An alert was triggered by the smart water quality supervision system in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, indicating the detection of unidentified floating objects on the reservoir surface within a township area of the Danjiangkou Reservoir.
The warning, marked in red, was simultaneously transmitted to the Danjiangkou sub-center. Upon receiving the alert, the sub-center promptly issued instructions to the local township authorities, who swiftly organized a cleanup operation. The floating debris was completely removed within half a day.
Known as Asia's largest artificial freshwater lake, the Danjiangkou Reservoir serves as the core water source for the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The safety and quality of its water are paramount to the critical mission of ensuring a continuous, clean northward flow.
In recent years, CHINA UNICOM's Hubei branch has been deeply involved in constructing safeguards for the water quality of the Danjiangkou Reservoir area in Shiyan. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence, the company has established an intelligent, digital water environment supervision system. This system integrates smart monitoring, precise source tracing, and intelligent analysis, injecting robust momentum into the protection of the reservoir's water quality.
Technological Fortifications
Establishing a 'Digital Sentinel' for the Water Source
Ensuring the water quality of the Danjiangkou Reservoir requires a first line of defense built on round-the-clock, comprehensive surveillance. Previously, over 500 video probes installed by departments such as water conservancy, fisheries, public security, and environmental protection in Shiyan relied solely on manual, 24-hour screen monitoring. This approach was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also inefficient and prone to oversight and misjudgment.
To address this, CHINA UNICOM carried out intelligent upgrades on these video probes. By embedding AI algorithm modules, the company built an AI algorithm platform specifically for monitoring the Danjiangkou Reservoir area.
This platform deploys 14 types of algorithms capable of detecting illegal sand mining, unauthorized wastewater discharge, floating objects, and more. It performs real-time intelligent analysis of surveillance data, enabling the automatic identification of abnormal water quality and illicit discharge activities. When anomalies appear in the video feed, the system immediately issues an alert, automatically captures the footage, generates a task ticket, and pushes it to the relevant departments for handling. This creates a closed-loop management process encompassing "intelligent capture, automatic alerting, analysis and judgment, and task assignment for disposal."
To date, this platform has identified and pushed over 800 problem alerts with a warning accuracy rate exceeding 70%, effectively compensating for the limitations of manual supervision.
Source Tracing with a 'Fingerprint'
Making Illegal Discharges Impossible to Hide
Effective water pollution control requires not only timely problem detection but also precise identification of the pollution source. CHINA UNICOM has assisted the Shiyan Danjiangkou Reservoir Water Quality Safety Command Center in establishing a water pollution warning and tracing system based on "water quality fingerprinting."
The system has created exclusive "water quality fingerprint" profiles for 22 key local water-related enterprises. These profiles are based on the unique three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum patterns formed by the specific types and concentrations of pollutants from each source. A database of pollution source water quality fingerprints covering six typical industries has been established and integrated into the warning and tracing supervision platform. This enables refined management with "one file per enterprise, one database per category."
When abnormal pollution is detected in the water body, the system can automatically compare the spectral data of the suspect water sample with the database to quickly pinpoint the source of contamination, achieving a qualitative leap in tracing efficiency.
This process is analogous to law enforcement using fingerprint matching to identify a suspect. According to a relevant official from the Shiyan Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, the water quality fingerprint tracing technology not only enables rapid response and precise location of pollution incidents but also serves as a powerful deterrent, effectively eliminating any notion of covert discharge by enterprises. This technology has fundamentally transformed water environment supervision from a "passive response" model to one of "active warning," and from reliance on "human-intensive tactics" to "intelligent oversight."
Empowered by Large Models
Forging an 'Intelligent Brain' for Water Quality Security
Building upon the AI algorithm monitoring and water quality fingerprint tracing, CHINA UNICOM has helped Shiyan develop a large model for water quality safety assurance, effectively installing an "intelligent brain" for reservoir management. This model integrates multi-dimensional data, including early warnings from reservoir monitoring sections, automatic pollution source monitoring, hydrometeorology, and land use.
It constructs an integrated resource pool following a "data-knowledge-application" framework and deploys four AI agents: the "Monitoring Data Analyst," the "Warning and Forecast Whistleblower," the "Emergency Incident Dispatcher," and the "Ecological Safety Supervisor." These agents enable a series of intelligent functions such as smart data analysis, automatic warning and forecasting, situational analysis and judgment, and closed-loop management of task assignments for identified issues.
Previously, compiling a monthly water quality report for the Danjiangkou Reservoir manually required nearly two days of work by a staff member. Now, leveraging the "Monitoring Data Analyst" agent, a comprehensive monthly report—including reservoir water quality status, section analysis, and risk alerts—can be automatically generated within two minutes, significantly boosting work efficiency.
The large model can also predict trends in reservoir water quality changes, identifying potential risks in advance and providing comprehensive, full-cycle intelligent protection for the reservoir's water security.
From round-the-clock AI algorithm monitoring to precise water quality fingerprint tracing, and further to intelligent analysis via large models, CHINA UNICOM has erected an impregnable "technological defense line" for the water quality safety of the Danjiangkou Reservoir using digital intelligence. Looking ahead, CHINA UNICOM will continue to deepen the integration and application of digital technologies in ecological and environmental protection. The company is committed to leveraging the power of digital intelligence to safeguard the pristine waters of Danjiangkou, contributing further to ensuring the safety of the South-to-North Water Diversion supply and advancing the modernization of ecological environment governance.
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