Portugal is rapidly advancing its smart city initiatives, combining digital innovation with sustainability to enhance the quality of life. One of the most important pillars of any smart city is a reliable and safe drinking water supply. As urban populations grow and climate challenges intensify, modernizing water infrastructure has become essential for Portugal’s municipalities.
Today’s smart cities are adopting intelligent monitoring, automation, and advanced treatment technologies to ensure clean, safe, and sustainably managed water for every resident.
Why Drinking Water Supply Needs Modern Upgrades?
The supply of drinking water in Portugal faces both traditional and emerging challenges, including:
- Aging distribution networks
- Seasonal variations in raw water quality
- Increased demand in urban centers
- Rising standards for safety and regulatory compliance
- Climate-driven drought risks
- Need for digital, data-driven operations.
Upgrading the drinking water supply system ensures resilience, reduces losses, and safeguards public health.
Stages of Safe Drinking Water Supply
Smart cities focus not only on producing safe water but also on ensuring every stage is monitored, optimized, and automated.
The essential stages of safe drinking water supply include:
1. Source Protection
Safeguarding rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater from contamination.
2. Intake & Screening
Removing large debris and stabilizing raw water flow.
3. Coagulation & Flocculation
Binding suspended particles for easier removal.
4. Sedimentation & Clarification
Allowing heavier solids to settle.
5. Filtration
Using sand filters, pressure filters, or membranes to remove finer particles.
6. Disinfection
Chlorine, UV, or ozone ensures microbial safety.
7. Storage & Distribution
Maintaining quality while water travels through pipelines to consumers.
Digital smart systems enhance every stage through automation, predictive analytics, and real-time monitoring.
Drinking Water Supply Automation for Smart Cities
A key milestone in modernizing water utilities is drinking water supply automation, which integrates PLCs, SCADA, sensors, and cloud-based platforms into the treatment and distribution network.
Automation enables:
- Real-time water quality monitoring (pH, turbidity, chlorine residual, conductivity)
- Reduced non-revenue water (NRW) through leak detection
- Predictive maintenance for pumps, valves, and filters
- Automated dosing control for consistency and safety
- Energy optimization of pumping stations
- Instant alerts for pressure drops, contamination events, or equipment failure
- Centralized dashboards for utility teams
Portugal’s smart city programs—such as in Lisbon, Porto, Cascais, and Coimbra—are already adopting automation to enhance water security and efficiency.
Sustainable Drinking Water Supply in Portugal
Sustainability is a core priority for modern utilities. A sustainable drinking water supply focuses on:
- Reducing water loss through network optimization
- Enhancing water reuse and recycling where permitted
- Minimizing chemical consumption
- Using renewable energy in treatment plants and pumping stations
- Implementing efficient membrane-based filtration
- Ensuring environmentally compliant discharge
By aligning with EU Green Deal principles, Portugal is strengthening resilience while reducing long-term water and energy costs.
How Advanced Treatment Technologies Support Smart Cities?
To meet the needs of modern urban communities, Portugal increasingly adopts high-performance treatment technologies, including:
- Ultrafiltration (UF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO)
- Advanced oxidation processes
- Automated chlorination systems
- SCADA-enabled distribution networks
- Smart meters for household consumption
- Pressure management systems to reduce NRW
These upgrades ensure consistent water quality despite fluctuations in raw water sources or seasonal challenges.
Ion Exchange’s Expertise in Drinking Water Supply Modernization
Ion Exchange supports municipalities and smart-city developers across Europe and Asia with integrated solutions that strengthen drinking water systems.
Upgradation of Existing Drinking Water Supply Schemes:
- a) Retrofitting of existing drinking water supply schemes to enhance their capacity and efficiency.
- b) Provision of potable drinking water in quality-affected habitations.
Environmental and Social Responsibility: Adherence to the Environmental and Social Assessment Management Plan (ESAMP) to minimize the ecological impact and ensure community welfare throughout the project lifecycle.
Community Engagement and Certification: Empowering Gram Panchayats and Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) to play an active role in water supply management. Once a village achieves full tap water connectivity, it is certified as a ‘Har Ghar Jal’ village, symbolizing the successful fulfilment of the mission’s objectives.
The project is underpinned by a strong emphasis on sustainability. Source sustainability measures such as rainwater harvesting, greywater management, and water conservation practices are being integrated into the project. These measures not only ensure a consistent water supply but also contribute to groundwater recharge, preserving natural water resources for future generations.
By using energy-efficient pumps and exploring renewable energy options like solar power, Ion Exchange aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the water supply infrastructure. The ten-year O&M period ensures long-term reliability and sustainability, providing the rural population with uninterrupted access to safe drinking water.
Ion Exchange’s involvement in JJM is more than an infrastructure project; it is a mission to transform lives. Access to safe drinking water directly reduces the prevalence of water-borne diseases, significantly improving public health, especially among women and children. Women, traditionally burdened with fetching water over long distances, are now empowered to dedicate their time to education, work, and family.
This collaboration with JJM showcases Ion Exchange’s commitment to harnessing technology, innovation, and sustainability to address one of India’s most critical challenges—access to clean drinking water. By empowering rural communities with this essential resource, we are contributing to a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable future for India.
Conclusion
Smart cities in Portugal cannot exist without a robust, intelligent, and sustainable drinking water supply. Upgrading the drinking water supply system with automation, sensors, advanced treatment, and predictive analytics ensures safe water delivery—from source to tap.
By modernizing each step of the stages of safe drinking water supply, cities can reduce losses, improve quality, and protect public health while building a future-ready urban water ecosystem.
Connect with Ion Exchange experts today to explore automation, smart monitoring, and high-efficiency water solutions for Portugal’s next generation of drinking water supply systems.