It can be hard to go it alone, especially when times get tough. Many utilities are seeking support, as they deal with failing infrastructure, escalating contamination threats, extreme weather, and a retiring, difficult-to-replace workforce. These challenges could be overcome with a full set of resources — money, people, equipment, expertise — but many utilities, especially small-community systems, are not so complete.
With the proliferation of new sensors and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) initiatives now feeding SCADA systems, water industry managers lament how they are drowning in a sea of data yet starving for insights that really matter. With concepts like data democratization starting to bear fruit, advanced analytical capabilities are creating new opportunities for water insights without requiring a degree in computer science.
Understaffing, upcoming retirements, and finding qualified replacements seem to be recurring themes in the water industry. Perhaps the answers are as much about the tools we use as the people using them. Here is how a new approach to utility data management can capture the knowledge of retiring workers, share the insight across all disciplines, and shore up the skills and interests of the next generation.
In many water industry applications, a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is considered the heartbeat of the operation. As a result, many data management decisions revolve around what the SCADA system can or cannot do and how big of a deal and expense it is to change. Can’t there be a way to devise more ROI-responsive data solutions, without having to change SCADA solutions?
Texas is sizable enough to be a large country on its own, with an economy to match, and is also proudly unique. But when it comes to water issues, the Lone Star State shares a lot in common with the rest of America: overwhelmed and vulnerable infrastructure, threats to water quality and security, and competition for resources.
Environmental Impact Bonds, EIBs, are a market-based option that leverage private capital, typically from impact investors, to finance infrastructure. They typically use pay-for-performance, and are rapidly traction in green stormwater infrastructure and climate resiliency initiatives.
Community-Based Public Private Partnerships, CBP3s, are a market-based solution for efficient delivery of large-scale infrastructure.
Mass market access to the internet through a combination of hardwired, Wi-Fi, or cellular communications channels has conditioned many people to think that “a network is a network is a network.” When it comes to water utilities, however, the nature of the application environments and requirements dictate a closer look at how to satisfy the specific requirements most efficiently. Here are 14 checkpoints to consider before selecting a new network option or revamping an old one.
Efficiently service and maintain intelligent field devices
Field devices are the eyes and ears of automation. The failure of a valve positioner, temperature, flow or pressure sensor can quickly lead to serious malfunction of the process. With SIMATIC PDM Maintenance Station V3.0, Siemens offers the right solution for efficiently monitoring the condition of smart field devices, irrespective of the automation and control systems used
From data to knowledge to transformation
Move from complexity to simplicity, from asset and process intelligence to operational intelligence with the PI System. Its highly scalable, open data infrastructure empowers enterprises in real time, transforming operational data into actionable knowledge and business transformation.
ABB uses digital solutions to drive outcomes. Engaging customers to demonstrate tangible results that scale.
The new generation of ABB’s total plant automation: DCS and SCADA for the power and water industries.
Reduced operational costs and downtime through seamless distributed control system integration.
Real-time control of a 360km water distribution system through an advanced distributed control system.
Improved water reliability and lifecycle costs through total control of a one hundred mile transfer system.
100% available water in the driest of deserts through highly efficient desalination.
The House Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2020 Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies bill on a vote of 31 to 21. The legislation funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Interior programs, the Department of Energy, and other related agencies.
Aqua America Inc. is recognizing the seventh annual Infrastructure Week, May 13-20, 2019, helping raise awareness of the critical state of infrastructure across the United States. A leading contributor to water and wastewater infrastructure repair and replacement, Aqua plans to invest more than $555 million this year across the eight states where the company operates to improve systems.
Acting Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Joel Baxley recently announced that USDA is investing in 40 projects in 20 states to improve rural water infrastructure (PDF, 151 KB).
The City of Flint, Michigan — the country’s most visible victim of lead contamination in drinking water brought on by outdated infrastructure — has recently run into trouble financing much needed improvements on the wastewater side.
The first-ever analysis of needs of the U.S. stormwater sector shows an estimated $7.5B annual funding gap and revealed top priorities and challenges across the country.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the availability of more than $125M in new funds to improve drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in the EPA Region 8 states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
Recently, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is awarding more than $20M to 22 projects in 11 coastal states to protect, restore or enhance more than 7,000 acres of coastal wetlands and adjacent upland habitats under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program.
Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm, has been selected by the City of Phoenix, Arizona, to provide program management services for the City’s Zone 3D and 4A Improvements Program.
Orascom Construction PLC announces that its 50:50 joint venture with Arab Contractors has signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to build a water treatment plant in Egypt for USD 739 million.
The U.S. infrastructure industry is at a moment of transition, and President Trump is again talking infrastructure with Capitol Hill, tabling a $2T investment number.
In water and wastewater operations, optimizing energy use plays a huge role in cost efficiency, but how can you know if pumping equipment and other motors are running as efficiently as possible? Analytics systems that interpret performance from a variety of data points — pump curves, run time, flow rates, vibration, temperature, energy consumption, etc. — can quantify pump operation to keep performance efficiency on an upward track.
In today’s competitive business environment, which focuses on increased throughput, economies of scale and a healthy bottom line, accurate and reliable measurement is a key component. Monitoring production processes by installing a wide range of sensors including flow, level, temperature, and pressure is common and crucial to be competitive. Although there are many reasons why plant managers decide to install monitoring devices in their process, environmental and regulatory reasons dominate one side of the spectrum, whereas quality, process control and monitoring govern the other.
Combined and sanitary sewer overflows are natural hazards for wastewater collection systems. Without a comprehensive solution to monitor troublesome conditions, overflows can be triggered with little warning and lead to expensive and embarrassing situations. Fortunately, versatile analytical systems that capitalize on existing wastewater collection infrastructure hold promise for avoiding such negative impacts.
Knowing that aeration requirements consume 50 to 60 percent of a wastewater treatment plant's (WWTP) energy bill is one thing. Knowing exactly how and when to tweak aeration output to optimize activated sludge process efficiency with minimal energy waste is an entirely different story. Here are several key considerations on using precise air-flow measurement to reach that sweet spot with greater consistency and cost-efficiency.
With the proliferation of new sensors and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) initiatives now feeding SCADA systems, water industry managers lament how they are drowning in a sea of data yet starving for insights that really matter. With concepts like data democratization starting to bear fruit, advanced analytical capabilities are creating new opportunities for water insights without requiring a degree in computer science.
Understaffing, upcoming retirements, and finding qualified replacements seem to be recurring themes in the water industry. Perhaps the answers are as much about the tools we use as the people using them. Here is how a new approach to utility data management can capture the knowledge of retiring workers, share the insight across all disciplines, and shore up the skills and interests of the next generation.
