In recent years, the Plzeň Zoological and Botanical Garden has faced significant challenges in water management. The first challenge was ensuring a sufficient water supply for the facility’s demanding operations, where daily consumption often exceeds 100 m³.
To meet this demand, it was necessary to add a new water source—pumping from the Mže River—while simultaneously ensuring full automation and optimization of the system pumping water into storage reservoirs from the river located a kilometer away. The second challenge was reducing municipal water consumption through efficient rainwater management. The zoo reduced its dependence on other water sources by utilizing rainwater collected from the roofs of animal enclosures.
The company nextdrop designed and implemented a comprehensive water management system tailored to the needs of Plzeň Zoo, using the nextdrop control system technology platform.
In the first project, which focused on rainwater management, sensors were installed in the Mediterraneum enclosure to monitor the water level in the retention tank and flow measurement from the municipal water supply.
The tank refill process was fully automated using the nextdrop control unit, which operates based on tank levels and rainfall predictions, ensuring that there is always an adequate volume of water available for irrigation. The system prioritizes the use of rainwater while minimizing municipal water consumption. The entire system is also connected to nextdrop cloud, allowing for online safe operation monitoring. In case of a failure, the system automatically closes the valve and alerts the staff.
In the second project, which focused on pumping water from the Mže River, a custom-designed nextdrop control unit was installed, linking the pumping station at the river with the main water facility in the zoo.
The nextdrop control system provides online monitoring, full automation, and operation optimization according to needs and constraints, such as low river levels. It ensures safe operation, allowing real-time monitoring of all parameters (pressure, flow, tank levels, turbidity in the river, etc.) and automatically evaluates them. Operators can remotely control active components such as valves and pumps if necessary. The system optimizes pump usage and alerts staff to emergency or non-standard conditions.
Optimization of rainwater usage in the Mediterraneum enclosure reduced groundwater consumption by more than 50%.
The system detected two major failures, one involving a water system leak that could have resulted in the loss of nearly 1,500 liters of water daily and another emergency where the predicted loss exceeded 12,000 liters per day. Thanks to online monitoring and the alert system, losses were minimized, and the issue was promptly resolved.
Reduction in operational costs and increased safety due to early failure detection and water quality monitoring.
Automated pumping from the Mže River meets the zoo’s daily water needs, even during peak summer periods. The cloud platform analyzes data and optimizes consumption planning, ensuring the long-term sustainability of water resources.
The nextdrop control system monitors and responds to excessive turbidity, preventing sediment buildup in the water system.
The system also monitors power outages caused by network overloads, providing early warnings to zoo staff to prevent significant operational issues.
The nextdrop technology sets a new standard for sustainable, efficient, and safe water management. The custom solutions developed for Plzeň Zoo demonstrate how digital innovations can enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and protect natural resources. Due to the modular nature of hardware and software, this technology can be expanded by integrating additional sensors or control modules into existing infrastructure, further improving the entire water management system of the zoo and other facilities.
