Interactive Visualization of Interdependent Power and Water Infrastructure Operation

With increasing levels of drought across the world together with the rising demand of freshwater and energy consumption, the interdependence between power and water sectors is becoming increasingly important. However, as power and water system operators have traditionally operated their systems in isolation, there is a lack of understanding of the interdependence and interactions between these systems. This paper bridges this information gap by developing 2D and 3D visualization prototypes for interdependent power and water distribution systems. These prototypes aim to display and monitor a variety of water and energy variables, and to increase the observability and controllability for power and water distribution system operations. Visualization results show that the proposed prototypes successfully monitor the energy requirements for meeting the energy and water demands and capture operational decisions that can improve energy efficiency and reduce operating costs of interdependent systems.