City of Houston Near Real Time SSO Prediction

Ardurra is delivering a near real-time sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) detection and predictive modeling solution for the City of Houston — one of the largest wastewater collection systems in the nation. The program is built on the city's Advanced Infrastructure Analytics Platform (AIAP), an AWS-based data lake that aggregates hundreds of source databases, including SCADA, more than 350 flow meters, more than 3,000 level meters, GIS, EAM, WMS, and CIPMS data, paired with hydraulic modeling via InfoWorks ICM deployed across 38 service areas.

The solution continuously ingests sensor and operational data to detect anomalies and identify emerging overflow conditions, enabling crews to intervene before untreated wastewater reaches homes, streets, and waterways. Predictive modeling forecasts system response under dry-weather and operational scenarios, supporting regulatory compliance, prioritized capital planning, and reduced environmental impact. By unifying previously fragmented utility data streams into a single analytics environment and coupling them with calibrated hydraulic models, the platform shifts the City of Houston from reactive overflow response to predictive, data-driven collection system management.

The AIAP represents a first-of-its-kind integration for the City of Houston, establishing a scalable analytics foundation that supports ongoing refinement as new data sources and modeling capabilities are incorporated.

Key Highlights:

• Protects public health and the environment by detecting sanitary sewer overflows in near real time, enabling field crews to intervene before untreated wastewater reaches homes, streets, and waterways — shifting Houston from reactive cleanup to proactive prevention.

• Unifies a massive, fragmented data landscape through the AIAP platform, an AWS-based data lake that aggregates hundreds of source systems — including SCADA, 350+ flow meters, 3,000+ level meters, GIS, EAM, WMS, and CIPMS — into a single analytics environment for the first time.

• Pairs live sensor data with predictive hydraulic modeling using InfoWorks ICM across 38 service areas, forecasting system response under wet-weather and operational scenarios rather than simply reporting conditions after the fact.

• Supports regulatory compliance and smarter capital planning by documenting overflow risk system-wide and directing investment toward the highest-impact infrastructure deficiencies.

• Delivers a scalable, replicable framework for data-driven collection system management — applicable across one of the nation's largest wastewater systems and adaptable to other large utilities.

Ardurra's near-real-time SSO prediction platform gives the City of Houston an unprecedented ability to anticipate, detect, and respond to overflow conditions across its massive wastewater collection system. By integrating hundreds of data sources into a unified, AWS-powered analytics environment and coupling that data with calibrated hydraulic models, the program positions Houston to protect public health, reduce regulatory risk, and make more informed infrastructure investments. The project has drawn significant attention from the water industry, having been presented at dozens of high-profile conferences as a model for data-driven utility management.