Lab's Digital Twin Slashes Water Plant Bills

ORNL's real-time digital twin controls a California water plant, cutting costs by adjusting operations hourly to live electricity prices

14 May 2026

A federal lab has built something most water utilities have only talked about: a digital twin that doesn't just simulate a treatment plant but actually runs one. Oak Ridge National Laboratory's system is live at a pilot facility in California, adjusting operations every hour in response to real-time electricity prices. Straightforward in concept but elusive in practice, the goal is simple: spend less energy without compromising water quality or equipment health.

Developed with the University of California Irvine and hosted by Orange County Water District, the project ditches the conventional digital twin playbook. Traditional models rely on massive physics-based simulations and years of historical data. ORNL's version works from a compact set of flow observations and operational variables, predicting power demand and optimizing costs with far less computational overhead. That lean architecture means faster deployment and flexibility across system types, from potable reuse facilities to desalination plants.

"This project pairs a digital twin with a physical system, so they provide constant feedback to each other while operating," said Subrata Mukherjee, ORNL's project lead. That constant loop is what separates this from the static dashboards and after-the-fact analytics most utilities rely on today.

Implications stretch well beyond one pilot site. Roughly 50,000 community water systems operate across the United States, and most lack the specialist teams or enterprise budgets needed to adopt cutting-edge controls. A lightweight, adaptable model could bring real-time optimization within reach of mid-size and smaller utilities for the first time, closing a gap that has kept much of the sector stuck in reactive mode.

Funding from DOE's National Alliance for Water Innovation and California state water agencies reflects growing alignment between federal research and frontline utility needs. Energy costs can consume up to 40% of a utility's operating budget, making price-responsive automation one of the most direct levers available. As electricity markets grow more volatile and infrastructure pressures mount, ORNL's approach offers something the sector badly needs: adaptive control that's practical, scalable, and already proven in the field.