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WIPAC MONTHLY The Monthly Update from Water Industry Process Automation & Control

www.wipac.org.uk Issue 1/2016 - January

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In this Issue

Editorial.............................................................................................................................. 3

Industry News..................................................................................................................... 4 - 8

Highlights of the news of the month from the global water industry centred around the successes of a few of the

companies in the global market.

Forecasting the Top 5 Trends of 2016.................................................................................. 9

The beginning of each year always sees various authors in the industry pick their top trends for the year ahead. In this

articlefromJeffUptononWatersmartweseesomeofwhatispredictedtobethehighlightsoftheyearahead

Smart Water Networks maximise the benefits of AMI......................................................... 10-11

InthisarticlebyToddStockerofAclarawehearaboutthebenefitsofinstallingadvancedmeterinfrastructuresystems

andthebenefitsthatthesesystemsbringtoboththecustomerintheformofmoreaccuratemeteringandinformation

aboutwaterusetothebenefitsfortheWaterCompanyinusingthedatafordiscoveringleaks.

Lower Energy Consumption but Higher Energy Bills? The Impact of Energy Tariffs ............. 12-15

Ourfeaturearticlethismonth,originallypublishedinWEAO’sInfluentMagazineisbyLeivReigerofInCtrlSolutionand

othercolleaguesbasedinCaliforniaandSpain.Thearticledemonstratetheimpactofequipmentefficienciesandenergy

tariffsontheoperatingcostsofWaterResourceRecoveryFacilities.

Activated Sludge Optimisation using Ammonia & Nitrate Data.......................................... 16-17

The use of dissolved oxygen control in the wastewater industry is common place across the industry as is the use of

ammoniacontrolsystems.theuseoffeedforwardcontrolforthispurposeislesscommon.InthepastIonSelective

Electrode(ISE)hasbeenthoughttobetoounreliableforthispurpose.InthisarticleDrOliverPuckeringofXylem

challengesthesethoughtsandpresentsISEtechnologythatisshowntobereliable.

Hamilton City Council Meets Compliance Demands with Systems Upgrade...................... 18-19

Inthismonth’scasestudywehearabouthowRockwellAutomationhelpedHamiltonCityCouncilinNewZealandmeet

it’sstatutoryrequirementsfollowinganupgradeoftheirSCADAsystems

Big Data Dilemma............................................................................................................... 20

Inthelastarticleofthemonthwehearaboutthe“BigDataDilemma”showingthatthecostofdataandprocessingit

canbeprohibitivelyexpensive.Inthisarticlewehearaboutalternativestofillinthegapsusingmodellingandthe

benefitsthatthisapproachcanbring

Workshops, Conferences & Seminars............................................................................... 21-22

The highlights of the conferences and workshops in the coming months

WIPACMonthlyisapublicationoftheWaterIndustryProcessAutomation&ControlGroup.Itisproducedbythegroup

managerandWIPACMonthlyEditor,OliverGrievson.ThisisafreepublicationforthebenefitoftheWaterIndustryandplease

feelfreetodistributetoanywhoyoumayfeelbenefit.

AllenquiresaboutWIPACMonthly,includingthosewhowanttopublishnewsorarticleswithinthesepages,shouldbedirected

tothepublicationseditor,OliverGrievson

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From the Editor

Ifit’snotalreadytoolatetosayitthenaHappyNewYeartoall.Alreadyinthestartofthisyearwehaveseenanumberofarticlesonwhatisgoingtobethenextbigthingin2016.Mostofwhathasbeensaidhasbeenboilingalonginthe

background for at least a year or two now and maybe just maybe we will see some of these things come to the forefront.

• TheInternetofThingsintheWaterIndustry• Industry4.0andthefactorywayofthinking• SmartWaterMetering• BigData(andSmallInformation• SmartWaterSystemswithspecialconcentrationonSmartWaterSystemsmoreconcentratingonwastewater• Technology to provide an improved customer experience and provide added value to the customer

Alloftheseconceptshavebeenaroundforatleastacoupleofyearsnowandinotherindustriesarestartingtobecomeembedded in,but therehaveonlybeen limiteduptake in theWater Industry. SmartMeteringhasprobablyhad thehighestuptakefollowedbyintelligentwaysofrunningthewaterdistributionnetwork.Why?It’ssimple,therehasbeenaneed for it and it is on the clean water network and the loss of drinking water as it is a valuable resource has meant that

provingthebusinesscaseisarelativelysimplething.Whatwedidseetowardstheendoflastyearisabacklashagainstsmartwatermeteringwhereithasseemtogowrong.Chicago(anewsiteminthisissue)seemstobeagoodexampleofthis.Ofcoursewherethefaultlieswilltendnottobewiththemeteritself but in the way that it is installed or setup as part of the commissioning process.

The installationof instrumentation issomethingthat I intendtore-visit thisyearas it isaparticularbug-bearofmineandwithoutthefundamentalba-sicsbeingrightthentheWaterIndustrydoesnothaveahopeofmovingforward,asagroupmemberrecentlysaid(andI’llpara-phrase)itislikeputtingaparticulartastyfrostingonacakemadeoutofbathsponge.Itwilllooknicebuttheessenceofitwillbejustcompletelywrong.IamveryluckythatinmydayjobIhaveahostofexpertsthathelpmeandwithgreatpatiencehavetrainedmeinthewaythingsworkandgivenmesomegreatexampleswherethingscangowrongiftheinstrumentationisn’tjustso.ForthoseofyouwhoareinterestedinhearingtheiropinionsthenIamgoingtogatherthemaltogetherinaroominNovemberattheWater,Wastewater&EnvironmentalMonitoringConference(WWEM)foranicebigdiscussion.Itwillbefreesomarkitinyourcalendars.

OfcourseintheWaterIndustryweareheadingtowardsasmartfuture,watercompaniesarestartingtolookatmakingthenetworkssmart.Well,onthepotablesidetherehasbeensuccessinthisregard.SomegreatworkbythevariouscompaniessuchasI20,TaKaDuandofcourseEPALhaveseentheamountofnon-revenuewateratleastgetaslowastheEconomicLevelofLeakageandinsomeregardhasdrivenitevenlower.SomeWaterCompaniesarebeingencouragedtogoevenfurtherandforthis,forthatlastfewpercentoflossreductionthentheintelligentsolutionarealmostcertainlyrequired.ThetechniqueswilldevelopandwewillgothroughwhatIcall“creepinginnovation.”thisisonlytoeexpectedasdifferentsystemsfromdifferentcompaniesdevelop.Itisthewaythatbusiness(notjusttheWaterIndustry)works.ThenextareawehaveisintelligenceinthewastewatercollectionnetworkandIamawareoftheplansofatleasthalfadozenofthewatercompanies.

There are two points I have to make about all of this and their important:

1. Beforeyougoallgunsblazingintothedevelopmentofintelligenceinthewastewaternetworkthenconsidertheholisticpicture.Thereismuchmorevalueinconnectingthewastewatercollectionnetworktothetreatmentworksinyourintelligentsystem.Theyarephysicallyconnectedandeachofthemhasthepotentialtoaffecttheother.Itsasystemafterall,treatitassuch

2. Don’tbetemptedtotaketheprojectapproach-itwillblinkerwhatyouendupwithandintheendyouwilldeliverpartsandintheendyouwillmissthewhole.YouwillneedatechnocraticapproachtothedeliveryofaSmartWaterSystemandyouwillneedthesupportofyourpeercustomers.ASmartWaterSystemisahighriskproposalthatquitesimplywedon’tknowenoughaboutyet.It’sabigriskthatneedstobesharedforashareofthebenefits.

OfcoursewhattheWaterIndustryreallyneedsistomakeitsminduptowhatitactuallywants.Thereareanumberofpeopleouttherethatcanhelptode-velopaSmarterandmoreefficientapproachtothewaythatwedothingsanditisadirectionthatwewillgoineitherthisyearorthenextasotherindustriesarealreadygoingthere,makingthemistakesandleaningfromthem,thinktherecentproblemswithHive.WhatwewillfindontheSmartWaterJourneythatwewillalltakeeventuallyisthatmistakeswillbemade,vulnerabilitiesinsecurityexposedbutwewill,asanindustryovercomethem.

Thisisthefuturethatwefaceeitherthisyearorifnot,thenthenextortheoneafterthat.Itisaroutethatwesimplyhavenochoicebuttotakeasthepres-suresofworkingthisfantasticindustryofoursgettougherandtougher.

Have a good month

Oliver

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Industry News

WEX & WIPAC agree special rate for WIPAC Members

Call for Paper - Modelling in the Water Industry

ForthosemembersoftheWaterIndustryProcessAutomation&ControlGroupwhowishtovisittotheWater&EnergyExchangeConferenceandBusinessExchangeaspecialdealhasbeennegotiatedwithmembersreceivinga15%discountofftheticketprice.

Inits10thsuccessfulyear,WEXGlobalhascontinuedtobuildagreatreputationasanimportantmeetingplacefortoppeopleintheleadingorganisationsthatarereallymakingadifferenceintheworldofwaterandenergy.

WEXGLOBALisanactionorientedsummitwhichplacesbusinessmeetingsatitsheart.Aprogrammeofpre-selectedmutuallyagreedonetoonemeetingsarecombinedwithanoutstandingconferenceofinternationallyrenownedexpertspeakersandnumerousothernetworkingopportunitiessuchasthemedlunches,agaladinnerandotherreceptions.Itisauniqueopportunitytoformstronginternationalbusinesspartnershipsatasingleexclusivelocation.EverydelegatereceivesapersonalisedagendawhichmeansthatatWEX,youwillshortenyoursalescyclewithatopdownsellingapproachthatinitiatesrelationshipsdirectlywith senior decision makers.

AspartoftheConferencethereisaGlobalInnovationAwardsceremonyforwhichaCallforentriesisstillactive.Forthosecompaniesinterestedinenteringthen more details are available on the WEXGlobalWebsite

The Sensors forWater InterestGroup is launching a Callfor Papers for their “Modelling in the Water Industry”WorkshopthatisduetotakeplaceinlaterSeptember2016.

“Modelling” and models are using widely in both thewater and the wastewater industry from the modelling of thedistributionandcollectionnetworks, toComputationFluid Dynamics in the construction of treatment worksto themost up to datemodels which useMulti VariateProcess Control to provide operational control of waste-water treatment works.

HowevertheWaterindustryismovingintoanewerawherewe are seeing the industry moving from discrete processes toamuchmoreholisticapproachwherethewholewaterand wastewater system needs to work together meaning that the models that we build will have to operate too.

In this workshop we will review the existing modellingtechniquesandlooktowardswhatweneedtodotoallowthe various models that the water industry builds to realise aholisticenvironmentalapproachwheremodelscanallowtheindustrytooperatemoreefficientlyusingamodellingbased approach.

Potentialpresentersshouldsendashortsynopsisoftheirpresentation to Oliver Grievson who will be hosting theworkshop at olivergrievson@hotmail.com or to RosaRichardswhoistheprogrammemanageroftheSensorsforWaterInterestGroupatrosa.richards@swig.org.uk

Anglian Water launches innovation competition for restoration of supplyTheWaterInnovationNetwork–apartnershipbetweenAnglianWaterandOpportunityPeterborough–is launchingamajornewbusinessinnovationcompetitionforthewaterindustry.

Launchingthecompetition,AngliansaidthetwomonthlongBigWaterChallenge2016willseecompaniesworkingoutground-breakingsolutionstooneofthe industry’sthorniestproblems.Thethemefortheinauguralchallengeis‘KeeptheWaterFlowing’andwillfocusonwaysAnglianWatercanmaintainsuppliestocustomers’homesandrestorewaterafteraburstpipeasquicklyaspossible.

Participating companies will be invited to an event in Peterborough onMay 6th for abackgroundbriefingontheissuewheretheywillgettoquizexperts,explorethedifficultiesofdealingwithsupplyinterruptionsandgettogripswiththechallenge.

They will then have six weeks to refine and submit their ideas which will in turn bewhittleddowntoafinalshortlistoffirmswhowillgetthechancetopitchtoapanelofseniorAnglianWaterstaff.Thewinningideawillgetfinancialandtechnicalsupportfromcompany to make their idea a reality.

Experts attending the event will include members of staff from Anglian Water teamsdealing with restoration of water supply and supply interruptions. They will be joinedby representatives from the Anglian’s AMP6 Tier 1 IntegratedMaintenance and RepairAlliancecompanies,whichincludesClancyDocwra,ClaretCivilEngineeringandKierMG.AnglianWater and its alliance companies are committed to working collaboratively totacklesignificantchallengesoverthecomingyearsandensurewaternetworksintheregionrunoptimally.

DavidWard,AnglianWater’sHeadofNetworks,said:

“Whenapipeburstsandourcustomersareoffwaterwewanttogetthembackonassoonaspossible.”

“We’vemadesomereallygoodadvancesinthisareabutweneedtodomuchmore.Wewanttoexplorethewayourpeople,ournetworkandourITsystemsworktoseehowinno-vationcanhelpmakeusfasterandmoreefficient–andwe’reaskingforhelp.”

Companieswishingtotakepartinthechallengecantakeadvantageofanearlybirdratenow,whichrunsuntil29thFebruary.Pricesrangefrom£72to£150,dependingonthesizeof company and number of employees.

TrimbleWatertechnologyimprovesproductivityandperformanceforsmartwatermetering deployment

The City of Sacramento is the6th largest city in California,withapopulationofmorethan485,000 inside a metropolitanarea of over 2.4 million resi-dents. The city itself encompass-esroughly100squaremiles.ItsDepartment of Utilities (DOU)operatesmorethan1,600milesof water pipe with more than 135,000 service connectionsand two water treatment plants.

Background

Inearly2015,about58percentofthecitywasonmeteredwaterservice–buttheDOUaimedfor100percentmeteredserviceoverthefollowingfewyears.Tothatend,theDOUlaunchedamulti-yearWaterMeterReadingAutomationprogramtoinstall theBadgerMeter (BadgerMeter, Inc.,Milwaukee,WI)AdvancedMeteringInfrastructure(AMI)whichincludessmartmeters,afixedcommunicationnetwork,softwareandmeterdeploymenthandhelds.TocomplimentBadger’smeterdeploy-menthandhelds(developedbyTrimble)thecityoptedtouseTrimblesoftwareonthehandhelddevices.Bycombining theTrimblesoftwareandTrimblehandhelds,DOUleadersdeterminedtheycouldachievesignificantsavingsontheAMIinstalla-tionproject.

Implementation

DOUleadersselectedtheTrimbleUnitysoftware–aunified,GIS-centriccollabora-tionplatformformanagingcriticalutilityassetsandfieldoperations–torunontheTrimbleRanger3handheldcomputersequippedwiththeBadgerORIONSEradios.Inaddition,theteamchosetheTrimbleUnityMeterChange-outapp,supportingtheworkflowsofthemeterdeployment,installationandmaintenanceoperations.

With the technology solution in place, DOUstaff members schedule jobs into TrimbleUnity to dispatch field crews that use theTrimble Ranger 3 handheld computers. DOUcrews wirelessly sync their jobs in the field,programtheBadgermeters,inspectandcapture meter information – including GPSlocations and photos - and transmit thedata to the office. This approach allowsDOU to transmit information electronically,eliminatingtheneedforslower,manualpaperprocesses,reducingextratripstoeachworksite (installations and inspections arenowcompleted inone trip, rather than two)

andimprovingthequalityandaccuracyofthedatacollectedinthefield.

Benefits

UtilizingtheTrimbletechnologyfortheWaterMeterReadingAutomationprogramdeliveredsignificantbenefitsandvaluetotheCityofSacramento,enablingtheDOUtorealizeitsreturnoninvestment(ROI)injustthreemonths.Andoverthecourseofthefive-yeardeploymentproject,theDOUestimatestheywillreceive$1.6MintotalprojectedsavingsattributabletotheTrimbleUnitysolution.

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The City Of Sacramento Taps Trimble For ROI From Its Smart Metering Project

Vega mobile training centre to tour UK in 2016Vega, a leading supplier of level and pressure instrumentation for allindustrieshaveannouncedthattheirmobiledemonstration&trainingcentrewillbetouringtheUKfrom2nd Februaryto4th March2016.

The training centrewillbe starting inAberdeenon2ndFebruaryandfinishinginBurgessHillinWestSussexon4thMarch.Thefullscheduleoflocationswhereanyoneforallindustriescanvisitis.

Venue Location Date in 2016Aberdeen 2nd&3rdFebGrangemouth 4thFebLiverpool 16thFebHull 18thFebGrimsby 19thFebDerby 22ndFebCoventry 23rdFebPeterborough 24thFebBurgessHill 4thMarch

Dependinguponthelocationandtheindustrythatthemobiletrainingcentreisvisitingarangeoftrainingcourseswillbeavailableforthosevisitingincludingthetechniquessurroundingradarlevelmeasurement,vibratinglevelswitchesandpressuremeasurementaswellasnucleonicmeasurement devices.

For further details of each of the events and to book your placeon one of Vega’s open days then please contact Doug Anderson atdoug.anderson@vega.com

Tools For Protecting Drinking Water

Weplacehighdemandsonthequalityofourdrinkingwater.Ifpathogensortoxicsubstancesfoundtheirwayintothepipingsystem,manypeoplecouldbecomeinfectedorinjuredveryquickly.That’swhythisriskmustbekeptlow.Todothis,expertshavedevelopedtechnologiesforacomprehensivemonitoring,earlywarning and emergency management system.

Drinkingwaterisindispensableforeveryhumanbeing.Publicworksandwaterutilitiesmustnotonlyprotectthesupplysystemfromimpurities,butalsofrompossiblemanipulation.Everyday,theycollectprobesandanalysedrinkingwaterqualityinalab,butsuchanalysistakestime.Preventativemethodsandtoolsareneededforcontinuousmonitoringinordertoidentifycontaminationsquicklyandalsocatchunexpectedtoxicsubstances.Evenafewdropscouldhavedevastatingconsequences–toxinsthatmaketheirwayintothewatersupplyreachmillionsofuserswithinhours.“Inordertoprotectthepopulation,wehavetobeabletodetectthehazardoussubstancesasquicklyaspossibleandknowhowtheywillspread,”explainsDr.ThomasBernard,aspecialistforflowmodelsatFraunhoferInstituteforOptronics,SystemTechnologyandImageExploitationIOSBinKarlsruhe.Incollaborationwithpartnersfromindustryandresearch,thescientistandhis teamfromtheFrench-GermanprojectSMaRT-OnlineWDN(OnlineSecurityManagementandReliabilityToolkit forWaterDistributionNetworks)havedevelopedtoolsthatenablewaterutilitiestorespondquicklyand,inanemergency,toinitiatecountermeasurestoprotectthepopulation.TheprojectwassupportedbytheGermanFederalMinistryofEducationandResearch(BMBF)andtheFrenchNationalResearchAgency(ANR).Berlin’swaterutility,BWBBerlinerWasserbetriebe,coordinatedtheproject.

Online simulation calculates water’s path

Amathematicalmodelforsimulatingthedrinkingwatersupplynetworkhydraulicsandthedistributionofqualityparametersinthepipingsystemscarriesoutseveraltaskssimultaneously.Basedonnumeroussimulations,itcanidentifytheoptimumlocationsforsensorsinordertoensureearlydetectionofimpurities.Furthermore,ifanalarmdoesgooff,theonlinesimulationmodelcanhelppinpointthesourceofthecontamination.Thescientistshavedevelopedanalgorithmforthisthatlocalizesthecontaminationandcalculateswheretheimpuritywillspreadinthenextfewhours.Butcalculatingandpredictingthewater’spath–andthusthepathofthetoxicsubstance–wasnoeasytask,evenforBernard,becausetheflowofwaterinthesupplynetworkisnotidenticaleverywhere.“Itchangesdependingonthepressureinthepipes,theirdiameterandgeometry,andthenumberofusers.Andturbulenceandchaoticflowsoccurinplaceswherethepipesystembranches.”

TestsattheWaterTechnologyCentreTZWinDresden,whereacomplexpipenetworkhasbeenbuiltoutofPlexiglas,havehelpedBernardandhisFrenchpartnersestablishan intelligentdetectionmodule.At the centre inDresden, sensors register thewater’smovement.Using themeasurementvalues, thephysicistwasabletooptimizehiscomputersimulations.Theaimistocalculatetheflowofthewaterinthesupplynetworksofentirecities–inrealtime.“Suchsimulationscouldassistutilitycompaniesinmakingtherightdecisionsinemergencies,butonlywhentheyarepreciseandfastenough,”saysthegroupleader.

Alarm only in emergencies

Intelligentsoftwaretakescurrentmeasurementvaluesintoaccount,suchasopacity,temperature,pressure,chlorineandoxygencontent,pHvalueandtheamountofbacterialcontaminationofthewater.Butwhencriticalvaluesarereached,thesystemdoesn’timmediatelysoundthealarm–instead,itfirstlooksforpossiblecauses.Hasadifferentwatersourcejustbeentapped?Wasapumpopenedorclosed?“Morethan90percentofallanomaliesarecausedbychangestooperatingconditionsandarenocauseforalarm,”explainsBernard.

ThenewsystemhasalreadybeenimplementedinStrasbourgandmonitorsthenetwork’swaterqualityinrealtime.Hydraulicandwaterqualitysensorsinthepipenetworkdeliverinformationforthedatabase;thecollecteddataisthensenttoaprocesscontrolsystem.Incaseofemergency,countermeasurescanbeinitiated,suchasflushingcontaminatedwaterorblockingoffpartsofthesupplynetwork.

Control through monitoring platform

Futuremodelswillbeabletodoevenmore:IntheGerman-FrenchResiWaterproject(seebox),IOSBscientistsareworkingonbetterITsecurityfordrinkingwatersystemsandonanimprovedmoduleforgeneratingalarms.AlongwithStrasbourg,Paris’sdrinkingwatersystemwillbemonitoredinthefuture.Further-more,theprojectpartnersarefocusingonamonitoringplatformthattakesthemyriadofsensordataandclearlyrepresents,visualizes,andstoresit.Itwillalsoautomaticallygeneratereportssothat,forinstance,fluctuationsinwaterqualitycanberegularlysummarized.

TheResiWaterprojectpartnersarealsodrivingsensordevelopment.Forexample,theFraunhoferInstituteforInterfacialEngineeringandBiotechnologyIGBinStuttgartiscontributingitsknow-how.Formanyyears,theyhavebeenworkingonAquaBioTox,abiosensormadefromlivingcellsthatfluoresce.Whenbacteriacomeincontactwithtoxicsubstances,theintensityofthefluorescencedecreases.TheAquaBioToxprototypewillbefullyautomatedaspartoftheResiWaterproject.

Majority of SEW customers will have water meters by 2020SouthEastWater(SEW)expectstohaveinstalled375,000watermetersintotalby2020whichwillmeanalmost90%ofitscustomerswillpayonlyforthewatertheyuse.HouseholdsinHerneandSeasalterwillbenexttohavedomesticwatermetersinstalled,withYorklettsandChestfieldtofollowlaterthisyearlater.

TheprogrammebeganinKentfiveyearsagoandhasbeenprogressingthroughthecountyonastreetbystreetbasis.

OluseyiOnifade,SouthEastWater’smeteringmanager,said:“Bymovingtoawatermeter,customerswillhavecontrolovertheirwateruse.Onceweintroducethemeteredcharge,likegasandelectricitybills,customersonlypayforwhattheyuse.It’safairerwaytopayandiftheyusewaterwiselyanddon’twasteit,theycouldalsoseetheirwaterbillsreduce.”

Onifadecontinued:“Watermetershelpmanagedemandinwaterstressedareasastheyhelpusdetectleaksandencouragecustomerstothinkabouttheirwateruse.Researchhasfoundcustomerswithawatermeteruse10%lesswaterthanthosewhoareunmeteredasitencouragespeopletothinkabouthowtheyusewater.”

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Getting involved in the specification of 5GThefollowingletterwasreceivedfromDrNigelJefferies,ChairmanoftheWirelessWorldResearchForumbytheWITSProtocol:

Getting involved in the specification of 5G – the next generation of mobile networks Thenextphaseinthedevelopmentofmobilenetworksisalreadyunderwaywiththe5Ginitiative.Theestablished5Grequirementsincludegreatercapacity,energyefficiencyandcosteffectivenesswithresearchcurrentlybeingconductedintothoseareas,andalsointoverylowlatency,ultra-reliableandultra-densenetworks.Device-to-deviceandruralcoveragearealsoimportantfactorsinthedesignofthenew5Gnetworks.

Initialrolloutof5Gnetworksisnotexpecteduntilaround2020,butaspartofthedevelopmentwork,users’requirementsarenowbeingcollectedforanypartieswithaninterestinusingthe5Gmobilenetwork.TheWWRF(WorldWirelessResearchForum)playsapivotalroleindrivingforwardandsupportingaspectsofthe5Gwork. Inparticular,WWRFissettingupnewWorkingGroups(WGs)forspecificVertical IndustryPlatforms(VIPs).AsofearlyJanuary2016,work isunderwaytogetaConnectedCarVIPlaunchedandworkhascommencedona5GHealthTechnologiesandWearablesVIP.

OverthisyearWWRFwouldliketosetupotherVIPWGsincludingonefortheWaterIndustry.ThiswouldgiveWatercompaniesandvendorsfromallovertheworldthechancetoadvancetheirrequirementsforthe5Gnetworkandtoinfluencethetechnologywhichisbeingdeveloped.CurrentlyWWRFhaveplanneda5GHuddleinLondonlateinApril.Thiswillbeanopportunityformajorplayersinthe5Gdevelopmenttomeetanddiscussthecurrentpositionofthe5Gstandard.PriortothatwehopetohavetheWaterVIPWGformed.

Thisisyourchancetoinfluencethedesignofthenextmajormobilecommunicationsgeneration,somethingwhichwillinevitablyplayintoyourorganisations’communicationsandtelemetrystrategyoverthecomingyears.Ifyouwouldlikeyourvoicetobeheardinthisprocess,pleasecontactWWRFthroughme(eithercontact@wwrf.chorchairman@wwrf.ch).

WITS DNP3 Protocol Version 3 to be released in March 2016

Version3.0oftheprotocolisduetobereleasedattheendofMarch2016,mergingallpreviousversionsintoasingleone.Inaddition,DevicessupportingWITS-DNP3version3.0willbeabletomakeuseofthefollowingenhancements:

• Usetheprotocolinanoptimisedmannerwhendevicesfirstestablishacommunicationssession,significantlyreducingthenumberofmessageexchangesbetweentheMasterStationandtheFieldDevices.

• Supportenhancedloggingfeatures,allowingadditionalpointloggingtooccurwhentheFieldDevicedetectsthatan“incident”hashappened.Thefeatureallowsanincidenttobedefined,suchasachangeofstateofabinarypointorlimittransgression,andthendefineswhatloggingisrequiredandoverwhatperiodoftime.

• Supportextendeddefinitionsfordetectingandreportingsignificantchangesofvalueofanaloguepoints.• Supportthenewnameplatedetails(deviceattributes)publishedbytheDNPUserGroup.• ImplementDNP3secureauthenticationversion2(SAv2),secureauthenticationversion5(SAv5),orboth–thusremovingtheseparateWITS-DNP3version

streamsthatwerepresentupuntilnow.

After Dysfunctional Meter Mess, Chicago Suburb Makes ProposalAChicagosuburbstrugglingwithinaccuratesmartmetersistryingtomoveaheadandfixtheproblem.

“Undertheproposal,TinleyParkwouldborrow$6.5milliontoreplace18,263metersandcoverrelatedexpenses.Theprojectwouldcostabout$396,000ayearonalow-interestloanfor20yearsandwouldallowthevillageto‘dramaticallyaccelerate’meterreplacement.Countinginterest,thedealwouldcost$7.9millionovertwodecades.Itwouldtakeanestimated18to24monthstoreplaceallthemeters,officialssaid.TheVillageBoardwouldhavetosignoffontheplanbeforeitbecomesofficial,”theChicagoTribunereported.

“Thevillageconsideredissuingablanketrefundtoallcustomerstotalling$1million‘inanattempt(to)restoreconfidenceinoursystem,’accordingtoamemobyinterimPublicWorksDirectorBillBalling.ButBallingconcludedinhismemothatsucharefundwouldbetoocostlyandsaidthere’s‘noevidencetosupportthattheentirefleetofdigitalmetersaremalfunctioning,’”thereportsaid.

AChicagoTribuneinvestigationhadrevealedchronicoverchargingbysmartmetersinTinleyPark.Theprobefoundthatthemeters,whichthevillageboughtfor$1.8million,“regularlyoverstatehowmuchwaterhasgonethroughthem,resultinginovercharges.”

Atthatpoint,thevillagehasfailedtoadequatelyaddresstheproblem,accordingtotheinvestigation.

“Whenthevillagefoundbadmeters,itrepeatedlydidnotfullyrefundresidents.Ithastriedtoexplainawaytheprobleminwayscontradictedbyitsownrecords,includingunderstatingbyatleasthalfthenumberofoverbillingmetersithasdocumented.Andthoserecordslackdetailsonhowthousandsmoremetershavefailed—makingitimpossibletodeterminethetruenumberofmetersthevillagehasdiscoveredwiththeproblem,”thereportsaid.

HereareafewadditionalfindingsfromtheTribuneinvestigation,perPatch,whichnotedthatasofJune,around$90,000hasbeenrefundedtocustomers:

• atleast355meterswereissuingfaultyreadings,morethantwicethenumberthevillagetoldresidentsabout• residentssaytheyhaveadifficulttimegettingthevillagetoacknowledgetheovercharges,aslongas16monthsinonecase• whenthevillagediscoversfaultymeters,ithasn’tissuedaccuraterefunds• villagerecordslackdetailsonmeterfailures,whichcouldnumberinthethousands

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Wessex Water launches mobile app game to educate and inform customers

WessexWaterhas launchedanewmobileappgame intendedtoentertainand educate customers on what it does as a company and to provide advice onsavingmoneyandprotectingtheirhome.

Thewater company describes the app - known asWOWSER! -World OfWater,Sewage,EnvironmentandRecreation-,asafun,interactiveappsuitable for all ages which takes the user through a range of fast-pacedchallenges and tasks that demonstrate the various responsibilities of thecompany,someofwhichthecustomerdoesn’talwaysseeinreallife.

Introducingtheapp,WessexWatersaid:

“FromLeakStopperstowetwipesandpipelaggingtopetridishes,WOWSER!aimstogivearealisticyetsimpleoverviewofsomeofthejobsandimportantmessagesinthewaterindustry.”

WessexWater’sdigitalcommunicationsteamhavebeenworkingontheappsinceMay2015.

Digitalcommunicationsmanager,CliveTugwell,said:

“Thegameisallaboutraisingawarenessofthediverseandvariedworkforcewithinthewaterindustryandthetypesofactivitiesweundertaketoensureweremainnumberoneforcustomerservice,protecttheenvironmentandensurecleanandsafedrinkingwaterisprovided24/7.”

“Wehopeuserswillenjoyinteractingwiththeapptolearnmoreabouttheissueswefaceasabusinessandthechallengesmetbyourgreatemployees.”

ThegameisnowavailabletodownloadontheAppleAppStoreandtheGooglePlaystoreforAndroiddevices.

Environment Agency awards £4m+ Floodline Warnings contract

The(UK)EnvironmentAgencyhasawardedacontracttoreplacetheFloodlineWarningsDirect(FWD)servicewhichcameintooperationin2006toFujitsuSer-vicesLtd-thecontractisworthanestimated£4.61million.

Thecontract,whichtheAgencywasalsoprocuringonbehalfofNaturalResourcesWales,maybefurthersub-contractedout.

The Future FloodWarnings System is used to provide flood warnings to the public, themedia and professional partners, including the police and localauthorities.MessagesareissuedacrossEnglandandWalesbytelephone,mobile,fax,text,email,pagerandXML.Theaimistogiveatleast2hoursnoticeofflooding,givingthepublic,businessesandresponseorganisationstimetoprepareandreducetheimpactofanyflooding.

ServicescurrentlyprovidedundertheFWDserviceonadailybasisinclude:

Managementofcustomerdata,messagedata(EnglishandWelsh)andgeographicbaseddata(polygonsoutliningareasatriskofflooding).Registrationofcustomersincluding,on-lineuserregistrations,registrationsbytheFloodlinecallcentreandEnvironmentAgencystaff.SystemconfigurationandadministrationofthesystemDuringafloodincident,the24/7/365serviceprovides:

Messagessupplementedwithcurrentinformation

• Warning(s)issuedtoselectedgeographicareas(predefined),tocustomersbytheirchosenchannel(s)andcustomertype(e.g.media).• Issuedmessages,monitoredforprogressandsuccessratesreported.• InternetfeedsprovidedforthepublictoaccesslivewarningsontheEnvironmentAgencywebsite.• Warningssenttopartners,themediaandotherorganisations.• Warningdataprovidedforusebyotherthirdpartyapplications.

ServiceLevelsandresiliencecoveredtheFWDincludeaservicelevelof99.999%availabilityviaa24/7/365service,withprimaryandsecondarysitesrequiringfailoveroflessthan4hours,togetherwitharoundtheclocksupplierhelpdeskserviceavailability,

Thecontractcovers4,500operationaltargetareas-geospatialareasatriskoffloodingand2.3millionpropertiesinEngland&Walesatriskofriverandseaflooding.

During2012, morethan950,000propertiesatthehighestriskofriverandseafloodingwerewarnedviatheFWD,with46,000messagesets issued-themaximum recorded for a year.

AspartofreviewingtheFWDandawardingthenewcontract,heEnvironmentAgencywasalsoconsideringtheextensionofthecurrentservicetoothertypesofflooding,includingsurfacewaterandreservoirinundation.

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Opinion:

Forecasting The Top 5 Water Trends In 2016

As the dawn of 2016 emerges andwe look forward to the year ahead, it’s instructive to engage in a little prognostication.While none of us claim theclairvoyanceofNostradamus, therearesomeclear trendsthatbegantotakehold in2015to informouroutlookonthecomingyear inwater.Withthatinelegantpreamblebehindus,let’sbeginthesoothsaying!Herearethingstowatchforin2016:

Up, Up, Up

What’sgoingup?Well,nearlyeverything.Astheglobecontinuestorecoverfromtheeconomicchaosbeginninginlate2007,interestratesareslowlyrising,in-creasingborrowingcostsforneededinfrastructureinvestments.Labourmarketsaretightening,makingithardertofindqualifiedworkersataffordableratesinthefaceofaspateofutilityretirements.Watercostsarerisinginmanymarketsinthefaceofdecayinginfrastructure,strainedsupplies,anddepletedground-watersources.Electricitycostsforpumpingandchemicaltreatmentcostsarenotimmunefromthesetrends,andallthesefactorsputpressureonutilitiestoraiseratesfortherestofus.Waterratesincreased40percentinAmerica’s30largestcitiesbetween2010and2015andwecanexpectasimilar,ifnotgreater,rateofincreaseacrosstheboardin2016.Inshort,expectwaterratestocontinuetorisefortheforeseeablefuture.

Getting Smart

Themarch to implement advancedmetering infrastructure (AMI) will surely continue as utilities face ongoing non-revenuewater challenges, customerfrustration,andrisingoperationalcosts.ThedeploymentofAMIallowsutilitiestoreducemeterdatacollectioncostsandmoreeasilyidentifyapparentlossesintheirdistributionsystems.Inaddition,byofferingend-usersleakdetectionandreal-timeaccesstoconsumptiondata,customerengagementandsatisfactionimproves.(WaterSmarthasagreatsetoftoolstohelputilitiesaccomplishthesegoals.)Thishelpsutilitiesgainthesupporttheyneedfortheraterestructuringneededtoinvestininfrastructurerehabilitation.Whilethewaterindustrystilltrailselectricutilitiesinsmartmeteradoptionbyanorderofmagnitude,expectthegaptonarrowasthebenefitsofthesesolutionsbecomesclearer,andthemarketmovespastearlyadoptersintotheearlymajorityphase.

Going Digital

UtilitieswillcontinuetoimplementmodernSCADA,meterdatamanagement,customerinformation,billing,andgeographicinformationsystems.Withthisgrowingsetofdata,sensiblewaterutilitieswillbeabletoprovideend-usecustomersaccesstoconsumption,billing,andotherutilityprograminformationthroughdigitalchannelsincludingweb,mobile,text,email,andintegratedvoiceresponse.Theutilityofthefutureisrapidlyemergingandlooksverysimilartotheelectric,mobilephone,andfinancialserviceprovidersweregularlyinteractwith.Customershavecometoexpectreal-timeaccesstotheirinformationthroughthechanneloftheirchoiceatthetimeoftheirownchoosing,andthemarchtowarddigitizationinthewaterindustrywillcontinuetofollow these trends.

Stormwater and Water Reuse

Theneedfornewsupplysourceshasbeenapparentforsometime,butongoingurbanizationandwaterstressduetoclimatevariabilityisleadingutilitiestolookfornew,sustainablewatersources.Theimplementationofprogramsandsystemstocollectandreusestormwateraswellasdeploymentofmodernwaterrecyclingtechnologieswillseefurtheremergencein2016.Thetaboosassociatedwith‘toilet-to-tap’willbegintofadeintothebackgroundaspeoplelearnmoreaboutthehighqualityproductthatmodernrecyclingsolutionsoffer,andutilitiesfindfewalternativestoaddresstheneedforadditionalsources.Desalinationwillremainonthetableasanalternativewatersource,buttheenvironmentalchallenges,timetoimplement,andcostprofileofthisapproachwillbeeclipsedbywaterreuseincommercialandindustrialapplicationsasgreywatersystemsarerecognizedasincreasinglycosteffectiveinthefaceofrisingwater costs.

Proactive Customer Engagement

Customerexpectationsfordatatransparency,andhigh-qualitycustomerservicearedisruptingthelegacymodelofthesilentserviceprovider.WiththeparalleladventofAMItechnologies,utilitiesnowhavethedatatoolsandengagementchannelsthatcanhelpcustomerssavewaterandmoney,protecttheirproperty,andbettermanagenaturalresourcesforlong-termenvironmentalsustainability.Thisgivesutilitiesareasontoengagetheircustomerincommunicationsthataren’taboutrateincreases,boilnotices,orsystemrepairoutages.Theneedtoavoidcustomerinteractionsisnowevolvingintotheopportunitytoimprovethecustomerrelationshipandbuildapartnershipforbroadercommunitybenefit.

Noneofthesepredictionsarelikelyasurprisetoanyonewhohasbeentrackingthewaterindustryforanyperiodoftime,andthepaceofchangerelatedtotheseitemsislikelytobe(asisgenerallythecaseforwaterutilities)ratherslow.Yetthereareclearlyunderlyingandirreversibleshiftsoccurringintheindustrytomovetowardaddressingsomeofthemorehistoricallyintractableproblemsweface,andeveryoneshouldcelebratethisevolution,regardlessofthespeed.Thereisclearlynogoingback,andthesoonerthatweallembracethesetrends,thesoonerwearriveatthemoresustainableandresilientfuturethatweareallworkingtorealize.

Jeff Lipton managesWaterSmart Software’s go-to-market strategy development and marketing campaign activities, along withsalesoperationssupport.PriortoWaterSmart, JeffmanagedchanneldevelopmentandregionalfieldmarketingforEnerNOC,aninternational leader in energy intelligence software and demand response solutions. He joined EnerNOC from Coyle Industries,wherehepioneeredthedevelopmentofrenewabledistributedgenerationsolarpowersystemsformilitary,developingworld,andotheroff-gridelectrical applications. Jeffpreviously spentadecade in thedigitalmedia industrywhereheheld variousproductmanagement,marketing,andexecutivesalespositions.

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Article:

Smart Water Networks Maximise the benefits of AMI

Today,asignificantnumberofwaterutilitiesarebenefitingfromadvancedmeteringinfrastructure(AMI)systems.The2014ScottReport:NorthAmericanDeploymentsofAutomatedMeteringDevicesstatesthat14percentofallwaterutilitycustomershaveAMIorfixed-networkmetersfortheirhomesorbusinesses.Thereportalsodocumentshowfixed-networkAMImetershipmentstowaterutilitiesclimbedsteadilyfromlessthan500,000peryearin2005toalmost3millionperyearin2014.

TheseAMInetworks areusedprimarily to collect reads, eliminatingestimatedbills andallowingutilities toprovideaccuratebillingonamore regularbasis-oftenmonthlyratherthanquarterly.Unlikedrive-byandwalk-bysystems,AMInetworksalsoprovidecustomerservicerepresentativesaccesstodailyinformationabouthowmuchwaterisusedbyspecificcustomers,whichhelpsthemresolvecomplaintsandissuesfaster.

Yet,improvedbillingandcustomerserviceareonlytwowaysthatfixed-networkAMIsystemsbenefitutilities.ThecommunicationsnetworkthatunderpinsAMIformsthebasisofasmartinfrastructureonwhichutilitiescanincorporatearangeofsensing,communicationsanddataanalysissolutionsthatdetectandpinpointissuesthroughoutthedistributionnetworkandatcustomers’homes.Thisleadstoadeepunderstandingofhowwaterisusedandwhereitislost.

WhenutilitiesusetheirAMIsystemsas thebasisofasmart infrastructuresolution, they’re inapositiontomakeaquantum leap incustomerservice,conservation,quantificationofnon-revenuelosses,leakdiscovery,andoperationsimprovements.

Improving Customer Service

Utilitieswithfixed-networkAMIgo fromreceivinga fewmeter readingsperyear toat least24 readingsperday.Thisdatacanbeanalysed to identifycontinuoususage,which isa leading indicatorofwhichcustomersmayhave leaks insidetheirhomes.SomeutilitiesthathavefixednetworkAMIhaveimplementedproactivecustomerserviceeffortstohelpcustomersfindleaks.

OnesuchprogramisNewYorkCity’sLeakNotificationprogram.Customersusingtheprogramsignuptoreceiveanemailwhentheirwateruseincreasessignificantlyoveraperiodofseveraldays.Thesenoticesallowcustomerstofindandfixleaksbeforetheyreceiveahighbill.

Utilities are also making usage information availableonline,whichallows customers tomonitor theirownwaterusage. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)provides usage data online from the city’s 180,000meters,allowing customers to monitor their usage. The city’s AMIprovider,Aclara,alsogeneratesareportthatallowstheutilitytoidentifycustomerswhomayhaveleaksinsidetheirhomes.

“The Aclara report tells us which accounts have exhibitedcontinuoususageeveryhouroverathree-dayreportingperiod each week,” said Heather Pohl, automated watermeterprogrammanagerforSFPUC.“Wefilterthatreportforsingle-familyhomesandanalyse it to identify theminimumusage for each account. This process allows us to gauge the severityofthesuspectedleak.”

Theutilityreachesouttothosewhoshowuponthereportby sending weekly postcards notifying them of a possibleleak. It monitors the reports and notes which accounts have comeoffthelist,assumingthattheyhaverespondedtotheutility’snoticeandfixedtheleak.Futureenhancementstothereportmaybenefitcommercialcustomersandthoseowningmulti-familyresidencessuchasapartmentbuildings.

Enhancing Conservation Efforts

Whensmartsystemsareinstalledonwatermeters,utilitiesbetterunderstandwhereandhowwaterisused.Thisisusefulinformationtohave-particularlywhenstateorlocalgovernmentsimposewaterrestrictions.

Forexample,fiveyearsofpunishingdroughthaveleftpartsofCaliforniaexperiencingacutewatershortagesduetodepletionofgroundwaterandsurfacewaterresources.AccordingtoanewstudyfromtheUniversityofCalifornia-Davis,thedroughtwillcostthestate$2.7billionthisyear.

Inresponse,GovernorJerryBrownearlierthisyearissuedanexecutiveordermandatingresidentsandbusinessesstatewidetocutwateruseby25percent,underscoringthesignificanceofstrategiesandtechnologiesthatcanworktocutwaterusageandconservemunicipalsupplies.

CaliforniautilitieswithAMI systemsare inagoodposition to identifyboth in-home leaksand thoseon thedistributionsystemsbyproviding thedatanecessarytopinpointproblems.Inaddition,reviewsofusagedatacanhelpcustomersreducetheirconsumption.

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Quantifying Non-Revenue Losses

Mostutilitiesestimatethat10to30percentofwaterpumpedintodistributionsystems is lost due to leaks before it even reaches customermeters. Utilitiesconductauditstodeterminehowmuchwaterpumpedintothedistributionsystem is actually metered. These audits are based on methods developed by theAmericanWaterWorksAssociationandInternationalWaterAssociationthatidentifynon-revenuewater(NRW)lossfromallsources, includingconsumptionthatismetered,unmeteredandunauthorized,andthatoftencosttensofthousands of dollars.

AMIdatacanmaketheseauditsmoreaccuratebyhelpingutilitiesidentifywherelossmaybeoccurring.Forexample,AMIdatacan identifymeters thatarenotrecordingproperly,eitherbecausetheyarebrokenorhavebeenbypassedthroughtheft.Unmeteredwaterusage,whetherauthorizedornot,isakeysourceofNRWloss.

Inaddition,amajorNRWculpritisusingthewrong-sizedmeterinanapplication,suchaswhenahighwaterusebusiness(e.g.,alaundromat)movesintoacommercial building originally developed for light industrial use. If the wrong meterisused,itmaynotrecordallthewaterthatisused,whichresultsinlostrevenue.

Acousticloggersintegratedintoafixed-networksystemcanidentifysmall,undergroundleaksbeforetheybecomebigproblems.

AnalysingAMIdataovertimecanalsoprovideagoodindicationofwhichmetersareabouttofailorgooutofwarranty.Mostmetershopsschedulemeterreplacementatregularintervals(usuallyevery10to20years).Ifanalysisidentifiesonemeterthatisperformingsignificantlyworsethansimilarones,theutilitycantargetthepoorlyperformingmeterforreplacementimmediatelyinsteadofwaitingforanarbitrarytimeperiodtopass.

Inaddition,AMIsystemsoffertime-stampedreadingsthatgiveaclearpictureofthetruehealthofasystembyallowingtheutilitytoviewanentiresystem’sconsumptionatspecificpointsintime.

“Time-stamped reads are great for production, helping us come up with accurate water-loss numbers,” said JoshWedding, water system operator forRedmond,Ore.,whichdeploysanAclaraSTARnetworkforAMI.“Weusethatmonthlytodo[a]water-lossaudit.Ourwaterlossannuallyisabout3.5percent.”Time-stampedreadsalsohelpkeepcostsdown,according toWedding.“Everygallonofwaterpumpedthatwedon’tsell,wehavetowriteoff,”hesaid.“Time-stampeddatahelpsusprovidemorecost-effectiveservicetocustomers.”

Discovering Distribution Leaks

UndergroundleaksinthedistributionsystemareaprimarycauseofNRWlossbutcanbedifficulttolocate.Acousticloggersintegratedintoafixed-networksystemcancost-effectivelyidentifysmall,undergroundleaksbeforetheybecomebigproblems.

TheloggersassociatedwithAclara’sSTARZoneScansystem,forexample,senddatatotheutilityoverthefixednetwork,whereweb-basedapplicationsoftwareautomaticallycorrelatesthedataandidentifiesandlocateshigh-probabilityleaks.Thisapproachsimplifiesacousticleakdetection,eliminatingtheneedtosendcrewsintothefieldandprovidingthemeanstomanagetheprocessfromtheutility.

Oncetheunitsare installed,operatorscanmonitorthesystemandanalyseresultsat theutilityoffice.Nomanualordrive-bydatacollection is required.Thesystemcanbedeployedstand-aloneoraddedontoanexistingSTARnetworkAMIsystem,andoperateswithminimaloperatorinvolvement.Aclarahasdeployedthetechnology inanumberofEastCoastcommunitiessuchasSylacauga,Ala.,whichusesthesystemtofindunderground leaksthatoccuronhundredsofmilesofgalvanizedservicelinesandcast-ironpipes.

“Thistypeofpipe,someofwhichwasinstalledasearlyas1906,ismorelikelythanotherstoleakbecauseofcorrosion,”saidMikeMcGinnis,superintendentofwaterinSylacauga.“Inahalf-mileradius,wemightfindsixleaks.Everyplacewehaveinstalledthesystem,wehavefoundleaksthatwecanrepair.”

TheSTARZoneScansystemwasoneofthetoolsthathelpedSylacaugareduceitsNRWlossesfromabout34%to23%.

Final Thoughts

Whenconsideringautomationofmeterreading,utilitiesshouldweighthebenefitsofafixedAMInetworkforatrulysmartinfrastructure.Improvementsincustomerservice,conservationefforts,quantificationofnon-revenuelosses,leakdiscovery,andoperationsimprovementsprovidelong-term,21stcenturybenefitsoverbothdrive-byandwalk-bysystems.

Aswaterutilitiesareaskedtoquantifytheircostsandresults,fixed-networkcommunicationsnetworksthatfacilitatesmartinfrastructuresolutionsbecomeacriticalcomponentoftheirtechnologytoolbox.

About the Author

ToddStockeristheDirectorofProductManagementatAclara,hehasanextensivebackgroundworkinginproductmarketingandbusinessdevelopmentinextremelytechnicalcompanies.Hehasauniquecapabilityofunderstandingthetechnicalaspectsofacompany’sproducts,combinedwiththeabilitytohavecommercial,andbusinessdiscussions.

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Feature Article:

Lower Energy Consumption but higher energy bills?

The Impact of Energy Tariffs on WRRF Operating Costs

ThisarticlewasfirstpublishedinWEAO’sINFLUENTSMagazine,Winter2015

Abstract

Thepaperdemonstratesthe impactofequipmentefficienciesandenergytariffsontheoperatingcostsofWaterResourceRecoveryFacilities(WRRF).Anexample isgivenusingasimulationbenchmarkenvironmentandmodels forpumpsandblowerswith reducedefficiencies in the lowerflowranges.Twoammonia-basedaerationcontrollers(on-offandproportional-integral-derivative)arecomparedagainstabasecasewithaclassicdissolvedoxygencontroller.AnenergytarifffromSouthernCaliforniaEdisonisusedtohighlightthesignificantimpactoftime-of-useandpeakpowerdemandcharges.Theresultsshowareductionpotentialforenergyofover20%forbothammoniacontrollerswithaslightlybetterperformanceoftheon-offammoniacontrollerintermsofeffluenttotalnitrogenandenergyconsumption.However,afterapplyingtheenergytariff,thecostsavingsarereducedto3%fortheon-offcontrollerand10%fortheproportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller.

Introduction

Electricalgridsaresensitivetoenergyconsumptionspikesandthereforemeasuresareneededtoadaptproductionortoreducedemandpeaks.Onemethodofreducingdemandistoimplementanincentivesystembyintroducingenergytariffswhicha)takepeakdemandtimesintoaccountandb)chargeapenaltyforshort-termpeakpowerdemands.Thesedemandresponsemechanismsareaglobaltrendandshouldbeincludedintheevaluationprocesswhencomparingtechnicalsolutions.

WaterResourceRecoveryFacilities(WRRF),areoftentimesacommunity’ssinglelargestenergyconsumerwithaerationbeingthebiggestconsumerwithinthefacility.Electricityconsumptionaccountsforbetween25and40%ofthetotaloperatingcosts.Energyconsumptionforaerationalonerepresentsbetween50and70%oftotalelectricityconsumption,withtheexclusionofsite-specificpumping(WEF,2009).

Energyauditsaretypicallybasedonaverageconsumptionandincludebenchmarkingwithsimilarplantsorcomparisonagainstsomestandardkeyperformanceindicators.Thesestudiescanhighlightthemainconsumersorhelpidentifyinefficientequipment.However,ifthestudyincludesvaryingefficienciesovertheoperatingrange,thepredictionsofenergyconsumptionundervariousloadingandtemperatureconditionsaremorerealistic.

Inmostenergystudies,theenergyconsumptionismultipliedbyanaverageenergyprice.However,operatingcostssignificantlydependontheenergytariffstructureapplied.Differenttime-of-useand/orpeakpenaltychargesmaychangethecostefficiencyofacontrolsolutioncompletely.

ProcesscontrolcanhelptooperateaWRRFmoreefficientlybyutilisingunusedplantcapacities.Properlydesignedcontrolsolutionsshouldtakeplantcon-straints(e.g.equipmentminimum/maximumcapacity)intoaccountandmakesurethatequipmentisoperatedinhighefficiencyregions.Ammonia-basedaerationcontrol(ABAC)hasbeenproventobethemostenergyandwaterqualityeffectivecontrolsolution(Riegeretal.,2012;Amandetal.,2013).

Iftheenergytariffisnottakenintoaccountinthecontrollerdesign,onepotentialconsequenceisthatenergyconsumptionisloweredbuttheenergybillisincreased.InthepresentedcasestudywewilldemonstratetheimpactofequipmentefficienciesandenergytariffstructuresbyusingthreedifferentaerationcontrollersbasedonDOandtotalammonia(NHx)measurements.ThecontrollerswereimplementedinSIMBA#,evaluatedandcomparedforeffluentquality,energyconsumptionandcosts.SIMBA#isawastewatersimulationsoftwarepackage.

Material & Methods

Example plant

To demonstrate the impact of energy tariff structures on the energy costs, a simulation benchmark plant was set up based on the work of theInternationalWaterAssociationtaskgrouponBenchmarkingofControlStrategiesforWastewaterTreatmentPlants(IWABSM)(Gernaeyetal.,2014)butwithfewadaptations.TheexampleWRRFreceivestheloadof115,000populationequivalents(PE)atanaverageflowof20,520m3/dandismodelledinSIMBA#(ifake.V.,Germany)(Figure2).

• Atapereddiffusersystemwasmodelledwitharesultingairflowsplitof50%toAER1,30%toAER2and20%toAER3.• BlowerandpumpmodelsasavailableinSIMBA#wereused.Themodelsincludevariableefficienciesandcapacitybounds.• Asonly the energy consumption for aeration andpumping (ReturnActivated Sludge (RAS), Internal Recycle (IR),WasteActivated Sludge (WAS))was

modelled,anadditionalconstantenergyconsumptionof6,162kWh/dwasaddedtoaccountfortheextra50%ofenergy(e.g.forinfluentpumping,heating,lighting)thataWRRFofthatmagnitudewouldconsume(Figure1).

By Leiv Rieger, inCTRL Solutions Inc., Ignasi Aymerich, Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Reza Sobhani, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Diego Rosso, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Oliver Schraa inCTRL Solutions Inc., and Lluis Corominas, Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA)

Page 12

Description Value Unit

AverageInfluentFlowrate 20,520 m3/day

WastageFlowRate

QWASSummer 400 m3/day

QWASWinter 300 m3/day

RASFlowRate 18,446 m3/day

IRFlowRate manipulated to achieve 0.2mg NOx-N/L m3/day

SludgeAge 15.5 days

Figure 1 Average Electricity Consumption of the modelled WRRF & Table 1 - Operating Conditions of the example plant

Figure 2: Layout of the Case Study Plant as modelled in SIMBA#

Energy tariff model

TheenergytariffmodelisbasedontheSouthernCaliforniaEdisonpricestructureTOU-8(2014).TheimplementationofthetariffhasbeendoneaccordingtoAymerichetal.(2015).

Themodelledenergytariffconsistsofthefollowing4generalbillingterms:

i)EnergyUsageCharges,ii)PeakPowerDemandCharges,iii)CustomerCharges,Iv)ReactiveEnergyCharges.

MostpublicutilitiesintheUSareexemptfromtaxesandthereforenotaxesareapplied.TheenergypricingstructureappliedtotheEnergyUsageandPeakPowerDemandChargesisbasedonaTime-Of-Use(TOU)tariffstructure(Table2,Figure3,Figure4).

The Energy usagechargesareappliedontheactualenergyusedbytheWRRFaccordingtotheTOUrates.The Peak power demand charges areappliedtothemaximumpowerdrawnwithin15minutesforeachTOUperiodduringabillingperiod.The Customer Charges haveafixedfeestructuretocompensatetheutilityforadministrativecosts.The Reactive Energy Chargesincludethechargesthathavetobepaidwhenthereisanexcessconsumptionofreactiveenergyorpower.However,inthisstudynoreactiveenergymodelwasimplemented.

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Figure 3 (Left) Summer Season Time of Use Energy Pricing (June to September) & Figure 4 (Right) Winter Season Time of Use Energy Pricing (October to May)

Table 2: Rates Charged by Southern California Edison (TOU-8,2014)

CustomerCharge(US$/meter)312.31DeliveryService Generation

Energy Charge (US$/kWh)Summeron-peak 0.024 0.124Summermid-peak 0.024 0.064Summeroff-peak 0.024 0.038Wintermid-peak 0.024 0.064Winteroff-peak 0.024 0.038Peak Power Demand Charge (USD/kW/Meter/Month)FacilitiesRelated 14.32TimeRelatedSummer-On-peak 26.19Summer-Mid-peak 7.22Summer-Off-peak 0Winter-Mid-peak 0Winter-Off-peak 0

Results & Discussions

Comparison of Control Strategies

ThetwoABACstrategiesshowasignificantpotentialtosaveenergyandreducetotal nitrogen discharge (Figure 8a). The ammonia on-off controller reducesenergyconsumptionby22.4%comparedtotheBaseCase(Figure9).Theammonia PID controller consumes slightly more energy than the on-offcontrollerandreducesenergyconsumptionby21.5%(Figure9).Intermsoftotalnitrogenremovaltheon-offcontrollerreducestheTNdischargeby43.5%andthePIDcontrollerby42.4%.Althoughthedifferenceisminor,aplantmightdecide to use the ammonia on-off controller due to its slightly betterperformance.

Applying a costmodelwith a constant energy price, the relative cost savingspotentialwouldbethesameasfortheenergyreduction.Withtheenergytariff,

theresultsaresubstantiallydifferent.Theenergycostsfortheammoniaon-offcontrollerarenowthehighest,andonlyslightlylessthanintheBaseCase(Figure8b).ThisisduetothemuchhigherPeakPowerDemandChargeswhentheblowersareswitchedbackonafteranoffperiodwithahighpowerdemand.Asaresultofusingthecostmodel,thepercentsavingsforthetotalcostdropsto10%fortheNHx–PIDcontrollerandtoaround3%fortheNHx–on-off

Modelled Controllers

Base controller: DOPI control (Figure 5). A PI controllermaintainstheDOconcentrationinreactorAER2ataset-pointof2gDO/m3(mg/L).

Control Strategy 1:NHx,On-Offcontrol (Figure6).AnNHxmastercontrollerinthelastaerobicreactoractivates/inactivatestheDOPIcontroller.TheDOcontrollerisswitchedOn (DO set-point of 2.5 g DO/m3) when the ammoniumconcentration is above 3.5 gNHx-N/m3 and switchedOffwhenitislowerthan2.5gNHx-N/m3.

Control strategy 2: NHx,PID control (Figure 7). The NHxconcentration in the last aerobic reactor is controlled at3 g NHx-N/m3 with a PID controller that adjusts the DOset-pointforreactorAER2between0.1and2.5gDO/m3.

Figure 5 (Left): Base Controller - DO PI & Figure 6 (Right) Control Strategy 1 NHXON-OFF/DO PI

Figure 7 Control Strategy 2 - NHX PID/DO PI

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controller(Figure9). Impact of Equipment Models

Blowers have the highest impact on energy costs and therefore the equipmentefficiencyisonlydiscussedforaeration.Allequipmentmodelsusedinthisexamplehavealowerefficiencyatlowerflowranges.Figure9showsarelativecomparisonofthereductionpotentialsforairflow,energyconsumption,andtotalcostsforthetwoABACstrategiesversustheBasecase.

The difference between the reduction potentials for air flow and energyconsumption is caused by the varying blower efficiency (Figure 9). In absolutenumbers,theon-offcontrollerrequestsabout86,500Nm3/dandthePIDcontroller74,750Nm3/d.Thisiscausedbytheon-offcontrollerswitchingbetweenahighairflowandnoairflowwhereasthePIDcontrollersmoothensouttheairflow.

However,thebetterperformanceintermsofairflowrequirementiscounter-balancedbythePIDcontrollerrunningmoreofteninalowerairflowrangewithareducedefficiency.Thisresultsinaboutthesameenergyconsumptionforbothammoniacontrollers.

Conclusions

Thepaperpresentsacasestudydemonstratingtheimportanceoftakingenergytariffstructuresandequipmentefficiencyintoaccountwhencomparingcontrolsolutions.Thepresentedexampledemonstratesthatignoringtheabovemayleadtolowerenergyconsumptionbutanincreaseinenergycosts.

The following conclusions can be drawn:

• Energytariffshaveasignificantimpactonoperationalcosts.Time-of-Useandpeakpowerdemand charges should be appliedwhen comparingoperationstrategies and technologies.

• The results for the example plant showed both an over- andunderestimationofenergycostswhencomparedwithafixedpricedependingontheseason.Usingfixedenergypricesandneglectingenergytariffstructuresmaylead to biased conclusions.

• The presented example shows the importance of including detailed equipment models and energy tariffs in the evaluation of control strategies orothertechnologies.TheequipmentmodelsasimplementedinSIMBA#canbeusedtobetterdesignequipmentandfindthebestworkingpointforindividualpumpsand blowers.

• Thenextstepistomakeuseoftheequipmentandcostmodelsanddevelopsite-specificenergybalancecontrolstrategies.Therequiredmodelsforplantinternalenergygenerationusingbiogasfromanaerobicdigestionare available as well.

References

Amand,L.,Olsson,G.andCarlsson,B.(2013).Aerationcontrol-Areview.WaterSci.Technol.,67(11),2374–2398.

Aymerich,I.,Rieger,L.,Sobhani,R.,Rosso,D.andCorominas,Ll.(2015).Thedifferencebetweenenergyconsumptionandenergycost-Modellingenergytariff

structures.WaterRes.,81,113-123.

Gernaey, K.V., Jeppson, U., Vanrolleghem, P.A. and Copp, J. (edts.) (2014). Benchmarking of control strategies for wastewater treatment plants. ISBN:

9781843391463,IWAPublishing,London,UK.

Rieger,L.,Takács, I.andSiegrist,H. (2012). ImprovingnutrientremovalwhilereducingenergyuseatthreeSwissWWTPsusingadvancedcontrol.Water

EnvironRes.,84(2),171-189.

TOU-8(2014).SouthernCaliforniaEdison,ScheduleTOU-8,Time-of-useratesforlargeindustrialcustomers.

WaterEnvironmentFederation-WEF(2009).EnergyConservationinWaterandWastewaterFacilities(MOP32).WEFPublishing,Alexandria,VA,USA.

Figure 8: Evaluation of the three aeration control strategies (a) TN effluent concentrations and total energy consumed and (b) energy cost model versus av-erage energy price

Figure9:PercentreductionoftheTwoABAXStrategiescomparedtothebase case

Page 15

Startingadiscussionon savingenergy in activated sludgethrough dissolved oxygen control is unlikely to win prizes for originality or innovation. However, successfullyachievingthisthrougheffectiveinstrumentationandcontrol algorithms can reap rapid rewards.

Thereasonthatpropercontrolofaerationissoimportantisillustratedthroughthefigurepresentedbelow(figure1).

This breakdown is nothing new, so targeting an activatedsludgeplantasakeyoptimization location is,asadmittedabove,hardlyinnovative.

Before discussing the advances in instrumentation, let’sgo briefly back to basics. The requirement for aeration inactivatedsludgeistoenabletheconversionofammoniatonitrateandfinallytonitrogen.Thefirstofthesestagesrequiresoxygen,thesecondcarbon.Thisisbetterillustratedinadiagrammaticalformasbelow(figure2)

All plants benefit from increased levels of data, from themost basic with a singleaerationlanerightuptoflagshipsitesincorporatingmultiplelaneswithswingzones.Beingconfidentinthevalidityandreliabilityofthedataenablesapplicationoptionstobe considered.

In its most basic form and without any control logic, the Ammonia and Nitrateloadingdatacouldsimplybeusedtomonitorinletcharacteristicsandtheperformanceofthenitrification-denitrificationstages,alertinganoperatorwhenanactionisrequired.Whileanenhancementoverastaticset-point,thisisnotgoingtowinmedalsforefficiencyorenergysavings,andreliesonoperatorsbeingavailablewhentheactionisrequired.

Obviously, thenextstage isthentoautomatethis function.Howcomplicatedthis ismadedependsonhowthecontrolscheme isdeveloped.The levelofAmmoniacansimply be used to adjust the set-point of the blowers enabling targeted DO levels.IncorporatingtheMLSSmeasuredattheinlettothelaneenablesfurtherrefinementofthesetargetedlevelsastwovariablesarethenusedtocalculateload.AddingNitratemeasurementallowsfortrackingoftheperformanceofthenitrification-denitrificationstages,furtherexpandingtheknowledgeoftheprocessandpotentiallyidentifyingproblematicregions.

For sites incorporating swing zones, theseAmmonia andNitratemeasurements areevenmoreimportantastheycanbeusedtotriggerzoneactivation,changeofzoneprocessandmonitortheconcentrationsofeachparameterleavingtheswingzonesandenteringthefinalaerationstagestoensuretheplantisoperatingwithintherequiredmargin of safety to maintain discharge consents.

For those sites which do not have Ammonia consents but focus on carbon, theargumentisstillavalidone.Theplotinfigure4showscomparativedegradationspeedsofcarbonaceousmaterialandammoniaagainstdissolvedoxygenconcentrationsintheliquor.MeasurementofAmmonia at the inlet to theASP and in the aerationbasinwouldenablecontrolofcarbonthroughanammoniadegradationsurrogate.

Key Developments in the Technology

WhilemeasurementofincomingloadorloadatakeypointintheaerationbasinisanobviousimprovementoverthebasicDOset-pointcontrol,thesuggestionthattheloadmeasurementmaybeperformedthroughtheuseofIonSelectiveElectrodestoprovideliveAmmoniumandNitratemeasurementshasbeencontentioustodate.

Article:

Activated Sludge OptimisationUsing Ammonia & Nitrate Data

Figure 1. Breakdown of operational energy requirements as a percentage of entire plant demand. Data taken from: Energy Awareness in Wastewater Systems, DERF, June 4 2008

Figure 2. Microbial Pathways Schematic for Conventional Activated Sludge for Nitrogen removal

Figure 3. Complete sensor set-up for ASP control comprising: MLSS on inlet, Ammonia or combined Ammonia/Nitrate and DO in each lane, Nitrate on outlet

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Goodcontrolisimpossiblewithoutaccurateandreliabledata,somethingwhichISEshavetypicallyonlymanagedbrieflybeforebeginningtodrift.Alongsidethe issueof drift, the electrodes themselves have not been robust enough for wastewaterapplicationsresultinginachange-outfrequencyofaround3monthsandarealriskofdamagetotheelectrodesurfacesduringcleaning,renderingthemuseless.Allofthese issueshavecombined togive thehumble ISEa,perhapswell-deserved,badreputationamongstprocessscientistsandoperators.

However,theISEshouldnotbewrittenoffasanoption.Anumberofrecentadvancesinelectrodetechnology,bothintermsoffunctionandrobustconstruction,meanthattheISEsensordeservesasecondconsideration.

Thefirstissuethathasbeenaddressedistherobustnessoftheelectrodesthemselvesthrough incorporationofan integratedmetalgrid into theactive surface,bringinganaddedbenefitofstraightforwardelectrodecleaningwithnothingmoreadvancedthan a nail brush.

This has been coupled with improvements to the internal functionality of the electrodesenablingadramaticincreaseinthepotentialin-processoperationallifetime.Electrodesarenowbeingsuppliedwitha12monthwarrantyandanexpectedaccuratefunctionallifeof2yearswitharecommendedreplacementcycleof18months:amassiveimprovementovertheprevious3month replacement cycle.

This increase in stability would be of little benefit without a comparative development inaccuracy, repeatability and responsetime. Trials of the ISE technologyagainstwet chemistryanalysersshowedthatwhenappliedinactivatedsludgeprocessestheperformanceofthetwotechnologiesarecomparative,withtheISEsprovidingthebenefitofcontinuouslivemeasurements.

Real World Application

Followingextensivetrials,ISEtechnologyhasbeenappliedto30sitesacrossamajorutility,wheremeasurementsofAmmoniaandNitratearebeingusedtoenableadynamicDOcontrolscheme:amethodwhichhasgeneratedenergysavingsintheaerationlanesoneachsiteofbetween15and20%.

“WhencomparedtothelifecyclecostoftheISEsystempaybacktimesforthistechnologyareunderoneyear.Withalloftheseimprovementsbroughttofruition,perhapsitisfinallytimefortheISEtotakeits’placeamongsttheinstrumentswhichefficientsitesreallycan’tbewithout?”

Figure 4. Degradation rates of Carbon and Ammonia against DO concentrations

Figure 5: Cleaning the sensor head with a nail brush.

Figure 6. Plot of Relative Slope against Weeks Operational illustrating very little drift in sensor readings over extended period of use

Figure 7. Comparison of Ammonium and Nitrate measurements from ISE sensors and Analysers. Please note that the analysers are on 30 minute measurement cycle

DrOliverPuckeringisanambitious,dedicated,andself-motivatedCharteredchemicalengineerwithover5yearspost-grad-uationexperienceinproductandprocessdevelopment,operationsandsales.

Withabroadexperienceoftechnologiesandapplications,hehastheabilitytoaddvaluetoconcept,technology,productandserviceofferings.

XylemAnalyticsUKmanufacturesenvironmentalmonitoringinstrumentsandsystems.FormerlyknownasYSI,thegroupisamarketleaderwithareputationforhighlevelsofaccuracyandreliability.Thecompany’swaterqualitymeasuringinstrumentsaredesignedforbothlaboratoryandfielduse.Inadditiontobenchtopandhand-heldinstruments,XylemAnalyticsalsobuildsmonitoringsystemsandwirelessnetworksthatareabletooperateinremotelocationsandchallengingenvironments.

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Case Study:

Hamilton City Council Meets Compliance Demands with

System Upgrade

TheWaikatoRiver—the longestriver inNewZealand—suppliesallofHamiltoncity’swatersupply.Water is treated,distributed,andmanagedbytheHamiltonCityCounciltoensurethatwhenwaterreachesconsumers,itisfreefromharmfulorganismsandmeetswatersupplystandards.

Hamilton’sreticulatedwatersupplysystemconsistsofonewatertreatmentplantthatprovidespotablewatertoeightdifferentreservoirslocatedaroundthecitythroughover1000kmofpiping.Thereticulated(piped)networkdeliversthewaterstraighttothetapsofconsumers.Everysecondofeachday,HamiltonCityCouncilproducesanaverageof2,385glassesofhighqualitydrinkingwatertoover51,000homesandindustrialpremises.

ThecouncilisalsoresponsiblefortheoperationofthePuketeWastewaterTreatmentPlant(WWTP)—Hamilton’sonlywastewatertreatmentfacility.Thisplantservicesaregionthathasgrownrapidly inrecentdecadestohaveapopulationinexcessof150,000.Likethecity,thePuketeWWTPiscontinuallydeveloping,initscasetoimproveoperationalperformanceandmaintaincompliancewithachanginggovernmentregulatoryenvironment.

Leveraging theFactoryTalk® IntegratedProductionandPerformanceSuite fromRockwellAutomation,HamiltonCityCouncil implementedanupgradetotheirsupervisorycontrolanddataacquisition(SCADA)systemattheplant,enhancingtheabilityofkeystakeholderstomakeinformeddecisions,improveperformanceefficiencyandmeetregulatorycompliance.MeetingComplianceandProductivityRequirements

Safedrinkingwater,availabletoeveryone,isafundamentalrequirementforpublichealth.In2008,theNewZealandMinistryofHealthissuedreviseddrinkingwater standards.

Tocomplywiththeseregulations,itistheresponsibilityofwatertreatmentfacilitiestotrack,saveandprovidemonthlyreportsonwaterproduction,intakeand discharge levels.

Crucially,thestandardsrequirethatWaterTreatmentPlantsretainoperatingdatafor10years.MorethanadecadeagoRockwellAutomationprovidedthecouncilwiththesoftwaresuiteforitsprevioussupervisorycontrolanddataacquisition(SCADA)system.However,theRSView®32systemhadbecomeout-datedovertimeandinefficientforcompliancewithmodern-dayregulatoryrequirementssetoutbytheNewZealandGovernment.

WithitspreviousSCADAsystemthecouncilhadoftenrecordeddatamanuallybeforetransferringthisinformationintoMicrosoft®Excel®spreadsheetsforreporting.Afaster,moreaccurateandautomatedreportingsystemwasneeded,andonethatcouldrapidlygeneratepre-determinedreportsautomatically

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for sharing with authorised groups.

“OurprevioussystemwasoutdatedandwerequiredanupgradetohelpsimplifytheprocessofcomplyingwithcurrentwaterregulationsinNewZealand.Notonlythat,butweidentifiedthepotentialforimprovingoperationalefficienciesattheplantbyimplementinganintegratedsystemthataimstoincreaseproductivityandreducedown-time,”saidGaryPitcaithly,automationandelectricalmanageratHamiltonCityCouncil.

Akeyaimoftheupgradewastodeliverasystemwiththeabilitytoretain10yearsofdatainastableandreliablemanner.Atthesametime,thesystemwouldneedtoprovideoperationalefficienciescomparedwiththepreviousoperatingsystem,whilealsomaintainingasecureenvironmentonlyaccessiblebyauthorised stakeholders.

To improve on this process, Hamilton City Council engaged Rockwell Automation to provide the latest versions of the FactoryTalk software suite as theintegralelementofanupgradetoitssystem.AccordingtoPrasadNory,industrymanager–SouthPacificatRockwellAutomation,“FactoryTalkHistorianandFactoryTalkVantagePointareincreasinglybecomingstandardsinthewater/wastewaterindustry–especiallywiththeneedforcompliancetochangingdrinking water standards. Also, FactoryTalk Historian ME has been used by some councils in their pump stations to store data locally to take care ofcommunicationfailuresandmeetcompliance.”

“ByupgradingtotheFactoryTalksuitethekeybenefitsidentifiedbycouncilincluded:superiorreportingforcompliancetogovernmentregulations,improvedsystemreliabilityandstability,andreducedriskwhencontractorsareonsitetoundertakemodificationsorfurtherexpansions.”

TheFactoryTalksoftwaresuitedeliversareal-timeexchangeofinformationthroughoutorganisations,acriticalelementthatallowsformoreinformedbusinessdecisions,improvedresponsiveness,increasedproductivity,reducedcostsandeaseofcompliancewithregulations.

Implemented in-house by Pitcaithly, Hamilton City Council upgraded theWWTP’s system over sixmonths to include the Factory View (SE), FactoryTalkHistorian,FactoryTalkVantagePoint,FactoryTalkAssetCentreandFactoryTalkViewPointapplications.TheRockwellAutomationCustomerSupportandMaintenanceteamprovidedsupporttothecouncilduringtheupgrade,particularlyforthemigrationfromHistorianClassictoFactoryTalkHistorian.

Thelong-termstorageandreportingcapabilitiesrequiredtocomplywithwaterstandardsareprovidedbyFactoryTalkHistorianandFactoryTalkVantagePoint.DataisstoredintheHistorianserverfortherequired10yearretentionperiodandiseasilyaccessedforanalysisandreportingpurposes.FactoryTalkVantage-Pointisusedbytheplanttoscheduleandproduceautomaticallygeneratedreportsprovidinginformationonperiodicalwaterconsumption,discharge,intake,waterqualityandstoragelevels.

FactoryTalkAssetCentreprovidesimprovedcontractorcontrol,changemanagementandstoragecapabilities.Mostimportantly,theplantisnowpositionedtoefficientlycomplywithwaterregulationsinNewZealand,includingthestorageofdataandrecordsfor10years.DeliveringFreshWaterandaCleanEnvironment

ThebenefitsofthenewIntegratedArchitecture®solutionwillhelptheplantsupplyfreshdrinkingwaterandacleanenvironmenttoresidentsofHamiltonformanyyearstocome.AccordingtoPitcaithly,historicalandreportingdataisnowavailablemorequicklyandaccuratelyfollowingimplementationoftheFactoryTalksuite,asthecouncilhadenvisionedpriortotheupgrade.

“TheupgradehasdeliveredgreatereaseofuseofoursystemthroughouttheWWTP.ThenewHistorianissuperiorinhowitstoresdataandmakesgeneratinginformationforvitalreportsamuchmoreefficienttasktoundertake,”explainsPitcaithly.“TheVantagePointsoftwareallowsustodevelopreportsatwill,whetheritisforcompliancetowaterstandardsorforotherneeds.Thesereportscanthenbepublishedasweb-basedreportsthatareavailableforanyoneauthorisedtoviewthem.”

AnotherkeyresultoftheupgradehasbeentheflexibilityithasaddedforpersonneloperatingthesystemattheWWTP.“TheFactoryTalksoftwaresuitehasenabledourteamtobemoreflexiblewiththeirtime,aswearenowabletoeditorupdatereportsaswego.

WenowsimplystoreourdatadirectlyintoHistorianandthedataspreadsdirectlyfromthePAC(programmableautomationcontroller)toahumaninterface.Thisdataisincorporatedintospreadsheetsforustointerrogate,whetheritisonadaily,weeklyormonthlybasis,totellusifwe’vehadabreachinturbidityorifchlorinelevelsaren’twhattheyshouldbe,”saidPitcaithly.

Theflexibilityextendstotheabilityofsystemuserstoremotelyaccessthesoftwarefromtabletcomputersorsmartphones.“TheteamhastabletsandsmartphonesthatcanbasicallyaccessFactoryTalkViewanywhereintheworld–iftheyareoutoftheofficeoron-callthesystemcanbeeasilyaccessedandkeychangesmade,”concludesPitcaithly.

WiththeFactoryTalksoftwaresuitedeliveringnewfoundoperationalpotentialfortheplant,thecouncilisplanningtocontinuetoupdateandimproveitssystemfurtherinthecomingyearsutilisingthesecapabilities.

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Article:

Big Data DilemmaIncreasinglyutilitycompaniesarebeingsteeredtowardsBigData,andthebenefitsthatcanbederivedfromminingandanalysingthevastquantityofcustomerandoperationaldatatheyhold.

Watercompanieshavelargephysicalassetbases,distributedinvaryingconcentrations,overregionsofmixedtopography,geologyandlanduse.AsaresultGIShaveapotentiallysignificantroletoplayinplanningandexecutingcapitalandoperationalprogrammes.Largesilosofstructuredandunstructureddataarealreadyacommonfeatureforutilitiessuchaswatercompanies.BeyondthemorefamiliarITgroundofcustomerdata,modellingofassets,pipelineflowdata,operationaldatafromtreatmentplantsandotherwaypointshasstretchedthelimitsofsystems,bothintermsofhardwareandstorage,sincethe1980s(andearlierinafewcases).Nowthatutilitiesareusingdiversedatasources,includingweather(e.g.radarrainfall),3Dmapping,instrumentationandthirdpartysources,eventhestorageofdatacanrequiresubstantialITinfrastructure.

However,many ‘BigData’ callsmiss a fundamental issue, in that asset ‘data’ is expensive to obtain and consistentlymaintain.WhereAMR (AutomatedMeterReading)watermeteringisinstalled,customerusagedataisreadilyavailable.However,mostutilities’physicalassetsaregeographicallywidelyspread,sometimesinlocationsdifficulttoaccess,andthecostofgatheringandmaintainingdatacanthusberestrictivelyhigh.Forexample,amanholesurveycancostanaverageof£70ormore;withover550,000kmofsewersintheUK,andassuming40mbetweenmanholes,a1%validationsurveywouldcostcirca£10million.

Surveyscanalsohavecomplexhealthandsafety risks thatneedtobemanaged,suchasworking inconfinedspaces,atheight,or in themiddleofbusyroadwayswithcarsandlorriespassingatspeedjustfeetaway.Thisisjustoneelementofdata,andsurveysincomplexsituationscanbeextremelyexpensive,withelementssuchasunderground,underseaandotherwisecoveredpipelinesurveyssometimescostingintheregionof£Imillion.Forthesereasons,assetdataisoftenlimitedandofdubiousquality.Sensorsandinstrumentationareimprovingdatacollectionanddataflow.Sensorsarecheapertoinstall,runandmaintain,andaremorerobust.Nonetheless,theyarestillrelativelyexpensiveitemsintermsoftheup-frontcostwhenmakingthewaternetworkmoreda-ta-generative.

Withassetdataoftenbeing limited,suspect,andcostlyto improve,andsensorsand instrumentationexpensivetodeploy,smarterutilitiessuchaswatercompaniesarelookingtomakebetteruseoftheinformationtheyalreadyholdinordertounderstandthenetwork,supplyanddemand,customerexpectationsandfuturepreventativemaintenance.Byusingacombinationofengineeringknowledgecoupledwitheffectiveanalytics,trendscanbemappedandnormalassetbehaviourdetermined.Wheredataisreadilyavailablesuchanalysisisrelativelysimple,howeverwhereassetdataislimited,engineeringknowledgeandunderstandingcanbeusedtodefinerelationshipsbetweentheseeminglyunrelateddatasets.Thekeyisinunderstandinghowdatasourcescanbemeaningfully linked.

Therearealreadyanumberofgoodexampleswheresuchsolutionshavebeensuccessfullydeployed.Forexample,anAustralianwaterutilityneededtoimprovewatermanagementandavailability.Itinvestedinareal-timedemandandresponsesystemcomprisingofahydrodynamicmodeltopredictwaterproduction,demandandplanningagainsttargetedandactualusage.Thisincorporatedweatherdatatopredictwaterdemandandusagetozonelevel.Italsocreated‘whatif’scenariosbasedonpredictivemodelling.Inacountryknownforextremehottemperaturesandlimitedrainfallthatcanhamperwatersupply,thisuseoflimited,buttargeted,datahasensuredthatwaterresourceshavebeenavailablethroughtestingclimaticconditions.Theresultismorepredictabilityofsupplyandcostforboththewaterutilityandtheendcustomer.

Anotherutilityrequiredacompletesolutiontooptimiseitsinspectionandmaintenanceplans,andprovideconditionmonitoringofthesupplydeliverynetworktopredictfailuresandreducecost.Itdeployedaweb-basedreal-timedashboardtoremotelymonitor100+keypointsonthenetwork,alongwithmanagingfieldservicepersonnel,usingahand-heldmobilesolutionforfieldservicepersonneltoenteranduploaddatawhileonrouteinspections.Thishasbeenbasedonlimiteddatasets(e.g. load,weatheretc.),andamongstotherbenefitssavedanestimated£20mininfrastructurecosts.Similartechniquescanbeusedforworkmanagement,aswhereaUKwaterutilityusedanautomateddatamanagementandoperationalpredictiveanalyticstoolforimprovedworkloadandresourceplanning.Thiswasbasedonthecreationofanearreal-timeOperationalDataStore(ODS)collatingoperationalandbusinessdatasetsforuseinreportingandforecasting.Thissolutiondelivereda20%increaseinplannedworkcompletionleadingtoimprovementincustomersatisfactionandServiceIncentiveMechanism(SIM)SIM,backlogreducedbyupto95%,a10%productivityimprovement,andincreasedaccuracyandpredictability.

Similartechniqueshavebeenusedtolookatinfrastructureinterdependencies.TheUKInfrastructureTransitionsResearchConsortium(www.itrc.org.uk)hasdevelopedanewgenerationofinfrastructuresystemsimulationmodelsandtoolstoinformtheanalysis,planninganddesignofnationalinfrastructure.TheNationalInfrastructureModel(NISMOD)simulationsprovidenewmethodsforanalysingperformance,risksandinterdependencies,andshouldproveveryhelpfulforcross-infrastructureplanning(theofficiallaunchofthemodelstookplaceattheIRTCconferenceinOctober2015).Itisinterestingtonotehoweverthat,evenforthesehigherlevelmodels,thedevelopersneededtoworkcloselywiththevariousorganisationsinvolvedtobuildsuitabledatasets,astherewasnotsufficientdataavailableinthepublicdomainattheoutset.

Ascanbeseenfromabove,largebusinessinformationsystemsmaybeoflimitedvaluetoutilitiesintermsofmanagingtheirassets.Ofmorevalueistheeffectiveandconsistentlinkingofdisperseddatasources,coupledwithaneasilyconfigurableanalyticsengine.Suchtoolshavealreadybeenusedtoanswermanyassetrelatedquestions,suchastheviabilityofrainwaterharvestingindifferingregionsandclimates.Itisindeedpossibletoanswerahighpercentageoftheworkandassetmanagementrelatedquestionsposedbyutilities,evenwiththelimitedassetdatamanyhold.Afewexamplesinclude:

•Reducingpollutioneventsthrougheffectiveuseofdatafromthelevelsensors•Productionplanningacrossareasandregions,basedontelemetryandclimatedata•ReducingblockageandrelatedOtherCauseflooding• Tracking leakage•Reducingenergyuse•ImprovingcompliancemonitoringatsmallTreatmentWorks

Eachquestionishoweverindividualtothespecificsituation,soonlythosewhoareabletounderstandboththeengineeringandsystemelementswillbeabletosuccessfullydeliverbeneficialresults.

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February 2016

Smart Potable Water Networks Workshop25thFebruary2016SaffronHill,LondonHostedbyCIWEM

WEX Global 201629thFebruary-2ndMarchLisbon,PortugalHostedbyWater&EnergyExchange

March 2016

Optimising Control of fouling with Smart Sensors9thMarch2016NorthernDesignCentre,Gateshead,UKHostedbySensorsforWaterInterestGroup

WWT Smart Water Networks17thMarch2016HolidayInn,Birmingham,UKHostedbyWWT

May 2016

Robotics & Autonomous Systems4thMay2016NationalSpaceCentre,LeicesterHostedbySensorsforWaterInterestGroup

Flow Measurement Workshop25thMay2016HRWallingford,OxfordshireHostedbySensorsforWaterInterestGroup

June 2016

IWA Leading Edge Technology Conference13th-16thJune2016JerezdelaFrontera,SpainHostedbytheInternationalWaterAssociation

ACE 201619th-22ndJune2016Chicago,Illinois,USAHostedbytheAmericanWaterWorksAssociation

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Conferences, Events,Seminars & Studies

Conferences, Seminars & Events

Optimising Control of fouling with Smart Sensors

Where: NorthernDesignCentre,GatesheadWhen: 9thMarch2015

Description

Foulingisacommonproblemwhichcaneffectsensorsinanylocationinclud-ingsewers,wastewatertreatmentworks,theenvironment,watertreatmentworksandcoolingwatercircuits.Therearemanydifferenttypesoffoulingdependingonthelocationandliquid,e.g.fats,mineraldepositsorbiolog-icalgrowth,andeachcancreatedifferentmaintenancerequirements.Thisworkshopwilllookattheeffectoffoulingonwatersensorsandthevariousstrategies to control it which can be used to extend sensor life and maintain accurate measurements.

ThiseventwillbehostedbyAndrewChappeloftheEnvironmentAgency

Smart Water Networks

Where: SaffronHill,London,UKWhen: 25thFebruary2016

Init’s2ndyeartheCIWEMSmartWaterNetworksworkshopwilldiscussthe developments of intelligence within the potable water network and usingthedevelopmentof“Smart”toit’sbestuse.

The“Smart”WaterNetworkhasbeenaroundformanyyearsinvariousforms. This event will highlight some of the current technologies within the waterindustry,includingthebenefitsofhavingtherightinstrumentationinplacewithinthenetwork;identificationofpressuretransients;and,theefficientuseofdatainordertomakeinformeddecisions.

This event will…

• Discusstheindustry’sviewofthe“Smart”WaterNetwork• Demonstratethat“Smart”startswiththebasicsandafirmfoundation;

andwiththeapplicationoftherighttechnology,canleadtoefficiencies• Highlight the technologies that are available to water companies

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