The Main Drivers to Face the Challenges of Increasing the Intelligence of Sanitary Sewage Systems in Brazilian Cities

Abstract

The sewage system is one of the components of the complex ecosystem of cities. Although increasing the intelligence of this system is an essential driver for having smarter cities, there are few works aimed at identifying drivers that enhance the intelligence of urban sanitary sewage systems. The identification of these drivers, as well as the degree of importance of each one, is strongly influenced by the perception of researchers and professionals about the reality of each country. In this work, we identified the main drivers that increase the intelligence of the Brazilian urban sanitary sewage systems based on extensive and detailed bibliographic research and in the vision of 241 Brazilian professionals with experience in the concerned field. We used factor analysis to explore the relationship between the drivers. The survey results showed that the twenty drivers found in the literature can be grouped into six factors, depending on their approach, and that seven were considered priorities. They also showed that the path to be followed to increase the intelligence of sewage systems in Brazilian cities is still influenced by the challenges of solving structural problems.

Keywords

• sewage
• sewer
• wastewater
• sanitary sewage
• smart city
• intelligent city