“We have too much data” is the refrain we continually hear from water utilities. It’s no surprise that managing data from multiple sources and turning it into business insights presents a daunting challenge; however, data influx does not have to be a burden. When managed well, there’s no such thing as too much data, especially if your business is implementing a big data strategy — a topic that has implications and reach beyond the scope of this paper.
Yorkshire Water produces 1.3 billion liters of clean water and treats one billion liters of water in its waste water networks every single day. The company has 686 treatment facilities spread across northern England and 83,000 kilometers of water pipelines, which is enough to circle the earth twice.
By 2020, the number of connected things will triple from 6 billion to 20 billion. Digitalization is creating new business opportunities and alternative business models.
This paper shows how the four pillars of operator effectiveness lead operators to greater awareness, faster response and better decisions.
In its quest to gain greater remote accessibility and increase ease of use, a progressive sewerage authority elects to think outside the traditional SCADA box.
Communities around the world are facing a growing storm. Complex challenges including water scarcity, changing demographics, extreme weather patterns, and aging or overly stressed infrastructure are colliding to threaten critical water, energy, transport, enterprise and health networks. The water industry is in the eye of the storm.
Varkom D.D. (Varkom) brings water and wastewater utility services to 175,000 people across seven townships and 20 municipalities in Varaždin County, Croatia. The organization wanted a feasibility study completed to help better manage its assets spanning the 1,650-kilometer supply network, which included 23 water tanks and 36 pressure stations.
Varkom D.D. (Varkom) brings water and wastewater utility services to 175,000 people across seven townships and 20 municipalities in Croatia. The organization wanted a feasibility study completed to help better manage its assets. Read the full case study to learn how the team estimated that 70 percent of time was saved directly in model preparation and an additional 70 percent of time was saved in model management and preliminary design.
Population health is a primary concern of water utilities, whether water demands are typical (daily demands) or an out-of-the ordinary event occurs and threatens the continuous, safe supply of potable water. Water utilities must be prepared to respond to emergencies before they occur, and this is where hydraulic modeling can be particularly useful.
Water and wastewater treatment plant design is a large scale, complex engineering effort that requires a multi-discipline design team, often spread across many offices, and involving collaboration among different consulting firms, contractors, and owners.
The industrial world is awash with data and new information from sensors, applications, equipment, and people.
A wide range of issues can disrupt the normal functioning of an urban water system, such as storms and other natural disasters, pollution, physical damage, cyber incidents, aging and insufficient infrastructure, and rapid urban growth.
KUB's water system has experienced 30 percent to 35 percent non-revenue water over the past 10 years; hard-to-find underground leaks are the big culprit. Reducing leaks improves customer service, increases operational efficiency, reduces expenses for chemicals and power, and has other benefits.
Located just south of Montgomery, Alabama, the City of Troy is a unique mix of southern small-town charm and big-city amenities. Read the full case study to learn how the City leveraged Sensus’ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution to gather more data and monitor for issues likes leaks or pipe breaks
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.
The Ru-32mA is a versatile eight channel RTU that can be supplied with one or two pressure sensors and can interface up to two digital inputs (pulse and/or event), one 4-20mA current loop from a process instrument, one analog voltage or potentiometer input, and two additional inputs to capture the encoded register reading of single or dual water meters such as master meters and compound meters.
Nicole George, Product Manager - Pumping Variable Frequency Drives with Eaton, starts this Water Talk discussion with a description of the Internet of Things (IoT) before going deep on capabilities, particularly with pumping systems and variable frequency drives (VFDs). Learn how IoT-enabled pumps can help manage operation more efficiently and save on labor costs with cloud-connected, VFD-powered data analytics and health monitoring.
The cost of operations is a rising concern for many water utilities, in addition to the chief concern of treating to regulations and protecting the environment. What may be overlooked, however, is the importance of power management to help achieve these objectives. In this Water Talk interview, Eaton Corporation's Joel Benzing explains how intelligent electrical infrastructure can help enhance plant productivity and efficiency by aiding, optimizing, and protecting the facility's equipment as well as its people.
Big Data is on the minds and lips of many water system managers, but how many utilities are actually utilizing it? Jason Carter, the Water Utility Innovation Leader at Arcadis, notes that the water industry is a bit behind, but he also sees a clear path forward — one where Big Data plays a central role in operations and, consequently, newfound efficiencies.
In the world of water and wastewater, it's not enough to simply get a measurement back on how your system is performing. The non-linear process of water treatment and distribution requires ongoing adjustment and diagnostics based on process and regular instrument analysis. In this Water Online video, Tom Siller, Senior Director for Hach's Software Business Unit, discusses Claros, a new water intelligence system that not only analyzes but looks to fill the knowledge void as we face a generational change in our treatment operator ranks.
Designing SCADA systems can be a challenge. When developing or updating a SCADA system, it is important to consider which devices it will need to communicate with, how and where the application HMI is required, as well as the disruptiveness of component downtime or missing historical data. With these items, one can start the process of planning their application architecture. Of course, it is good to consider that the architecture should be flexible enough to support the progressive updating.
In this new era of digitalization, close collaboration between partners is vital to reap the full benefits that big data and analytics offer. The approach that enables digital collaboration is ABB Ability™ Collaborative Operations - a remote operations and maintenance model that helps power generation companies harness the potential of digitalization.
When it comes to the future of utility management, every arrow points toward greater adoption of 'smart' systems. Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is smart, in a sense, but the mere existence of a SCADA system at your facility won't maximize efficiency and optimization. The capabilities and opportunities available to utilities through data and analytics are going largely untapped, according to two experts who joined Water Online for Water Talk, but a new initiative could help unlock its ever-growing potential.
