Every city facing infrastructure or operational challenges or concerns about maintaining quality of life in the face of population growth or a changing environment has benefits to gain from a unified smart-city approach. Here are some concepts for promoting understanding and acceptance among utility and government decision-makers, plus several examples of benefits already being garnered by smart cities large and small.
The main lift station serving the waste water treatment plant in Morgan’s Point, Texas, continually experienced problems with its three standard non-clog pumps. The pumps frequently clogged when rainfall totals reached or exceeded 2 inches. Shop rags, pieces of 2 x 4 lumber, plastic bottles, gloves, and wet wipes all commonly clogged the pumps when the standard demand increased. Pump removal, unplugging, and recurring repairs were required, but the service company was not always available for immediate assistance, causing problems for residents serviced by this lift station.
Denver Water serves 1.4 million people in the city of Denver and the surrounding suburbs. It is the largest — and oldest — water utility in the state of Colorado and its service area covers more than 335 square miles.
Water industry professionals are experiencing a data deluge. There’s a lot of data out there, gathered from sensors monitoring everything from water quality to pipe bursts — but altogether, it’s too much data divided among too many silos to make sense of what it all means.
Maintenance and performance of pressurized water distribution systems require a complete grasp on the pressure ratings of every component within the system. Mueller gives valuable insight here for pressure rating standards needed for flanged valves.
The need for a solid cybersecurity strategy has been discussed and debated for almost a half a century now, and yet the basic worm-type attacks first documented back in 1972 are still with us today. Why? Because even the most basic measures to protect control systems from these types of attacks are still not systematically employed.
The City of Rushville, Indiana had to remedy a consent order filed in 2007 for its untreated combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges that were polluting the Flatrock River, a violation of the Clean Water Act. The city originally planned to install a 1 MGD stormwater storage tank, but was approached by Aqua-Aerobic representatives with a pilot test proposal utilizing a new technology.
ABB provides an extensive selection of proven measurement and analytical products and solutions for power generation industry applications.
Digitalization of the municipal water treatment industry is fragmented today, with instrumentation, control, and automation technologies mixed with manual operational activities. Such infrastructures can be detrimental in cases of hydro-geological events, such as severe storms and earthquakes. The good news: When natural disasters strike, digitalization can help get municipal water treatment back online quickly and effectively.
The development of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) over the past two decades has changed the face of many industries. Operation Technology (OT) — largely industrial equipment — has become increasingly connected, and the integration of Information Technology (IT) components allows such devices to leverage software that drives data collection and analysis, resulting in enhanced performance and ultimately "smarter" machines.
A Chicago stormwater diversion tunnel designed to correct a chronic flooding problem that has plagued the city’s Albany Park neighborhood over the past decade has been recognized for its effectiveness and ingenuity.
Constant monitoring of critical motors while de-energized prevents failures on startup, reduces unscheduled downtime, saves on major rewinding repairs and increases personnel safety
Siemens offers to our customers the ability to both make process measurements and to remotely monitor the activity and health of that instrumentation without the need for SCADA systems or other expensive process control room products. By utilizing Siemens’ ability to offer unparalleled flow, level, pressure, temperature, and weight measurement as well as valve control, we can provide a broad range of process measurements and offer unequaled monitoring of the health and performance of those products.
One of the most common processes in wastewater treatment is the activated sludge method, which biologically treats the wastewater through the use of large aeration basins. This process requires the pumping of compressed air into the aeration basins where a diffuser system ensures the air is distributed evenly for optimum treatment. The energy needed to provide compressed air is a significant cost in the operation of a wastewater treatment plant.
Facility administrators will find the advanced ST100 Series Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flow Meter from Fluid Components International (FCI) helps them improve the accuracy of specialty gas point of use and sub-metering operations to achieve accurate billing in their labs for better cost tracking and control.
Coriolis measurement has been adopted as a default technology in many application scenarios due to its high accuracy and immunity to process variables (temperature, pressure and flow profile). However, Coriolis wasn't always widely accepted. Two applications, in particular, helped what was once a nascent flow measurement technology gain a foothold in the marketplace.
Fox Thermal Flow Meters use a constant temperature differential (constant Δ T) technology to measure mass flow rate of air and gases.
Dosing of the precipitant was adjusted manually based on the laboratory measurement value of the daily composite sample and so was unable to respond to possible peaks. Although being compliant with the effluent limits, the values observed fluctuate between 0.2 and 0.8 mg/L.
Hach LDO® technology improves the efficiency of pharmaceutical plant’s wastewater treatment process, helping to protect the environment and the community.
Levels of phosphorus, a chemical element that promotes organic growth, must be controlled in wastewater coming from beverage, food and dairy processing plants. Failure to control phosphorus accurately has a negative impact on water quality and can lead to large fines.
Compliance and consistent high quality are two of the key goals within the beverage industry. Hach® provides support for these goals through comprehensive analyses of water and beer.
The OPTISONIC 7300 is a universal 2-path ultrasonic gas flowmeter for process and utility gas measurements in oil and gas refineries or the chemical or petrochemical industries. It is also suitable for non-custody transfer natural gas applications or applications with (compressed) air, mixed or flue gases (up to +180°C / +356°F). Using the transit time differential measuring principle, the OPTISONIC 7300 delivers high performance over a wide flow range (up to DN600 / 24", turndown ratio: 100:1). Its patented titanium transducers are perfectly focused, equalizing process fluctuations and avoiding acoustic feedback.
The OPTISONIC 6300 is an ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter for permanent mount installation. It is particularly suitable for flow measurement of (non-)conductive liquids at any location where inline measurement is not possible or desirable. The flowmeter consists of a combination of one or two clamp-on sensors and one ultrasonic signal converter. Its robust clamp-on rail is highly flexible and can be very easily attached to virtually any pipe up to DN4000 / 160".
The OPTISONIC 6300 P is a portable, battery-powered ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter for temporary flow measurement of (non-)conductive liquids. It can be used at virtually any location and without process interruption or need to cut pipes. Due to its flexibility, the meter is equally suited for comparative measurements on stationary measuring equipment (e.g. pumps, flowmeters etc.) or for use as a short-term replacement of faulty devices. As standard the clamp-on flowmeter is also provided with a measurement option for thermal energy applications.
The OPTISONIC 3400 is a 3-path ultrasonic inline flowmeter designed for a wide range of standard or more demanding process applications with homogeneous, non-viscous aqueous liquids as well as viscous fluids of up to over 1000 cSt. It is also the perfect choice for applications with cryogenic products (as low as -200°C / -328°F), media with extended temperature ranges (up to +250°C / +482°F) as well as low or extreme pressure ratings. The OPTISONIC 3400 offers a broad range of diameters – from DN25 / 1" for dosing purposes to DN3000 / 120" for water transportation pipelines.
The OPTIBATCH 4011 is the standard Coriolis mass flowmeter for process batching of conductive and non-conductive liquids. It is a highly accurate and specialised meter for linear and rotating filling machines. The fully welded maintenance-free device with twin U-shape is particularly suitable for hygienic applications in the pharmaceutical or food and beverage industries. It can be equipped with DIN11864-2 hygienic flange connections, hygienic clamp connections or many other bespoke fittings according to customer specifications.
The OPTIMASS 1010 is a cost-effective twin straight tube Coriolis mass flowmeter for a wide range of universal and hygienic applications with liquids and gases (up to 170,000 kg/h or 6,235 lb/min and +130°C / +266°F). It features an integrated Modbus converter. This makes the flowmeter an ideal solution where a DCS or a PLC is already in use and extensive communication options and control functions are not necessary. By way of its Modbus interface the flowmeter integrates easily into existing controller systems. There is no need for a conventional signal converter. Purchase costs can be saved.
With concerns over stormwater management escalating, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) offers a multi-benefit, cost-effective solution.
The journey toward intelligent water can be expedited with eight key steps — a guideline for gliding through the Digital Water Adoption Curve.
Ammonia removal is a key metric for assessing wastewater treatment facility performance. This is because ammonia contributes to aquatic life toxicity. Furthermore, nitrogen, along with phosphorus, is a driver of receiving water eutrophication. Eutrophication, which simply is an over-enrichment of nutrients, can be detrimental to environmental and public health. It can result in harmful algae blooms, dissolved oxygen depletion, fish kills, and other damaging impacts.
The goal of water plant operators is almost universal: to ensure they're providing quality water to customers while detecting leaks, running at optimal energy usage, and maintaining systems. The problem is traditional controls and SCADA systems have gotten so complex they can actually make the job more difficult. In this Water Talk interview, Malcolm Thompson, the chief financial officer of XIO, and Kevin Liscovitz, the chief operating officer of XIO, discuss newer technology making water plant controls as simple as possible for operators while providing better insight into asset management.
A watershed isn’t typically tied into a water system’s SCADA system, but students and others observing the health of the resources may have information that can be of great value to plant operators. This is just one example of when there is a need to enter remote manual data into a SCADA system. In this Water Talk interview, Dave Spencer, technical sales with VTScada from Trihedral Engineering, discusses advanced technology that promote improved oversight by allowing the transfer of data into, and out of, SCADA systems.
Water utilities with highly successful monitoring programs tend to share a common trait: they have a well-defined plan for calibration that emphasizes frequency and tracking. However, when done properly, this process is time-consuming and often leads to unnecessary labor and downtime. The good news is that advanced metering technology is available for plants to get a better handle on the instrument’s performance with significantly less effort.
Water. It’s vital to human life, our economy, and ecosystem - the very survival of our planet. But water challenges are growing more intense than ever before. Increasing volatile weather patterns fueled by climate change, crumbling infrastructure, pollution, and over population that is causing a surge in the demand for water. This means the world’s supply of clean water is rapidly declining putting our future at risk.
The intrinsically safe AWT210 two-wire modular transmitter is a single-channel device for the measurement and control of pH, ORP or conductivity in hazardous and non-hazardous area applications.
The ability to continuously and accurately measure water quality is a key requirement in many processes. ABB’s continuous water analyzers help their customers' precious water resources go further around the world. Their trusted range of water analysis solutions provide real-time data on process conditions that can be used to improve efficiency, tighten performance and safeguard quality.
Aquip is a patented media filtration system for enhanced industrial stormwater treatment. Aquip is available in several performance levels, each specifically designed for the removal of stormwater pollutants such as suspended solids, turbidity, heavy metals (including dissolved metals), organics (e.g. BOD, volatile hydrocarbons, PCBs, PAHs), and nutrients (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus).
This video focuses on leading water and wastewater utilities use cases that have embraced and leveraged digital technologies such as smart sensors/devices, IoT, better connectivity, and software. You'll see examples from utilities that have created a data strategy and are using real-time data that is driving smarter decisions to reduce opex and capex, increase asset life, meet environmental compliance, etc. while reducing risk.
