avk-esg-2024-25 - Flipbook - Page 29
CASE
HYDROPASS – LESSONS FROM SOUTHERN
SARDINIA
AC.MO, located in Italy and a member of the
AVK Group, provides innovative products and
smart solutions designed to enhance irrigation
planning and water resource management.
Among these solutions is the Hydropass system,
an advanced irrigation monitoring and control
system that enables water utilities and farmers to
manage and optimise water usage for irrigating
fields and crops. With over 100,000 Hydropass
systems installed, we have a strong foundation for
collecting data and monitoring efficiency across
large-scale irrigation networks. The autonomous
and compact system supports a more sustainable,
efficient, and water-conserving network.
Management and communication
Hydropass is a system supplied as a stand-alone
configuration or with a communication interface
for real-time data collection. The system is
managed by an Hydrokey card (battery-powered)
and/or by the Hydropass App.
The data is collected by the management
software, HYDROSOFT, which controls the
whole system and allows the user to manage the
entire irrigation grid. It allows for the creation of
irrigation sectors, allocation of water resources
based on soil and crop needs, and planning and
scheduling of water distribution over both shortand long-term periods. Likewise, it is possible to
enter the geographical location of hydrants for a
georeferenced representation. The system also
enables real-time monitoring of delivery groups
and metres with remote reading capabilities via
LoRaWAN™ Gateway.
Through the EPD, it is possible to quantify the
product’s carbon footprint, calculated over its
entire life cycle in accordance with international
standards.
Hydropass system and water authority
Following the installation of more than 5,000
Hydropass units, the Consorzio di Bonifica della
Sardegna Meridionale (Southern Sardinia Water
Authority) created an agronomic report outlining
the significant benefits achieved through the
adoption of this advanced system. According to
the report, Agronomic Report on Water Savings,
the introduction of the electronic metres has led
to an average saving of around 20%, reaching up
to 40% in certain cases on water for irrigation.
Based on further analyses and field experience
gathered in recent years, the reduction in water
consumption is now estimated at
approximately 30%.
The results obtained by several water authorities,
including the Consorzio di Bonifica della Sardegna
Meridionale, were achieved thanks to initiatives
promoted by the Italian Government to improve
the efficiency of the national irrigation network
and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
These measures were made possible through
European and National funding programmes,
such as the FSC – Fondo di Sviluppo e Coesione
(Development and Cohesion Funds) and the
PNRR – Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza
(National Recovery and Resilience Plan). Several
water authorities throughout Italy have been
supported by these funds. As a result, an
increasing number of water authorities now
prioritise the renovation and modernisation of
irrigation infrastructures. Over the past five
years, this effort has led to the installation of
approximately 50,000 Hydropass systems across
the Italian territory, mainly in Calabria, Basilicata,
Umbria, Abruzzo, Lazio, Sardinia and Sicily.
At the same time, several international markets
have become more aware of water conservation
issues regarding irrigation. In recent years, the
growing impact of climate change has made
irrigation a central element in many infrastructure
investment policies, encouraging the adoption of
efficient and sustainable irrigation systems. The
main ones, among others, are Serbia, Greece,
India, and Jordan.
Considering that agriculture accounts for 70%
of global freshwater use, adopting technologies
that reduce water consumption in irrigation is
essential for achieving tangible environmental and
economic benefits, while improving the efficiency
and sustainability of water resource management.
The system can be integrated with national
databases containing weather and soil data
to forecast the most advantageous irrigation
scheduling.
The Hydropass system can be interfaced with
Irrisat©, a solution provided by ARIESPACE, to
monitor and manage irrigation requirements.
It enables satellite-based monitoring to verify
the proper growth and ripening of crops. This
integration provides useful support for optimising
agricultural production, maintaining the same
productive areas, while improving the efficiency of
water resource use.
Keeping track of the product life cycle
Hydropass has an Environmental Product
Declaration (EPD). An EPD certification is a
declaration that describes the environmental
impacts linked to the production and life cycle
of products and services, such as energy
consumption of raw materials, waste production,
emissions into the atmosphere, etc., in agreement
with the International Standard ISO 14025.
AVK Group Sustainability report 2024/2025 | 29
