ARX Smart Networks

About us

The Smart Networks competence centre for network calculation (based in Aarau) offers general planning services for water, gas, district heating, and power supply systems throughout Switzerland. These include general supply planning, renewal/target network planning and documentation for quality assurance and drinking water supply in severe shortage situations.

Our focus areas

Network calculation

Our services are often based on a calculation model. This is used to perform steady-state and transient calculations of current operating modes and as a basis for determining the technical expansion and renewal strategy for the coming decades.

Network measurement

Many assumptions have to be made when creating automated calculation models. In addition to diameters that are sometimes unknown, the k-values (pipe roughness) of the individual pipes in water distribution networks are usually unknown. These can only be determined by comprehensive network measurements. For this purpose, we have a measurement vehicle with extensive measurement technology (60 pressure loggers, meter loggers, pressure destroyers, etc.).

System optimisation

A central task in general projects is the (regional) optimisation of the supply structure.
For water supply systems, by adapting the pressure zone concept, water storage and water sourcing, an infrastructure is designed that is as simple, robust and resilient as possible.
For power supply systems (gas, district heating, and power), integrated approaches are often the most effective, in which the various sectors are coordinated and optimized to meet future requirements.

Regionalization

Water utilities face a wide range of challenges, some of which cannot be resolved at local level—or can only be resolved at a disproportionate cost. Regional planning enables the development of sustainable, cost-effective, and resilient solutions for issues such as peak demand coverage, supply security, PFAS, and more.

Our services

General planning for utility suppliers

The goal of general planning is to define the technical strategy for your water, gas, district heating, or power supply for the coming decades. To do this, the first step is to assess the current state of the supply system (facility assessment, supply diagram, balance sheets, network calculations, etc.).

By specifically optimising the supply structure, the performance of the networks, the security of supply and crisis resilience can be significantly increased. Our planning is carried out digitally throughout: from the automated creation of the computational model based on GIS data to data delivery (QGIS dataset or QField app) and data hosting based on a WebGIS platform. For practical calculations of water networks, we rely on calibrating the computational models through comprehensive network measurements. In the field of energy planning, we follow an integrated approach where gas, district heating, and electricity networks of multi-utility providers are considered and planned in a coordinated manner. For the power network planning component, we work with an external partner.

Our services are tailor-made solutions for your requirements and current problems. We would be pleased to advise you and work with you to define the optimal range of services for municipal or regional planning.