Bentley Systems has named Dutch water company Evides N.V. the winner of the Water and Wastewater category at its 2026 Year in Infrastructure Awards, recognising the company’s Water Distribution Operational Digital Twins at Scale project.
The awards, announced during Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore on 7 October, also recognised water-sector projects in the Philippines and Colombia for their use of digital technologies in leakage management and water distribution infrastructure.
Evides recognised for water distribution digital twins
Evides N.V., based in the Netherlands, received the Water and Wastewater Award for its Water Distribution Operational Digital Twins at Scale project. The recognition highlights the growing role of digital twin technology in water distribution network management.
Digital twins combine information about physical infrastructure with digital models to support operational analysis and decision-making. Their application across water distribution networks is becoming increasingly relevant as utilities seek better visibility of their assets and operational performance.
The Evides project was selected from entries submitted to Bentley’s international awards programme, which attracted more than 300 nominations from organisations in 53 countries.
Maynilad recognised for scaling water leak detection
Maynilad Water Services, based in the Philippines, received a Founders’ Honor in the Resilience and Sustainability – Securing our Water Future category.
Its project, Scaling Leak Detection at Maynilad from DMA to System-Wide Analysis, focuses on extending leakage analysis beyond individual district metered areas to a broader network-wide approach.
The recognition reflects the importance of digital tools in supporting water loss management, particularly for utilities operating extensive distribution networks where identifying and prioritising leaks remains a significant operational challenge.
Colombian utility receives digital twin recognition
Colombia’s Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) was also recognised in the Founders’ Honors programme, receiving the Asset Intelligence distinction for its EPM Water Secondary Distribution System Digital Twin project.
The project applies digital twin technology to secondary water distribution infrastructure, demonstrating another application of connected asset information within utility operations.
Alongside the Evides and Maynilad projects, the recognition of EPM highlights the international interest in using digital models, infrastructure data and analytical technologies to support water network management.
AI and connected data feature across 2026 awards
Bentley Systems received more than 300 project nominations from 53 countries for its 2026 Year in Infrastructure Awards. An independent judging panel selected winners across 12 categories covering infrastructure design, construction and operations.
The company also presented 17 projects with Founders’ Honors, recognising selected achievements in areas including asset intelligence, digital twins, connected data, sustainability and infrastructure resilience.
Cate Lochead, Chief Marketing Officer at Bentley Systems, said this year’s finalists demonstrated how connected infrastructure data and artificial intelligence are influencing engineering practices.
“This year’s finalists went well beyond digitalizing traditional workflows. By connecting data across lifecycle phases and engineering disciplines, they used AI to unlock potential that was previously out of reach.”
Lochead also emphasised the importance of open digital ecosystems that allow infrastructure professionals to connect data and software across different engineering disciplines.
Water technology projects among international winners
Water-related infrastructure featured elsewhere in the awards programme. In the Energy Production category, South-to-North Water Diversion (Chongqing) New Energy Development Co., Ltd. and POWERCHINA Zhongnan Engineering Corporation Limited were recognised for the Chongqing Yunyang Jianquan Pumped Storage Digital Power Station project in China.
The Founders’ Honors programme also included Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE in Ecuador for its Intelligent Leak Management with Autoencoders project, recognised in the education category for excellence in hands-on teaching using AI.
Norconsult Norge AS in Norway received recognition for its Mongstad Refinery – Contaminated Groundwater Risk and Mitigation Review project, while Communauté d’Agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées in France was recognised for its Urban Data Intelligence project supporting climate-resilient infrastructure.
The awards illustrate the range of applications for digital engineering technologies across water distribution, leakage detection, groundwater risk assessment and infrastructure resilience.
Further information about the winners and the Year in Infrastructure Awards is available from Bentley Systems.
Evides N.V. of the Netherlands won the Water and Wastewater category for its Water Distribution Operational Digital Twins at Scale project.
Maynilad Water Services in the Philippines received recognition for scaling leak detection, while Empresas Públicas de Medellín in Colombia was recognised for its water secondary distribution system digital twin.
The awards were announced during Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure event in Singapore, held on 6–7 October 2026.
More than 300 projects were nominated by organisations from 53 countries, with winners selected across 12 award categories.
