There are plenty of reasons to be paranoid about the government’s use of big data and how authorities could one day use it to control every aspect of our lives. This is the ultimate fear of many (usually the same people who believe in Armageddon and conspiracy theories), but in general, most of the stories we hear on this subject are little more than media hype.

But it’s a shame because these panic-inducing tales often detract from the many real and intelligent ways in which our governments are putting big data to use. Today, we’re going to highlight the ways in which big data is being used to help manage our cities’ infrastructure flow more efficiently, saving government’s millions of dollars in the process.

Sewage

It’s still a smelly job, but managing sewage networks has now become a whole lot easier thanks to big data, or at least it has in the city of South Bend, Indiana. For years, the city battled with an outdated wastewater system that meant that sewage backing up into homes and basements in the old part of town was a common occurrence. But not anymore, thanks to an ingenious solution that saw authorities place a total of 116 sensors in its underground pipes, and link these up to IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center program.

See the entire Big Brother’s Big Data Series on Pinterest and Springpad!

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South Bend still has an outdated sewer system, but thanks to the data it receives from its sensory network, the city is now able to manage problems to do with overflow in real time, diverting the flow of wastewater in an intelligent way to minimize problems. The system isn’t perfect, but it’s almost there – the number of overflows reported has dropped from an average of 27 each year to just one, and in the process the system has saved local authorities a cool $114 million that would otherwise be needed to update its sewers.

It’s not just crocs you’ll find in the sewers these days…

Water

Staying with the wet stuff, big data is also helping to solve water shortage problems. Not everyone is concerned with water, but they should be. According to the UN, water shortages will affect the majority of the world’s population in the next twenty years if no action is taken, and so it’s vital that utility companies make sure every last drop counts.

Which is why an Israeli start-up named TaKaDu has made a big splash recently, offering a software-as-a-service tool to utility companies around the world that helps them to manage their water supplies more efficiently.

TaKaDu, whose clients include Thames Water in the UK, Yarra Valley Water in Australia, and Aguas Antofagasta in Chile, crunches together an ocean of watery data that comes from these company’s water networks. It’s suite of analysis tools combine all of that information to provide engineers with a complete overview of the water network, allowing them to spot problems like leaks and other inefficiencies in real time, and act upon them immediately to reduce water shortages.

Traffic

It’s not just the flow of water that gets into difficulty – traffic flows are also notoriously tricky to manage in big cities. Few cities in the US are quite as bad as Los Angeles, but it looks as if authorities are finally attempting to address these problems, and once again, it’s big data that’s coming to their aid.

The city has adopted a program called ExpressLanes to help keep the traffic flowing smoothly on two of its most important tollways, the I-10 and I-110 freeways. The system, which is still being piloted, involves a kind of dynamic pricing scheme that has so far kept traffic moving consistently at an average 45mph.

Everyone has to pay to gain access to the road, but should the traffic start getting a little clogged, the fee for accessing the freeway shoots up in real time. The idea is that when the traffic gets really bad, the prices will become prohibitively expensive, thus reducing the number of new vehicles using the road. Once the level of traffic decreases, the price then follows suit, making the roads accessible to one and all again.

Central to this system is the analysis of traffic data, and lots of it. ExpressLanes relies on a network of sensors that count and keep track of the vehicles using the freeways, and also applies data such as travel times and weather conditions to its algorithm to come up with its dynamic pricing. Admittedly, no system is perfect – things like car accidents will always have the potential to throw a spanner in the works – but for the most part, ExpressLanes is doing its bit to keep things flowing.