Point Versus Continuous Level Measuring Technologies

By Lydia Miller, Senior Marketing Engineer, Level, Rosemount Measurement, Emerson Automation Solutions

While point level measuring approaches are regarded as simple and user friendly, they lack the capabilities of more sophisticated continuous measuring instruments.

Water and wastewater utilities routinely need to monitor the level of water and other liquids in various applications. These level measurements are used in many ways and situations such as:

• Level is often converted to volume, as when measuring how much of a treatment chemical is in a storage tank. For example, the height of liquid in a tank is converted to gallons.
• Level may relate more to where the liquid level is in a tank, such as when used to turn on a pump to empty a sump or lift station when liquid reaches a predetermined point.
• Level may also be used to calculate a flow measurement, as in open-channel flow applications.