All-in-One SCADA

By Chris Little

How Integrated HMI tools are helping a water utility benefit more from their historical data.

Serving roughly 35,000 people, the Town of Natick Water/Sewer Division remotely monitors 2 water reservoirs, 32 sewer lift stations and 2 drinking water treatment plants. In 2008, the utility found itself with an aging monitoring & control system that was becoming increasingly difficult to use and maintain.

Natick’s Consultant Engineer, Greg Eldridge, VP at Haley and Ward, brought in Andrew Ian of IAN Technology Solutions to create a new system using VTScada software. This HMI product was able to communicate with existing PLCs and RTUs. Most importantly, it was a single integrated package that included critical features such as historian, report generator, remote access and alarm dialer. In this article, Natick’s Anthony Comeau and integrator Andy Ian discuss how the new system is helping operators and managers more effectively spend their limited time and budget.