Topic of the Month

A Digital Twin Water Management Platform
Expanding to Silicon Valley, the Global Hub of Cutting-Edge Industries

The world faces a water management crisis amid recurring droughts and floods, coupled with aging water infrastructure. On top of this, population growth, urbanization, and the expansion of high-tech industries are propelling the surging demand for water. How water is managed efficiently and reliably has emerged as a key factor that determines the competitiveness of businesses, industries, and nations. With its digital twin water management technology, K-water is presenting solutions to global water challenges and driving the competitiveness of Korea’s water industry.

Text by. Editorial Team Photos by. K-water
  • Cooperation on Water Management in Silicon Valley Through Digital Twin Technology
    K-water signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on September 18 with the Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water)—the water management authority of Santa Clara County, California—to establish a “digital twin water management system.” Under this agreement, K-water will build an integrated water resources and water supply platform based on digital twin technology for Valley Water’s key water management facilities, including dams, water treatment plants, and pipelines within the Guadalupe watershed.
    Valley Water is a public institution that supplies water to about 2.2 million people in Santa Clara County, home to the global IT hub, Silicon Valley. It operates 10 dams and is responsible for flood prevention, river management, and more. With increasing water demand projected due to droughts, extreme floods, and the rapid growth of advanced industries such as AI in Silicon Valley, Valley Water has actively pursued the adoption of advanced technologies such as digital twins and AI to achieve rational water allocation. Valley Water has also shown great interest in the digital twin water management platform developed and operated directly by K-water. This agreement was finalized after demonstrations using real cases from past flood seasons, on-site inspections of US facilities, and ongoing discussions on detailed cooperation measures. In particular, the fact that K-water, like Valley Water, is a public institution responsible for water management—and that it currently operates the nationwide real-time digital twin water management platform it has directly developed—served as a competitive advantage over other specialized digital twin companies.
    K-water’s digital twin water management platform “Digital GARAM+” is a next-generation technology that reproduces real water resource environments in a virtual space, linking and analyzing all water management elements within a watershed—such as rainfall, river levels, and dam operations—in real time for prediction and analysis. This enables the real-time monitoring of water-related data and weather information, providing scenario-based analysis results to support optimal water management decisions. Since its pilot introduction in the Seomjingang River basin in 2021, Digital GARAM+ has been expanded to 56 dams and weirs nationwide as of 2024. In fact, during heavy rains concentrated in the Chungcheong and southern regions last July, K-water used the digital twin platform to simulate 48 dam operation scenarios based on rainfall and discharge, analyzed downstream river impacts, and successfully responded to floods by storing all inflow rainfall without releasing water from the dams.
    Map of the Guadalupe River Basin
  • K-water Management Technology Pioneering the Global Market

    K-water’s digital twin water management technology is already attracting global attention, and is expanding cooperation with countries such as Saudi Arabia, Botswana, and Japan.
    Since July 2024, K-water has been working with Team Naver to participate in a digital twin construction project for flood response in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city. Despite its arid desert climate, Jeddah has recently experienced torrential rains exceeding its annual average in a single day due to climate change, causing loss of life and property. In response, the Saudi government has expanded cooperation with K-water to strengthen flood resilience against river overflows and urban inundation. Building on the results of the Jeddah project, K-water is also exploring expansion to other cities such as Mecca and Medina through continued technology exchange and tailored local response systems.
    Meanwhile, last August, K-water signed a memorandum of understanding with Nagai City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan to strengthen disaster response capabilities using digital twin technology and drone-based systems. This project aims to build a more scientific, precise flood response framework by predicting risk areas in advance based on drone footage and comprehensively analyzing real-time field and weather information. As such, K-water’s digital twin water management technology is being recognized—not only in the Middle East and Africa but also in advanced water management countries such as Japan and the United States—as a new solution to complex water challenges such as recurring water disasters and water source shortages, thus expanding its global footprint.

  • Water Management Technology as Korea’s New Growth Engine
    The international water industry research organization Global Water Intelligence (GWI) has identified “water security” as a megatrend that will drive global economic growth after 2030. The global water technology market is forecast to expand from about KRW 5,080 trillion in 2024 to KRW 16,730 trillion in 2034. This demonstrates that water is becoming not just a public good but a strategic resource underpinning national industry, economy, and security, driven by intensifying climate crises, population growth, and structural shifts in industry.
    Global big tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are making aggressive investments in water resources amid these changes, recognizing that water reuse, water circulation, and smart water technologies are a next-generation core infrastructure to support data center operations and strengthen ESG management. Over the next decade, the market based on water technologies is expected to grow rapidly and lead the global water industry.
    K-water, too, is veering away from infrastructure-centered projects such as dams and power plants and venturing into overseas markets by integrating digital water management innovations into its existing projects. In addition to digital twin water management technology, K-water is also pursuing the application of the AI-based autonomous water treatment process technology “AI Water Treatment Plant” in Indonesia’s new capital city Nusantara and in a water supply operation management project in Long An Province, Vietnam. Furthermore, its “Smart Water Network Management (SWNM)” technology—which integrates IoT and AI into the entire water supply process to respond to leaks and water quality anomalies—is being introduced in technical support projects in Pakistan, the Philippines, and other regions.
    K-water will continue to develop and advance innovative water management technologies to address climate change and water challenges, aiming to secure leadership in overseas water markets. By doing so, it seeks to make the water industry a new driver of Korea’s economic growth and lay the foundation for Korea to leap forward as a leading hi-tech industrial nation.