERRA is headquartered in Israel with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. Their innovative data solutions are used in multiple verticals around the globe. For more information on ASTERRA and to learn more about their technology, visit https://asterra.io.
