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WIPAC MONTHLY The Montlhy Update from Water Industry Process Automation & Control

www.wipac.org.uk Issue 4/2015

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In this Issue

Editorial.............................................................................................................................. 3

Industry News..................................................................................................................... 4 - 8

Highlights of the news of the month from the global water industry centred around the successes of a few of the

companies in the global market

Opinion: Instrumentation, Control & Automation - A Risk Based Approach......................... 9

In this month’s opinion piece Farooq Janjua gives WIPAC Monthly his opinion of ICA and the use of criticality and risk

assessment to select the appropriate technology for the appropriate application.

Feature Article: Optimally Managing Water Resources in Large River Basins...................... 10-13

In this month’s feature the paper describes an alternative water management approach for regulating flows in the

Savannah Basin in order to both retain more water in reservoirs during droughts and improve water quality downstream.

The approach leverages the real-time hydrologic, water quality and other data being collected throughout the basin by

the US Geological Survey, US Army Corps of Engineers and others.

Instrumentation Developments: Online instrumentation poised for growth........................ 14-15

The article on Instrumentation Developments this month highlights the use of automated trihalomethane analysers in

the Sant Joan Despí Drinking Water Treatment Plant for Aigües de Barcelona. The article identifies that the use of online

instrumentation is an integral tool aiding in management decisions on water quality from source to tap.

Case Study: Reducing Main Breaks with Model Predictive Control....................................... 16-17

In this mont’s case study highlights the work that has been done in Canada where Model Predictive Control has been used

to control pumping stations in the network and reduce transients within the system to reduce the number of main breaks

in this award winning project.

Workshop Report: Data & Data Security................................................................................ 18-19

This month saw Sensors for Water Interest Group Director, Oliver Grievson and John Marsh host the Siemens sponsored

workshop on Data & Data Security which posed the question of “What do we want from data & how secure is it

Workshops, Conferences & Seminars................................................................................... 20-21

The higlights of the conferences and workshops in the coming months

WIPAC Monthly is a publication of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group. It is produced by the group

manager and WIPAC Monthly Editor, Oliver Grievson. This is a free publication for the benefit of the Water Industry and please

feel free to distribute to any who you may feel benefit.

All enquries about WIPAC Monthly, including those who want to publish news or articles within these pages, should be directed

to the publications editor, Oliver Grievson

Photo on the front cover

The cover photo this month is an aerial view of Aigües de Barcelona’s Sant Joan Despí Drinking Water Treatment Plant and is kindly

provided by Aigües de Barcelona

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From the Editor

Sometimes you go to events and you leave there with your head spinning with the amount of information that you have had put in front of you. At the moment I am travelling on a train from London having just finished two days of it. The

first day was a Sensors for Water Interest Group Workshop, that I was the co-host of (along with John Marsh of Siemens) on the use of Data & it’s security.I had sub-headed this workshop, contentiously, as “What’s the use of Data & how secure is it.” I came out of the event with a three word review - Inspiring, Fascinating & Disturbing. For those of you who want to find out why then the workshop report is towards the back of this issue. Suffice it to say it opened up a whole world in front of my eyes that i had not appreciated in the past. The world was that of “Information Systems Security,” the people who most of us see as overly paranoid. I cam out with the feeling that you are not paranoid if “they” are really after you.

Today, the second day of my mind numbing workshop/conference stint was the secondy of the SWAN Forum Conference where a colleague was presenting. We were treated to sessions on standardisation of communication protocols, the transition to AMR to AMI, water quality sensing in the potable water network, energy savings in the network, and the long term future of the Smart Water Neworks Space including the prospect of Smart Water Network 2.0 (is that an audible groan that I can hear from the doubting Thomas’ among the readers).

What is really exciting about all of this is that there is the feeling of a need within the industry that we, as an industry, want to do something about. There is a little niggle in me that thinks of something that somebody saud to me at a conference once -

“We’ve been here before, about 10-15 years ago and we didn’t do anything then. What’s different now?”

The problem with the statement that was made is that it’s an open, honest & truthful appraisal. The other problem is that i wasn’t in the water industry 15 years ago so my honest answer is that i don’t really know what happened before and what the industry felt like. What I can say is that there is a need to change, there is a desire to change and we have already seen some changes within the water industry with some great people, some great engineers and some great initiatives. What can be said and was said is that we are going to take the first steps in a very long journey and people in the industry acknowledge it. In the UK the danger is of course the 5 year cycle that we operate in and the desire to get results, reap the benefits so that we can prove that we have done a good job. If at the end of the 5 year period you say to the board that you have spent £x million for no appreciable benefit you have to very brave or very stupid. In all probability a little bit of both.

However there are benefits to all of these long term schemes, they are based upon the knowledge of the industry be it the company or the suppliers, or the universities or the group of organisations such as SWAN, SWIG, WIPAC, GAMBICA, SBWWI amongst others. Despite having all of these experts available to all there is still an area of all of these things that we do that are the so called “Unknow Unknown’s” the benefits that we can’t predict, the benefits that we can’t justify when we put it in front of the investment boards and these are the things that can make or break a project.

I was very proud earlier this month when the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group passed the 5,000 people mark. It may seem a small thing but i know that if, we as a group of people, talk about the problems that the industry faces, the solutions that we have instigated and the sucesses and failures that we have had then the industry learns from itself., the industry helps itself even if it is putting the right people in touch with the right people. On the 16th May WIPAC will celebrate it’s 4th Birthday and i will release a survey to the group to see how it can grow. It will always be free as it is one of my founding principles, it will always be open to all as that is another but i would like to see it grow not only in numbers but in strength and I will need the support of those in the group to achieve that.

Thank you to all of you who have joined

Thank you to all of you who regularly contribute either to the LinkedIn Group, WIPAC Monthly or both

There is a tangible energy in the Water Industry in the Water Industry at the current time, i don’t know why but there is. WIPAC will celebrate its fourth birth-day and it will continue for another four years and another and another and another and the help and the support to the industry will always be there.

Have a good month,

OliverP.S. It was fantastic to see all of the WIPAC mmembers over the past couple of days, it was lovely to meet you all.

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Industry News

WIPAC Celebrates it’s 5,000th member and soon its 4th birthdayThe Water Industry Process Automation & Control group celebrated its 5,000th member this month which is a testament to both the importance of ICA and its use within the water industry but also the concepts of how we can use it to operate more efficiently by using the data and information to inform the operator. The group is truly a worldwide phenomenon with members from around the globe.

The group will also celebrate its 4th birthday on 16th May 2015.

As the group manager, I would like to thank all of those who have joined the group and actively participate in the group, it is only as strong as its members and only by sharing the experiences that we have on a day to day basis be they sucesses or failures will the Water Industry as a whole grown stronger and the potential of instrumentation, control & automation and the data that it collects be fully realised.

A big thank you to all

New Chairman for Modern Water

Modern Water plc, the owner of leading technologies for water and wastewater treatment and monitoring of water quality, has announced the appointment of Alan Wilson as its Non-Executive Chairman with effect from 30 April 2015.

A Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. Alan Wilson has extensive business experience, including senior management positions at Kvaerner Oil & Gas, the Weir Group PLC, CRP Limited and Trelleborg Offshore Limited.

He currently serves as Non-Executive Director and Chairman on a number of boards, where he has successfully advised on strategic development and overseen corporate and sales growth.

Robert Clarke, Modern Water’s Interim Non-Executive Chairman, commented:

“On behalf of the directors, I am delighted to welcome Alan to the Board of Modern Water. Alan brings a successful track record of growing revenues and realising shareholder value across a range of businesses in both the listed and private sectors.”

Modern Water owns, installs and operates world-leading membrane technology and develops and supplies advanced systems for water monitoring. Its shares trade on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.

The company has developed and commercialised world-leading patented Forward Osmosis desalination technology which can be used in a variety of industries. Its benefits include lower energy consumption, improved water quality and lower environmental impact. With a sales presence in almost 60 countries, the group’s Monitoring Division includes a leading real-time continuous toxicity monitor and trace metal analysers for monitoring the quality of drinking water.

Affinity Water upgrades asset management system

Affinity Water has just completed an upgrade to their core work and asset management system, making it the first company in Europe to implement the Ellipse 8 system.

The significant technical upgrade sees Affinity Water move from Ellipse 5.2.3 to Ellipse 8, making substantial improvements to the technical infrastructure and facilitating future improvements to operational efficiency.

Ellipse is currently used to manage key assets and work management, supporting Affinity Water in the delivery of services and providing a modern platform to support future development.

The deployment of Ellipse 8 includes AMT-SYBEX’s mobile work management allowing Affinity Water to make improvements to the efficiency of their work management activities and how they issue work. With improved capabilities for planning, Affinity Water will be able to carry out more planned work and re-spond to reactive work problems more quickly. In addition, Ellipse 8 will offer greater flexibility through additional functionality and the personalisation facility that allows users to view the information relevant to them.

Mick Jackman, Senior Asset Manager, Affinity Water said,

“The move to Ellipse 8 has provided us with the platform to make significant efficiency improvements in the way we manage our work and maintain the data for the company’s assets that ultimately will provide long term benefits for our customers.”

Will Wright, Account Manager, AMT-SYBEX commented,

“We are delighted to be able to deliver the first implementation of Ellipse 8 in Europe for our client, Affinity Water. We have worked in partnership with Affinity Water for the past 12 years and look forward to supporting their strategic plans for work and asset management on this new platform.”

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This month saw one of the highlight conferences of the UK Water Industry Calendar, IWEX, which also features the Water Induustry Achievement Awards. The awards have long since been seen as the UK “Oscars” of the Water Industry. The awards have also been profiled hilariously by Piers Clarke in his semi-regular blog (click here to subscribe). It was very pleasing for the technological side of the industry to see that there were a significant number of awards given to technological people and technology companies. Amongst those that won well deserved awards were:

Engineer of the Year

Dr Paul Linford of Syrinix won the Engineer of the Year Award.

Dr. Linford is a leading authority in signal processing technology, specialising in water leakage. An electronics engineer, he obtained his PhD at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UEA) and applied signal processing techniques to leak detection in water mains. Collaborating on research products with Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water, after acting as a consultant for Thames Water, Dr. Linford formed Syrinix as a spinout company from the UEA.

Dr. Paul Linford said “It’s an honour to accept this award amongst many talented industry individuals. I am proud of how Syrinix has grown and evolved as a company over a 10+ year period. Syrinix is a great team effort and it’s down to continued hard work and innovative thinking that allows us to push boundaries and develop the products we are proud to stand behind today. We are delighted that Syrinix is now firmly on the world map and gaining a reputation for being a leader in its field.”

The continued growth and success of Syrinix is testament to the vision of Dr. Linford as an engineer, an academic and a businessman. Syrinix as a company stands out as an important working example of how UK University research can be successfully commercialised.

Syrinix today is an award winning leader in the development and delivery of intelligent pipeline monitoring solutions. Providing utilities with real time infor-mation, Syrinix’s solutions allow utilities to manage their networks actively and effectively for increased resilience, greater leak avoidance and lower operating costs.

Data Project of the Year

South West Water, University of Exeter and Environment Agency for their work on the Exmoor Mires Project.

The uplands of Exmoor drainage ditches had been dug across the moorland for a variety of reasons and over many decades. Generations of peat-cutting and the creation of drainage ditches had caused the mires to dry out, which reduced the water-holding capacity of the moors. In addition, the drying action caused oxidation of exposed peat bogs which released large quantities of carbon into the atmosphere. A ‘healthy’ bog accumulates carbon and absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere. The focus of the Exmoor Mires Project was to block drainage ditches using sustainable methods, local materials and local contractors in order to ‘re-wet’ the bog, enabling it to retain water and carbon.During periods of heavy rainfall, re-wetted peat bogs slow down the run-off of water from land before steadily releasing it. This increased water storage has the effect of reducing the fluctuation of river flows, making flooding less likely, reducing soil erosion and the amount of silt entering rivers.

An extensive program of hydrological and greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring and research was developed in partnership with Bristol and Exeter Universities and the Environment Agency. The foundation of the hydrological research has been laided out by the Exmoor Mires Project Hydrological and Hydrogeological monitoring plan written by the project partners in the Environment Agency (Arnott, 2010). The new research programme built on the ecological and hydrological monitoring work begun in 1998 by the MIRE pilot project. The studies focused on monitoring for changes in the hydrology and ecology of the sites resulting from the re-wetting work. The University of Exeter carried out extensive monitoring work, examining hydrological functioning (i.e. water table depth, flow and seepage), water quality (i.e. colour, dissolved and particulate organic carbon), gaseous fluxes, vegetation composition and structure, before and after ditch blocking. The work is taking place on two sites (Aclands and Spooners) representative of upland peatland on Exmoor. On each site, three different drains and the exit point of the catchment are closely monitored. This will provide the first detailed evidence base quantifying the value of peatland restoration in terms of water quantity, quality and carbon sequestration.

Most Innovative Use of an Existing Technology

Perceptive Engineering and United Utilities won the award for the most innovative use of an existing technology for the use of the Perceptive Engineering WaterMV report.

When a sensor fails or becomes suspect, Perceptive’s WaterMV is able to continue controlling the process using soft sensors. In certain cases, WaterMV has to adjust control to maintain the same compliance safety level, even though data from that sensor can no longer be trusted. The cost impact of that change in operation can now be calculated and displayed in real time. Operators are shown the ‘lost opportunity’ on their SCADA screens, enabling them to make informed decisions about maintenance, calibration and repair. In the meantime, WaterMV ensures that the process continues to meet its environmental targets.

Technology Companies star at the Water Industry Achievement Awards

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Hagan joins i2O as CEOSmart pressure management technology company i2O Water has announced the appointment of Joel Hagan as its new chief executive officer. He joins i2O’s chief technology officer and founder Andrew Burrows to help utilities meet their leakage and burst reduction targets.

Hagan’s appointment comes at a time when i2O has secured £8M funding to further develop its pressure management and network monitoring solutions, and has won a significant contract with Anglian Water in the UK. He brings more than 20 years of business leadership and technology expertise to i2O, and is the founder and former chief executive of ONZO, a venture backed start-up which provided electrical utilities with insights from domestic energy use data.

Hagan said: “i2O is an exciting company with great technology and huge potential to reduce leakage, cut burst frequency and improve the environmental and financial performance of water utilities. With water companies around the world facing increased demand for water, improving the smart capabilities of their network is crucial to reduce leakage levels further and ensure security of supply.”

Stephen Bold, i2O Water chairman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Joel as the new chief executive of i2O Water. Joel is an experienced business leader with a strong track record of building technology organisations and a thorough understanding of the global utilities sector. He has great experience in partnering with utilities to help them to improve the returns they can make from investing in new technologies.”

Hacking Critical Infrastructure Is AcceleratingA new report shows a dramatic increase in cyberattacks directed against critical infrastructure owners and operators.What could be worse than stealing millions of personal records in a large data breach? How about destructive cyberattacks against our vital infrastructure companies that run dams, power plants, transportation systems and other critical infrastructures around the globe?

Sadly, such cyberattacks are becoming much more common and causing more harm than previously reported.

A new, first-of-its-kind report was released just this week which reveals astonishing survey results from more than 500 security chiefs spread across 26 member countries in the Organization of American States (OAS). The official report was created in collaboration between OAS and Trend Micro, and you can get a copy of the full report at this website.

Here are some of the findings that I found very surprising – even somewhat shocking:

• 53% of respondents have seen an increase in cyberattacks against critical infrastructure over the past year.• 76% said cyberattacks were getting more sophisticated.• Destructive hacking was way up, with 44% of respondents reporting attempts to delete or destroy data.• 54% of respondents said attackers had tried to “manipulate equipment” through an industrial control system (ICS).• 44% of survey respondents said attackers tried to destroy information.• 40% had attempted to shut down computer networks altogether.

Southern Water selects Getac tablets for their field teamsGlobal designer and manufacturer of rugged computing devices, Getac, has signed a deal to supply Southern Water with 380 F110 Windows 8 fully rugged tablets for field service use.

The devices will be a critical component of Southern Water’s Work and Asset Management and Management Information (WAMMI) initiative, designed to streamline operations out in the field and improve service for customers.Southern Water selected Getac as its hardware supplier of choice following feedback from field operatives who rated the F110 tablet as superior to their existing hardware. The utility provider was also impressed by Getac’s service levels and ability to deliver a fully rugged device at a cost-effective price.

Alex Chandler, WAMMI Business Lead, Southern Water, says: “We needed a device with a large screen and rugged reliability for our field workers to effectively work with our geographic information system (GIS). After field testing, we found a very high user acceptance for Getac and the devices were cost-effective. As a result, we’ll have rolled out more than 300 Getac F110s to our teams by the end of June.”

The new devices will provide a substantial efficiency boost for Southern Water. Thanks to the F110’s unparalleled connectivity and GPS capability via 4G LTE and SiRFstarIV™ GPS, the devices will be directly synchronised with the utility provider’s GIS solution. This means field workers can easily mark off areas of work and keep HQ dispatchers aware of the progress of operations – information that can then be used to allocate jobs to other workers and keep customers updated.

The F110’s large 11.6” screen provides ample space to display detailed information and allows the easy filling in of electronic forms, while the Windows 8 OS provides a familiar and easy-to-use interface.

The F110 includes Getac’s proprietary QuadraClear® screen which is viewable in even the sunniest conditions, while the touchscreen can be operated without having to remove gloves. MIL-STD-810G and IP65 rated, the F110 can also handle drops, shock and exposure to dust and water without damage. To support Southern Water, Getac has provided a five-year return-to-base warranty and providing full set-up to ensure field workers can boost their productivity the moment they receive their device. Chandler adds: “We needed a tablet we could rely on in all weathers and conditions, with a familiar interface and high user acceptance – with Getac we have exactly that device.”

Severn Trent appoints wastewater monitoring specialist

Environmental monitoring specialist enitial has won a contract to help Severn Trent Water to monitor 131 of its wastewater treatment facilities as part of the second stage of a national programme of water quality assessment. The contract follows enitial’s involvement in Severn Trent Water’s Chemical Investigations Programme 1 (CIP1), which identified how effective wastewater treatment methods are at removing certain chemicals from wastewater.

CIP2 will quantify how many of those substances are discharged and how to treat them as well as identify specific river lengths where these chemicals are present. Both CIP1 and CIP2 were set up by the UK Water Industry Research organisation (UKWIR) in collaboration with the Environment Agency to uphold the Water Framework Directive and the Priority Substances Directive. All wastewater treatment companies in England and Wales are taking part in CIP2 to check the concentrations of certain chemicals released into the river system, identify any trends and investigate how to better manage and control their removal.

CIP2 runs until March 2020 and will see enitial collecting some 12,000 samples from 131 Severn Trent Water sites. The National Laboratory Service’s laboratories will be used to analyse the samples and research consultancy, i2Analytical, will also be undertaking specialist process analysis in their Watford laboratories.

Ivor Parry, business development director at enitial, said: “We collected 3,000 samples from 37 Severn Trent over 18 months during CIP1 so the scope of CIP2 is much larger. It is a significant programme which will provide Severn Trent Water with the levels of certain chemicals present in water following treatment and how they can be removed.”

Mark Craig, strategic planning analyst at Severn Trent Water, said: “The quality of water that we discharge into our river systems is very important to us. We’re happy to support the ongoing UKWIR project to look at this, and we’re delighted to continue working with enitial to obtain the valuable data which will help us to understand the situation more. We can then identify how we can better treat wastewater to make sure the quality of water in our rivers continues to be as good as it can be.”

WAGO Ltd has announced the appointment of a new Managing Director. Tony Hoyle, formerly Measurement Products General Manager (UK and Ireland) at ABB, will have overall responsibility for the company’s activities in the UK and Ireland.

He succeeds Gordon Smith who has announced his retirement after overseeing the company’s strong growth since its formation in 1992. Smith will, however, work with Hoyle in a joint management capacity until the middle of 2015.

In addition to his time at ABB, Hoyle has held senior management, sales and marketing posts at some of the world’s leading technology providers including Danfoss, Siemens and Telemecaniqe. He has considerable experience in a number of key sectors including water treatment, processing and factory automation.

Commenting on his new role, he said “WAGO was a leading innovator in interconnection technology when it was formed almost 70 years ago. Its focus is, of course, considerably broader now. Our mission is to offer a comprehensive range of truly innovative automation technology solutions for industrial and building services customers throughout the UK and Ireland.

“I look forward to working with WAGO and building on the considerable success which Gordon and his team have achieved.”

WAGO appoints Tony Hoyle as new UK MD

Crowdicity, the online idea management platform, is being used by UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) to crowdsource the most important water-related issues facing the UK population today. Open to the general public and facilitated by Crowdicity partner 100% Open, the platform, which has been named Water Talkers, offers people the chance to share their stories, opinions and insights on water-related topics – from how to make water saving more fun to educating people on what can and can’t be flushed down the loo.

UKWIR has embarked on the project to gain fresh insights and ideas from the public with a view to tackling some of the most pressing issues facing water operators in the UK. The six-week project went live at the end of February, with a number of prizes up for grabs for top contributors – including Amazon vouchers and water-saving gadgets.

Steve Whipp, project manager at UKWIR, said: “Water is a precious and finite resource but most people don’t really realise it, especially in the UK where it rains a lot. It is very easy to take water for granted but it is vital to our wellbeing. In the longer term, we will all need a coordinated approach to use water more efficiently.

“Of course this means the water companies will need to act and operate differently. There is a huge amount still to do of course, but there is a lot going on in this space already. For example, we are currently seeing the largest investment in our water network infrastructure in a generation. This project will offer us a completely new perspective and help us to outline areas for specific attention or improvement.”

The platform has already amassed hundreds of ideas - from stickers and slogans to stick on the toilet lid, to a new national UK Water Aware Day to celebrate the preciousness of water.

Rob Wilmot, CEO and Co-founder of Crowdicity, added: “Through 100% Open’s deployment of the Crowdicity platform UKWIR is gaining unique and unprecedented insights into the nation’s attitude towards water consumption. It’s already a vibrant online community, so we’re looking forward to seeing how it develops in the coming weeks.”

UK water sector uses crowdsourcing to discover key issues

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As one of the leading water engineering companies in the USA with an over 80 year history and 20 offices across the USA, the team at Carollo is always looking for the latest and greatest to master and deliver to their customers. For one recent client, The City of Chandler Arizona, that new solution was called Dream Report.

Every month, the City of Chandler generates a monthly operations report on their waste water treatment facility. This report is used both internally and for EPA compliance. Their automation system is based on GE Intelligent Platform’s – Proficy HMI/SCADA - CIMPLICITY. It supervises the plant operations, acquiring data from an array of Rockwell Automation PLCs and then logs results into a Microsoft SQL Database.

Every month, an Excel spreadsheet was used to query data, update calculations and generate the required reports. This was both time consuming and somewhat labor intensive. While this solution worked, it did require a particular knowledge set which was not always available and the solution did not offer any long term document management, which would be beneficial for the organization and retrieval of past results.

Carollo managed this solution and wanted to try something new. Report generation is nothing new to Carollo. With their focus and expertise in all things water, they’ve been managing reports with all manner of technology including Microsoft Excel (with automation plug-ins), SAP Crystal Reports and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). These solutions required a great deal of system

integration work and customization which meant more time was spent working with technology, than actually focusing on delivering end user value in terms of compliance or performance information. They were looking for a solution that delivered all the functionality they needed “Out of the box”, without the need for programming, scripting or technology integration. An ideal solution would interface with any automation system that they will encounter (in addition to this CIMPLICITY installation). It will be flexible enough to meet all of their compliance reporting requirements while also enabling the ability to deliver on additional uses like maintenance reporting, performance reporting, the display of KPI dashboards and the access of information via a web browser or mobile devices. While these features weren’t initially required in this application, Carollo knew that they would likely be requested and added in the future.

The engineers at Carollo had recently been exposed to a new solution called Dream Report, having heard about it in a news announcement. They arranged for a personalized webinar, hosted by Ocean Data Systems and exposed their team to this new solution. Dream Report made perfect sense to them. It was purpose built for the world of automation, as opposed to repurposing business technology, it delivered the statistics that are common to water and wastewater applications without the need for any creative math and logic, and it delivered a great deal of flexibility in terms of report generation, report access and long term management. Dream Report also delivers a web portal with the ability to both display past reports and ad hoc interact with process data through the use of report templates, with user configurable dates, times and data queries.

Mark Weston, an engineer from the Sacramento, California area was tasked with learning the product and applying it for the City of Chandler. As with many veteran engineers, Mark dove right in, downloading Dream Report from the Ocean Data Systems (ODS) website. That triggered a follow-up call from ODS and the issuance of a trial license so Mark could build the application and show it to his customer. If Dream Report lived up to its promise, an order was sure to follow.

Without any formal training, Mark was able to watch videos on the ODS website, combine that with a few calls to ODS tech support in order to answer “what’s the best way” kind of questions, and ultimately generate the required reports. The process from start to finish, learning to customer delivery was at most, three days. Going forward, with the learning curve all but complete, the generation of a new report is a matter of minutes to hours, not days as has been typical with alternative solutions, and Dream Report’s ease of use enables Mark to be focused on generating end user value.

When asked what Mark’s top 3 first impressions were, he responded with:

Ease of Use – this is a product that was designed to do this work and it makes the task very easy. All the capabilities are out of the box and it gets the job done.

Flexibility – It’s surprising to see how easy it is to apply a work-around when there is a challenge.For example, their CIMPLICITY driver is built for the standard CIMPLICITY database schema. But CIMPLICITY allows schema customization and in this first application, the standard driver would not work. The work around was to use the Dream Report relational database driver and map it to the custom schema. Dream Report supports all kinds of database formats and will also adapt to various record date and time formats. It was all readily configurable and no programming was necessary.

The Web Portal – This is a great feature of Dream Report. When reports are manually or automatically generated, they can appear in the Dream Report Web portal. There was no work in setting that up. I just had to press one button and Dream Report created the portal and manages it automatically. It also gives us the opportunity to trigger new reports and interact with the reports (panning and zooming trend data and searching or sorting tables.) I can even do this from a smart phone.

Carollo quickly adopted and mastered Dream Report. In their business, reports typically come at the end of a project with time and money is already stretched to the limit. In addition to delivering the information their customers need, Dream Report also reduces the risks of project overruns, enabling Carollo to bid jobs and deliver on promises with a higher degree of certainty.

Carollo Engineers Delivers DR for Wastewater Reporting

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Opinion:

Instrumentation, control and automation

– a risk based approachWithin the Middle East there are the usual issues facing any water utility company – these are the aging infrastructure, changing workforce and increasing customer expectations to name but a few. However within the plethoria of issues affecting the stewardship of water utilities to become sustainability robust service providers are the issues of enjoining open international markets with the international recognizable quality standards and the methodology to ensure successful implementation of technology. Within this first article it is proposed that a logical framework type assessment is used in order to ensure the appropriate selection and application of ICA technology as part of the inherent design. In cases of upgrades or refurbishments applying the correct ICA technology can follow a process risk approach which can address the review of identifying the risks, operability and maintenance issues and cost / benefit analysis within a systematic manner.

Before proceeding to look at the tools of selection it is prudent to also take a look at the business cases of employing ICA technology from a SWOT or SCORE perspective. Looking at the traditional cases of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of cases with and without the technology may no longer be applicable since the more far sighted visions of looking at the long term issues in core competencies, capacity building and instutional strengthening approaches into the strategic, core competencies, opportunities, results and expectations based philosophy of reaping the benefits after an acceptable period of customer testing and handover.

Firstly, evaluating the part of ICA as part of the inherent design is undoubtly one of the most effective and efficient ways in employing ICA technology as it is built into the design with the consideration of the asset specification and any specific features such as redundancy and capacity will affect the choice and settings of the instrument. Take for example the case of air blowers in a traditional activated sludge process employing diffusers which will have the usual process control linked to oxygen probes or respirometers with the intent of maintaining the balance of process and energy efficiency. The process control and instrumentation is inherently built into the system with the blower capacities and heads selected based upon a range of variance in controlled process conditions ; similarly in the case of flashback arrestors on digestor gas systems these are an inherent part of the system without having clear functional testing and readiness the system is exposed to significant risks in the integrity of the asset as well as the operational flaws and a ; in the case of the blower example it is clear that implementing a control system to achieve energy efficiencies and improve aeration will rarely work without considering the needs to upgrade or revamp the blowers. Looking at process control and instrumentation requirements are a part of also of the matrix of safety integrity and this will be explained further later on.

Moving forward to the application of ICA within plants and networks there is a valuable lesson of OBASHI which is the principle adopted from oil and gas sector – this tells us that success factors of ICA applications can be categorized into the Ownership (i.e. process ownership.); The Business Process (i.e. the process control philosophy); the Application itself, the System requirements, Hardware and IT Infrastructure required for the instrumentation and the controlling functions. It should be mentioned at this point in my article that it is not my intent to provide a theoretical write up of process control of ICA application as this can be readily found in numerous text books or internet searches. However what is being presented is a practical pragmatic perspective on ICA applications and the success factors in implementation.

As mentioned earlier the approach of logical framework assessment is one in which the problems, causes and effects are turned into an objectives based approach with a means and end towards the use of the ICA

Let us take an example in setting the objectives, purposes, activity and output of the instrumentation or control within the plant or network. Each item in the list will have a description and indicator and assumption associated with it. It is the aim of a logical framework assessment to have this clearly identified and documented within the process control philosophy – Particular in the case of critical instrumentation and control systems which can be identified as critical from the perspectives of the effect of the plant or network on its failure or downtime. An example here would be the case of the sludge blanket level monitor in the secondary clarifier tanks – without the alarm or control sequence relayed to the control room with the alarm logging, trending and reporting function it would be a high risk that overflows from process upsets would be either undetected or difficult to control on proactive basis.

Going to the risk assessment function the examples would be the cause, consequence and action approach review in assessing the deviations to the process during normal or abnormal operating sequences and the role of instrumentation in controlling these. The example here could be the case of heat exchanger on digesters and the requirements of flow meters or pressure or temperatures controllers to maintain the temperature equilibrium required for digester operation. Depending upon the criticality of maintaining the digester temperature in cases of maintaining odour control, pathogenic treatment or gas flow then the instruments and control clearly become critical and for this are required to have the required redundancy and condition or better still the reliability centered maintenance or criticality based maintenance program necessary to achieve the business continuity and operational excellence.

In the next article the subject of maintenance issues in instrumentation and control systems within plants and networks will be addressed.

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About the Author

Farooq Janjua works as Project Manager in the Operations and Maintenance Department of a Major Leading Middle East Utility Company.

The views are entirely his own.

He has also authored the handbook on process safety integrity for water and waste water utility operators which is downloadable free of charge from the International Water Association web site.

Feature Article:

Optimally Managing Water Resources in Large River Basins for

an Uncertain FutureAbstract

Managers of large river basins face conflicting needs for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting local economies for years. The Savannah River Basin’s coastal area contains municipal water intakes and the ecologically sensitive freshwater tidal marshes of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. The Port of Savannah is the fourth busiest in the United States, and modifications to the harbor have caused saltwater to migrate upstream, reducing the freshwater marsh’s acreage more than 50 percent since the 1970s. There is a planned deepening of the harbor that includes flow-alteration features to minimize further migration of salinity. The effectiveness of the flow- alteration features will only be known after they are constructed.

One of the challenges of basin management is the optimization of water use through ongoing development, droughts, and climate change. This paper describes a model of the Savannah River Basin designed to continuously optimize regulated flow to meet prioritized objectives set by resource managers and stakeholders. The model was developed from historical data by using machine learning, making it more accurate and adaptable to changing conditions than traditional models. The model is coupled to an optimization routine that computes the daily flow needed to most efficiently meet the water-resource management objectives. The model and optimization routine are packaged in a decision support system that makes it easy for managers and stakeholders to use. Simulation results show that flow can be regulated to substantially reduce salinity intrusions in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge while conserving more water in the reservoirs. A method for using the model to assess the effectiveness of the flow-alteration features after the deepening also is demonstrated.

Introduction

The Savannah River Basin (basin; fig. 1a) is a prototypical large basin whose water-resource managers face conflicting needs, such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. In the upper basin, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) controls three large reservoirs - Lake Hartwell, Richard B. Russell Lake (Lake Russell), and J. Strom Thurmond Lake (Lake Thurmond). Lake Russell has comparatively little storage, leaving Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond to provide most of the regulated flow to the coast. Since 2000 the upper basin has experienced three major droughts, resulting in record and near-record low reservoir water-level elevations that impacted local economies.

The lower Savannah River (fig. 1b) contains two municipal water intakes and ecologically sensitive freshwater tidal marshes in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). The interaction of regulated streamflow, tides, and weather produces salinity intrusions more than 25 miles upstream at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gage 02198840. Modifications to the harbor have caused saltwater to migrate upstream, reducing the freshwater marsh acreage more than 50 percent since the late 1970s (Conrads and others, 2006).

The complexity of the water-resource issues suggests that basin water management is a problem of optimizing water use for ongoing development, droughts, and sea-level rise. A solution is to save water “for later” by limiting regulated flows to the minimums needed to meet objectives prioritized by resource managers and stakeholders. This solution requires daily data updates that describe changing conditions, and leveraging them with a model that reliably predicts the requisite flows.

Project Description

This project built upon two previous studies. The first developed a hydrodynamic and water-quality model of the lower Savannah River to estimate the impacts of the planned harbor deepening on the Refuge (Conrads and others, 2006). The model was developed from historical data using artificial neural networks (ANN; Jensen, 1995), a form of machine learning that allows models to adapt to changing conditions. The model was packaged in a spreadsheet-based decision support system (DSS; Roehl and others, 2006), making it easy for managers and stakeholders to use. It was named the Model-to-Marsh DSS (M2M-DSS) because it connected two other models together, one of the hydrodynamics of the estuarine channel and the other of the marsh plant populations in the Refuge.

A second study modified the M2M-DSS, renamed M2M2-DSS, to estimate how sea-level rise and climate change would affect the magnitudes, frequencies, and durations of salinity intrusion events in the lower Savannah River (Conrads and others, 2013). This project developed a third version of the M2M-DSS, named M2M3-DSS, to study how the water resources of the upstream reservoirs could be managed differently to better protect the Refuge from salinity migration and conserve water.

Figure 2a shows the normalized (N) measured (m) water-level elevations (ELV) of Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond (HART, THUR) in feet (ft), labeled ELV_N-HARTm and ELV_N-THURm, for the February 10, 2007, to January 8, 2012 study period. All time series presented herein use a daily time step. Normalization was performed by subtracting the full pool elevations from the measured elevations. The maximum normalized full pond elevation during the

Figure 1. Maps showing the a) Savannah River Basin and b) lower Savannah River.

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study period was 2.6 ft. Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond reached their all time lowest and second lowest elevations, respectively, during the winter of 2008.

Figure 2b shows the measured regulated outflow (QOUT) of Lake Thurmond (QOUT-THURm) and the streamflow (Q) at USGS gage 02198500 (Q8500m). The study period represents the climatic extremes of two severe droughts and an El Niño episode. QOUT-THURm contributes most of the flow to Q8500m, with the additional flow due to rainfall and groundwater discharge originating between the gaging sites. During the droughts, QOUT-THURm was nearly constant, at the regulatory minimum flow deemed necessary to protect downstream water intakes and the Refuge. Figure 2c shows the measured maximum and minimum water levels (WL) at USGS gage 02198980 (WL8980MAXm and WL8980MINm, respectively). The major factors causing the water-level variability at this location are periodic tidal forcing, weather, and streamflow.

Figure 2d shows the measured maximum specific conductance (SC), the field measurement used to compute salinity, at USGS gages 021989784 and 02198840 (SC89784MAXm and SC8840MAXm, respectively). The spikes indicate intrusion events that occur during spring tides of the new moon when tidal ranges are greatest. Tides having a low range are called neap tides. Annual specific conductance cycles coincide with those of the water levels in Figure 2c. The specific conductance values also are modulated by weather and streamflow, causing spike magnitudes and durations to vary.

Methods

ANN models synthesize nonlinear functions to fit multivariate calibration data rather than use predefined functions like mechanistic and statistical models. Conrads and Roehl (1999) and Conrads and Greenfield (2010) found that ANN models had prediction errors that were significantly lower than those of mechanistic models of the Cooper and Savannah River estuaries, respectively. In addition, ANN models have fast execution times that allow them to be coupled to an optimization routine to automatically predict the values of controllable inputs. For example in this application, the optimization routine predicts the required streamflow (a controllable input) needed to compensate for changing harbor water level (an uncontrollable input) in order for the model to maintain a user-specified specific conductance output value (setpoint). This approach also has been used in models of the Beaufort River and Pee Dee River basin (Conrads and others, 2003; Conrads and Roehl, 2007).

The M2M3-DSS’s optimization routine predicts Q8500 values (Q8500p) needed to meet setpoints for ANN models of average (AVG) and maximum (MAX) specific conductance (SC) at USGS gages 021989784 and 02198840 (SC89784AVG, SC89784MAX, SC8840AVG, and SC8840MAX). The predicted QOUT-THUR values (QOUT-THURp) are calculated by subtracting the intervening drainage area flow between Lake Thurmond and USGS gage 02198500 (Q8500m-QOUT-THURm) from Q8500p. Lake elevation setpoints are input to the M2M3-DSS as hydrographs and are used to calculate the flows from each lake needed to meet QOUT-THURp. The user-specified specific conductance setpoints have priority over the elevation setpoints. Flows from Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond are balanced so that they are kept volumetrically equidistant from their elevation setpoints. This approach closely matches the historical practice.

To develop the ANNs, historical USGS data were randomly partitioned into training and testing datasets. The Q8500m, WL8980MAXm, and WL8980MINm signals were decomposed into different frequency components that represent variability on time scales such as daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal. During training, an ANN effectively selects the frequency components that provide the best fit. Figure 3 shows the measured and predicted maximum specific conductance at USGS gages 021989784 and 02198840. The coefficients of determination (R2) for the testing datasets are 0.71 and 0.72 respectively.

Results

Two simulations were made to evaluate different resource management issues. The first scenario simulated the optimization of flow from Lake Thurmond to control salinity in the Refuge. The second scenario simulated a substantial change to the harbor (a 2.0 ft increase in sea level) to demonstrate how the M2M3-DSS could be used to monitor salinity effects of alterations to the harbor.

Conrads and Greenfield (2010) had used the M2M-DSS to estimate the effect of a timed streamflow pulse on a large intrusion event at the USGS gage 02198840. Scenario 1 extended this idea to continuously modulating water releases of the appropriate volumes to control salinity at the USGS gage 021989784 in the Refuge and upstream at the USGS gage 02198840, so that water also is conserved in the lakes. The setpoints were: 650 uS/cm for SC89784AVG; 2,000 uS/cm for SC89784MAX; and 1,000 uS/cm for SC8840MAX. Note that 1,000 uS/cm equates to a commonly used upper limit for freshwater of 0.5 practical salinity units. The elevation setpoints for both Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond were full pond + 2.0 ft, elevations that were often exceeded in the historical record.

Figure 2. Hydrographs showing the measured data used in the study: a) normalized water elevations (ELV) for Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond (ELV_N-HARTm, ELV_N-THURm), b) flow (Q) from Lake Thurmond outflow (QOUT-THURm) and streamflow at USGS gage 02198500 (Q8500m), c) maximum and minimum water levels (WL) at USGS gauge 02198980 (WL8980MAXm, WL8980MINm), and d) maximum specific conductance (SC) at USGS gages 021989784 (SC89784MAXm) and 02198840 (SC8840MAXm).

Figure 3. Measured (m) and predicted (p) maximum specific conductance at USGS gages 021989784 (SC89784MAXm, SC89784MAXp) and 02198840 (SC8840MAXm, SC8840MAXp).

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The Scenario 1 results showed QOUT-THURps1 was much more variable than the historical measured flow (fig. 4a). This eliminated most of the 89784AVGps1 spiking, but also allowed the specific conductance to rise to the 650 uS/cm setpoint when the measured specific conductance was lower than the setpoint, as seen in December 2007 (fig. 4b). The few predicted values above the setpoint are a consequence of an optimization constraint that limited the 1-day change in Q8500ps1 to dampen flow variability. The number of days exceeding the freshwater limit of 0.5 psu was predicted to decrease from 230 to 34 (-85%). Similarly, the number of days when SC89784MAXps1 exceeded its 2,000 uS/cm setpoint was predicted to decrease from 126 to 10 (-92%; Figure 4c), and the number of days when SC8840MAXps1 exceeded the freshwater limit was predicted to decrease from 16 to 0 (-100%; fig. 4d). Figure 4e shows generally higher water-level elevations for Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond, with the Scenario 1 simulation averages being 2.7 and 3.4 ft higher than the measured values respectively.

Scenario 2 demonstrated that a program like the M2M3-DSS could be used to promptly identify changes after the deepening occurs. A 2.0 ft sea-level rise was simulated to create a surrogate, post-deepening dataset for the estuary. The current deepening plan will increase the depth of the navigation channel by 5.0 ft. The Scenario 2 simulation predicted that the average SC89784AVG for the study period would increase from 562 to 902 uS/cm (+61%), and the number of days exceeding the freshwater limit of 1,000 uS/cm (0.5 psu) would increase 220% (fig. 5a). The surrogate data were labeled SCps2- post. Predictions made from only measured input data, representing pre- deepening con-ditions, were labeled SCps2-pre. Figure 5b shows SCps2-post, and SC ps2- pre plus 348 uS/cm, the amount of the 95th percentile prediction error of the model of SC89784AVG. The running percentage of days from the start of the study period when SCps2-post exceeded SCps2- pre + 348 uS/cm also is shown as Running %. Running % generally followed the annual specific conductance trend, and stabilized to a range between 40% and 50%. The higher SCps2-post values shown in Figure 5a are apparent in the Running % within the first three months of the study period. Discriminating the higher values was made possible by the accuracy of the model’s representation of the pre-deepened system behavior. Detecting and correcting adverse consequences of actions quickly is necessary to manage the resource most effectively.

The M2M3-DSS could be deployed for automated daily (or more frequent) simulations. In Figure 6, current data from the USGS, USACE, and weather stations are input (fig. 6a) to the M2M3-DSS’s database (fig. 6b) and then processed for quality assurance and input to the M2M3-DSS’s predictive models. These data also can represent near-term weather and tidal forecasts. Constraints on the regulated streamflows, such as the minimums required for scheduled hydropower generation, are entered and stored in the database (fig. 6c) and the specific conductance and elevation setpoints (fig. 6d) are similarly entered. The M2M3-DSS computes “suggested” regulated flows that are optimized for the current and near-term forecasted conditions and outputs these flows to resource management personnel (fig. 6e).

Figure 4. Hydrographs showing measured (m) and simulation Scenario 1 (s1) data of a) Lake Thurmond outflows (QOUT-THURm, QOUT-THURps1), b) average specific conductances at USGS gage 021989784 (SC89784AVGm, SC89784AVGps1), maximum specific conductance at USGS gage 021989784 (SC89784AVGm, SC89784AVGps1), d) maximum specific conductances at USGS gauge 02198840 (SC8840AVGm, SC8840AVGps1), and e) Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond water elevations (ELV-HARTm, ELV-HARTps1, ELV-THURm, ELV-THURps1).

Figure 5. Hydrographs showing Scenario 2 results: a) measured and simulated average specific conductance at USGS gage 021989784 (SC89784AVGm, SCps2-post) and b) simulated pre-deepening average specific conductance at USGS gage 021989784 + 348 uS/cm (SCs2-pre + 348), surrogate post-deepening measured specific conductance at the same gage (SCps2-exceeded SCs2-pre + post), and running percent of days when SCps2-post 348 (Running%).

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Conclusions

Meeting the increasing and often conflicting usage demands in a constantly changing hydrologic system like the Savannah River Basin is an ongoing, mull- objective optimization problem. The conflicting demands can be addressed by a decision support system like the M2M3-DSS, which incorporates accurate predictive models and other capabilities. The M2M3-DSS indicates that a management approach that continuously optimizes water releases might substantially reduce salinity in the Refuge and near municipal intakes, and increase lake water-level elevations. M2M3-DSS also indicates that the effects of changes in salinity such as the harbor deepening could be promptly quantified so that flow-alteration features can be proactively evaluated.

Literature Cited

1. Conrads, P.A. and Roehl, E.A., 1999, Comparing physics-based and neural network models for simulating salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen in a complex, tidally affected river basin, Proc. South Carolina Environmental Conf., Myrtle Beach, March 1999.

2. Conrads, P.A., Roehl, E.A., and Martello, W.P., 2003, Development of an empirical model of a complex, tidally affected river using artificial neural networks, Proc. National TMDL Science and Policy Specialty Conference, Chicago, November 2003.

3. Conrads, P.A., Roehl, E.A., Daamen, R.C., and Kitchens, W.M., 2006, Simulation of water levels and salinity in the rivers and tidal marshes in the vicinity of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Coastal South Carolina and Georgia: U.S. Geological Survey, Scientific Investigations Report 2006 - 5187, 134 p.

4. Conrads, P.A., and Roehl, E.A., Jr., 2007, Analysis of salinity intrusion in the Waccamaw River and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1995–2002: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5110, 41 p.

5. Conrads, P.A. and Greenfield, J.M., 2010, Potential Mitigation Approach to Minimize Salinity Intrusion in the Lower Savannah River Estuary Due to Reduced Controlled Releases from Lake Thurmond, Proc. 4th Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Las Vegas, NV, June 2010.

6. Conrads, P.A., Roehl, E.A., Jr., Daamen, R.C., and Cook, J.B., 2013, Simulation of salinity intrusion along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts using climate-change scenarios: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5036, 92 p.

7. Jensen, B.A., 1995 (3rd ed.). Expert Systems—Neural Networks. Instrument Engineers’ Handbook, Vol. 2: Process Control (B.G. Liptak, editor). CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.

8. Roehl, E., Daamen, R.C., Conrads, P.A., 2006, Features of advanced decision support systems for environmental studies, management, and regulation, Proc. 7th Intn’l. Conf. on Hydroinformatics (HIC 2006), Nice, France, September 2006

Figure 6. M2M3-DSS deployment schematic.

Edwin Roehl is the chief technical officer for ADMi. For over 20 years, Ed has been developing highly advanced engineering software for a variety of applications. He spent six years in Oil & Gas Industry R&D developing expert systems and engineering models to manage oil field operations for Gulf and ARCO. He spent nine years at Alcoa Research developing and managing programs for engineering design automation and advanced process control. For 5 years, he was a consultant with OptiQuest Tech-nologies where he developed and applied advanced data mining technology for several industrial and environmental clients.

ADMi is a small company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina that provides data mining and visualization software products and consulting services. Data mining is the science of extracting valuable information from massive databases by means such as signal processing, machine learning, and data visualization. The solutions provided by ADMi include predicting the future (forecasting), predicting the consequences of alternative courses of action and choosing the best one (optimization), and discriminating between different behaviors (pattern classification). These solutions are often delivered to end users as decision support systems (DSS) which are powerful yet easy to use.

Paul Conrads is a Hydrologist with the United States Geological Service (USGS) at the South Carolina Water Science Centre

About the Authors

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Instrumentation Developments:

Online water quality instruments poised for growth

Increasingly stringent local, state, and national regulations, coupled with a heightened public awareness to maintain natural ecosystems and public health, have spurred the need for better and quicker information to monitor and track the composition of waters and wastewaters. Physical, chemical, and biological parameters of water and wastewater have historically been monitored using routine grab samples across utilities and industry. This approach collected only a relatively small data set, potentially missing important events occurring between sampling schedules. Moreover, the infrequent data sets from manual sampling offered little insight for utilities and industry to proactively manage, control, and mitigate contaminants such as disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and trace metals across their applications. The automation of sampling, analysis, and reporting – available through the growing suite of commercially viable online water quality instruments – offers great potential for onsite or remote process control automation, as well as for making management decisions on water quality at the source, intake, discharge, treatment plant, and distribution system.

Online water quality instruments provide the foundation of data required to make informed decisions for resource protection and treatment practices. Since water quality parameters are ever changing, a firm and immediate understanding of water quality is necessary in order to anticipate problems and maintain optimal treatment conditions. A step-by-step water quality analysis enables operators to maximize efficiency – and this type of productivity driven information has to be almost real-time in order to be useful. The high-frequency and continuous data obtained through online instruments is a powerful tool to anticipate problems and warn of contamination in source waters throughout treatment processes and in distribution systems. Moreover, the implementation of water safety plans benefits greatly from the data offered through real-time water quality analysis.

Worldwide changes, more online instrumentation

Online instrumentation, once a niche segment of the broader water quality analysis market, is poised for significant growth. The global market for water analysis instrumentation is forecast to reach US$1.86 billion by the year 2017, according to Global Industry Analysts’ research titled, “Water analysis instrumentation: A global strategic business report.” While laboratory-based water analysis instruments represent the largest product segment in the water analysis instrumentation market, online systems are emerging as the fastest-growing market segment with a compounded annual growth rate of 4.6 percent over the analysis period. This is happening for several reasons: regulatory changes, public awareness, economic benefits, and increasing consolidation of water utilities.

Regulatory changes

More stringent regulations are being put into effect and results from external analysis are typically returned up to 10 business days later, which prevents the immediate implementation of preventative actions since the underlying water quality parameters have changed by the time analysis is received.

Online instruments allow operators to ensure critical water quality parameters are in compliance with required target values, and also to check for deviations from stable values. Online instruments also afford operators and water quality managers the ability to effectively monitor treatment systems in real-time andproactively mitigate the impact of a potential regulatory breach through the timely adjustment of contaminant remediation processes.

Public awareness

Heightened public awareness and concern over water quality in natural ecosystems and drinking water treatment facilities increases the accountability for operators and water quality managers to ensure they better anticipate issues or problems instead of simply reacting to them after the fact. This then increases the demand to implement real-time water quality analysis across their operations.

Economic benefits

The high-frequency data provided through online instruments enable operators and water quality managers to optimize process controls and treatment schemes. Potential capital and operational cost savings can be realized by reducing energy and material consumption throughout the treatment process, lim-iting reliance on personnel to conduct manual samples, and limiting reliance on additional laboratory staff for the analysis.

Consolidation of water utilities

With increased consolidation of water utilities, stand-alone entities are now working together across broad geographical areas – relying on online instruments to provide remote monitoring and controls. Additionally, the creation of consecutive water systems resulting from the consolidation of utilities will use onlineinstruments to ensure optimal water quality parameters are in place at handover points across networks and distribution systems.

In the absence of regulatory drivers calling for the implementation of online water quality instruments, operators and water quality managers have been installing online analyzers and monitors because they are convinced of their ability to improve operational efficiency and maximize optimal water quality. The

Aerial view of Aigües de Barcelona’s Sant Joan Despí Drinking Water Treat-ment Plant. Photo by Aigües de Barcelona

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Rick Bacon is the chief executive officer of Aqua Metrology Systems Limited, based in Sunnyvale, California, United States.

Miquel Paraira Faus is the water quality director and laboratory manager of Aigües de Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

functional efficiency of water and wastewater operations is dependent on the real-time and continuous data and analytical information derived from the use of online instruments.

Capital improvement, expansion, and new projects – as well as full-scale operation – can benefit by using online water quality instruments during feasibility studies to ensure treatment schemes are engineered and optimized to meet water quality requirements.

Aigües de Barcelona validates online THM monitors

The water utility Aigües de Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain installed and fully integrated Aqua Metrology Systems’ THM-100™ online trihalomethane (THM) monitors into their distribution network following an extensive validation carried out at the utility’s laboratory during June and July 2012.

Aigües de Barcelona provides drinking water to more than 3 million people across the Barcelona metropolitan area from their Sant Joan Despí Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP), with a capacity of 4.5 cubic meters per second. The Sant Joan Despí plant employs a mixed conventional and advanced treatment scheme – comprised of chlorine dioxide pre-oxidation, coagulation, sedimentation and sand filtration, ozonation, granular activated carbon, chlorine disinfection, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis. Source water is provided from the River Llobregat plus additional groundwater sources. To effectively meet the drinking water demands across their service area, Aigües de Barcelona purchases additional water – approximately 50 percent of the volume they supply – from Aigües Ter-Llobregat (ATLL). Aigües de Barcelona is certified by the ISO 22.000 standard (Preventive Risk Management System) and sets water quality targets of the purchased water from ATLL. When water quality falls below minimum agreed levels, ATLL can be penalized. Water quality provisions include all the parameters regulated by the European Union Directive 98/83/CE and special focus is given to THMs. Understanding total THM concentrations from incoming water purchased from ATLL at the entry point allows for reasonable growth within Aigües de Barcelona’s distribution system, while maintaining regulatory DBP compliance.

Total THM measured values at the Sant Joan Despí DWTP typically range from 10 to 25 micrograms per liter; however, values can significantly increase up to 80 to 90 micrograms per liter in remote zones of the 4,700-kilometer pipeline throughout the distribution network. THM fluctuations are dependent on the seasonof the year, the quality of the surface water, the quality of the additional water purchased from and supplied by ATLL, and the residence time of water in the distribution network. While intermittent DBP measurements relative to volume of water supplied are necessary for regulatory compliance in the European Union, the frequency of sampling and analysis are inadequate for understanding the real-time and actual DBP levels within the water distribution system at any given moment. DBP levels can range significantly, even within the same day, due to temperature, water demand, pumping schedules, climate changes, rain events, and other factors.

As a result, Aigües de Barcelona decided to monitor THM levels more frequently and elected to use an online analyzer to provide accurate and timely information regarding the THM formation in their network. It was for this reason the Aigües de Barcelona Laboratory undertook an extensive validation of the THM-100™ online THM monitor in the summer of 2012. The validation compared results provided by the THM-100 with ISO 17025 laboratory accredited techniques. Following the assessment of precision, trueness, and uncertainty, the THM-100 proved fully compliant with the European Union directive and Aigües de Barcelona laboratory’s objectives. The successful validation study led to the installation and full integration of the online THM analyzer into the THM control strategy of Aigües de Barcelona.

As part of their ISO 22.000 certification, Aigües de Barcelona strives to have complete control and understanding of water sources entering their distribution network. These efforts led to the installation of four additional online THM analyzers across the network from 2012 to 2014. Aigües de Barcelona uses five online THM monitors in total. The first unit monitors THM levels in water discharged from the Sant Joan Despí DWTP in order to predict the THM formation potential and levels in the distribution network 72 hours after treatment. Another unit monitors THM levels – at 72-hour residence time – in a storage tank containing treated water from the Sant Joan Despí DWTP. Two units monitor water supplied by ATLL from two of their DWTPs, while the final unit monitors THM levels in a remote tank that holds the water supplied by ATLL’s drinking water facilities.

The online THM monitors have enabled Aigües de Barcelona to readily identify rapid changes in water quality so remedial actions can be taken. When the utility experiences low THM levels, treatment is adjusted and a lower percentage of water is treated through the reverse osmosis system or aeration system. The residence time of treated water in the network and storage tanks can also be reduced and, where feasible, lower re-chlorination doses can be used. Depending on THM levels, various water blending schemes can also be put into effect. All combined, these process optimization measures have lead to significant cost savings for the utility.

THM analyzers’ preventive approach

Online THM analyzers have played an important role in Aigües de Barcelona’s compliance strategy, helping the utility optimize their treatment processes, assisting in monitoring water quality at handover points from their water supplier, and reducing related expenses while ensuring regulatory compliance. In addition, the online THM analyzers have proved essential in Aigües de Barcelona’s preventive approach on water quality management. Aigües de Barcelona had the first water safety plan to obtain certification to the ISO 22.000 standard in Spain and it is the first large utility to obtain this certification for the complete drinking water cycle in Europe.

The automated sampling, analysis, and reporting of online water quality instruments provide utilities and industry with real-time data on the ever- changing physical, chemical and biological parameters of their water and wastewater. As a result, online instruments are poised to be an integral tool aiding in management decisions on water quality from source to distribution.

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Case Study

Reducing main breaks withModel Predictive Control

Background

Located in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin, Windsor, Ontario, is blessed with an abundant water supply. The Windsor Utilities Commission (WUC) prides itself on being a good steward of this resource. With a focus on conservation and system reliability, WUC has consistently reduced water consumption. WUC, which is managed by EnWin Utilities, Ltd., distributes about 48,000 million liters (ML) of water annually to more than 72,000 customers. At the same time, the utility maintains one of the lowest production and distribution costs in Canada.

To sustain an affordable water supply, EnWin utilizes its continuous improvement model to optimize operations through process changes and capital projects. In 2011, the utility installed a new Rockwell Automation supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) solution to improve system efficiencies and plant processes. Two years later, EnWin planned to expand system functionality to help mitigate the increasing number of water main breaks throughout the utility’s infrastructure.

Challenge

By late 2012, EnWin was averaging 238 main breaks a year at a cost of about $5,000 each. While water main breaks can be attributed to a variety of factors, the EnWin team determined that a significant number were caused by pressure spikes and dips throughout the system.

Since water is a non-compressible fluid, a change in pressure anywhere in the system is felt throughout the entire infrastructure. Under certain conditions, these pressure fluctuations can cause main breaks. Older water infrastructures, characterized by iron water mains, corroding pipes and soil erosion, are particularly vulnerable to pressure fl uctuations. Cold weather conditions exacerbate the problem.

Although EnWin’s capital plan includes continuous maintenance and aggressive replacement of its aging infrastructure, the utility simply cannot replace the entire system fast enough.

“Because we have an older infrastructure, it’s very susceptible to main breaks,” said Garry Rossi, director of water production, EnWin Utilities. “We needed a solution to help us improve the performance of our existing infrastructure until we have the opportunity to replace it.”

The EnWin Utilities distribution system is comprised of two treatment plants, thousands of kilometers of distribution piping, two pumping stations – plus a booster pumping station that is used during high demand periods. At the pumping stations, pump flow was controlled through simple proportional integral- derivative (PID) logic based on outlet header pressure. Operators monitored elevated tower levels and made adjustments to compensate for demand fluctuations. Pumps were stopped and started manually to adjust the system flows. The booster station was also controlled with PID logic – and started and stopped manually based on system demand and operator judgment.

“PID logic has significant limitations,” said Rossi. “It can only control a single input and generate a single output.”

In this case, the high lift pumps were controlled by maintaining a flow setpoint with fl uctuating pressure. Multivariable elements –such as variable frequency drives, flow control valves, and other incoming pressure data – could not be factored into the control scenario.

“We were basically doing what we could with the technology we had,” said Rossi. “The result was inconsistent system pressure – and costly repairs.”

Solution

A possible solution first presented itself in late 2012, when John Stuart, EnWin Utilities vice president of operations, saw a model predictive control (MPC) demonstration at a Rockwell Automation event – Automation Fair.

“When John described the solution, we were all impressed,” said Rossi. “The response time of this technology was particularly attractive. The system could react to multiple variables simultaneously – and make adjustments accordingly.”

This server-based solution collected data at 15- to 16-second intervals. Working with a Rockwell Automation team, EnWin planned to leverage the capabilities of their existing SCADA system – and integrate the MPC controller into the overall solution. The SCADA system is based on a fully redundant, Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix® programmable automation controller (PAC) platform.

“With MPC, we would have the ability to monitor and control the pumping stations based on multiple factors,” said Rossi. “Therefore, we could focus on maintaining consistent pressure throughout the system while maintaining fl uctuations in flow demand.”

Phase One: Server-based MPC

To minimize potential service disruptions, EnWin planned to implement the solution in two phases. For Phase One, EnWin installed 17 remote pressure stations across the distribution service area. To maintain consistent pressure throughout the system, minimum pressure constraints were developed for all pressure stations. The remote stations were monitored by the MPC controller, which was also programmed to meet fluctuating system demand throughout the day.

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The system was configured to maintain the lowest pressure possible for adequate service throughout the area. The MPC controller managed fl ow by attenu-atingtwo running high lift pumps – one at a pump station and one at the booster station. These pumps were controlled by Allen-Bradley PowerFlex® 700 and Pow-erFlex 7000 variable frequency drives.

The EnWin team commissioned Phase One in June 2013 and began to plan for Phase Two, which would focus on optimizing the main campus header pressure through the addition of modulating flow control valves (FCV’s).

Phase Two: Optimizing MPC with an Onboard Solution

While the initial results from the Phase One implementation were impressive, the Rockwell Automation team hoped to incorporate additional functionality for Phase Two. The server-based MPC solution enabled multivariable control of the various pressure points in the system as well as variable speed control of running pumps. However, pump start/stop control was not part of the Phase One system.

“We knew we could optimize the system by incorporating pump start/stop functionality and flow control valves,” said Quin Dennis, application engineer, Rockwell Automation. “But given the existing interval speed, MPC would not be able to make systemadjustments quickly enough to mitigate the rapid pressure spikes from pump starts or stops.”

EnWin agreed to work with Rockwell Automation to test a new onboard MPC controller that could dramatically improve interval speed. The prototype solution features onboard MPC functionality in the ControlLogix controller. No separate server or software is required.

With the onboard MPC solution in place, interval speed is reduced from 15- to 16- seconds to the 0.5- to 1-second range. Integrated with PowerFlex 7000 medium voltagedrives, this highly responsive system can now regulate speed on running pumps – plus off set any pressure spikesthat result from starting or stopping them through the integration of adjustable flow control valves.

By setting energy cost factors on usage, the system’s embedded optimizer can define medium voltage drive usage explicitly without heuristics. Since energy costs are higher for flow control valve usage, the system ensures the valves remain as open as possible – until the drive’s low fl ow limit is reached. At that point, the operator is prompted to shut down the pump and the valves take over.

Results

“We welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with Rockwell Automation on testing the onboard MPC solution,” said Rossi. “Ultimately, we commissioned Phase Two in January 2014 – and applied the improved functionality across our main campus and booster station.”

In Phase 3, the utility plans to apply the onboard solution to the remaining pumping station in its system. EnWin has been monitoring solution results since the first phase was applied in June 2013.

“Very early on, we noticed that pressure was no longer spiking up and down – it was consistent,” said Rossi. “System reliability and performance continued to trend in the right direction, but we wanted to be sure we had a good data set before we made any claims.”

In late December – backed with six months of Phase One data – EnWin was confi dent the MPC solution was successfully controlling system pressure throughout the service area. Before the solution was applied, EnWin had experienced on average 238 main breaks per year.

In 2013, EnWin experienced 187 main breaks – a 21 percent improvement resulting in a cost savings of approximately $125,000. The utility also reduced average system pressure by 2.8 psi and standard deviation by 29 percent. As a result, EnWin saved an estimated $125,000 attributed to lower electricity cost and system leakage.

Thanks to the enhancements implemented in Phase Two, pump start and stop pressure spikes have been virtually eliminated.

“At the beginning of this project we were cautious. We wanted to be sure the technology would perform as stated,” said Rossi. “But the proof is in the results.”

In addition to improving performance, the onboard solution helps contain operational expenditures in other ways as well.

“With onboard MPC, we have reduced the overall cost of our solution,” said Rossi. “Of course, we still pay MPC licensing fees, but we eliminated the cost of an additional server and related licenses.” Rossi concluded: “It’s encouraging that Rockwell Automation develops solutions that not only improve control technology – but help reduce ongoing operational expenses as well.”

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Conference Report:

Data & Data SecurityWhat’s the use of data & how secure is it?

It is a very rare occassion when a workshop inspiring, fascinating and a iittle bit scary but the Sensors for Water Interest Group Workshop on Data & Data Security was definately all three. The workshop was kindly hosted by Siemens at the Manufacturing Technology Centre inCoventry and this venue was what ticked the first box in terms of Inspiration (see sidebar). For organisations such as the UK Water Partnership it is the ideal organisation to partner up with. The workshop started with a brief of the MTCs work and philosophy and bridging the gap between research and exploitation is the organisations speciality.

When the workshop was designed it was decided that SWIG would try something a little different and the programme included periods of active discussions around the subjects.

The two presentations of the day were all about Big Data and its use within the Water Industry. The first presentation of the day was by Dr Ben Tam of Anglian Water and he described the industry problem that we all know about in the form of “Data Richness and Information Poverty.” What was highlighted by Ben was that quite literally the water industry has a vast amount of data to the extent that literally there is too much to process and the wood can’t be seen for the trees.

The problem with Big Data is that some think that its being used already, some think its something for Information Services and some think its just too complicated.

Generally though there is value in Big Data and projects such as using weather radar that is already used by companies such as Southern Water and Veolia Water are already using it. However the big potential value is in the unknown benefits that we don’t know about. The so called “unknown unknowns.”

Ajay Nair from MWH was the next speaker and he talked about “Riding the Data Revoloution,” and how in the UK from now on it is going to be less around the construction through capital schemes and more about the operation, a paradigm shift to operational efficiency.

Ajay wnet through the “Water Data Cycle Ecosystem” breaking down the barriers between the four different areas of the Water Industry from potable water to wastewater to networks and treatment. By bring these areas together a case of efficiencies across the whole company can be realised. In significant ways this is something that the water industry has done already. In AMP 5 control of wastewater treatment works resulted in significant operational savings based upon the data that was colllected. Passing these operational savings that were found in schemes enabled the capital schemes to refine the design of process plants however maintain-ing the performance is of course key.

Manufacturing Technology Centre

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) was established in 2010 with the objective of bridging the gap between academia and industry. It represents one of the largest public sector investments in UK manufacturing and, after four years of planning and a 16 month build, the 12000m2 facility opened at Ansty Park in Coventry at the end of 2011.

Addressing the significant gap in UK manufacturing technology provision, the so called ‘valley of death’, has long challenged the leading minds of industry and academia. The MTC was created to bridge this gap, by providing collaborative partnerships that take the ideas coming out of academia and look to develop them into commercial reality within industry.

Four forward-thinking founders; University of Birmingham, Loughborough University; University of Nottingham and The Welding Institute began the process of bringing this concept to life. The initial vision for the MTC was ‘to become a world- class global research facility: making the future through transformational manufacturing technology development.’ This would require significant commitment from industry, excel-lent facilities, access to state-of-the-art equipment, machinery and technology and, most importantly, high calibre people committed to improving the competitiveness of UK manufacturing. Industrial input would be vital to success, and the significant commitment and support from the first three industrial members: Rolls-Royce, Aero Engines Control and Airbus was instrumental in the design and direction of the MTC.

Ansty Park in Coventry was identified as the optimum location, with excellent links to the UK motorway network and easy access to European and global markets from Birmingham and East Midlands airports. A grant of £40m was awarded by Advantage West Midlands and the East Midlands Development Agency, and the four founders now had the challenge to create a facility capable of meeting the diverse and ever-changing demands of UK manufacturing.

When the building officially opened in December 2011, there were 16 industrial members, 44 staff and just a few key pieces of equipment in the ‘workshop’.

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In order to “ride the revolution” there are various key things to do including addressing the issues around Digital Data Security, having an intergrated open data platform, instrument reliability and cost and probably the two most important things - Imagination and a Cultural Change.

Paul Hingley of Simens acted as the bridge between data and data security. He announced that one of the things that Siemens are doing is developing an open data cloud technology service that applications, similar to those in use on mobile phones could be developed for and the model of data in the future will change. Data Driven services were very much seen as the “fourth industral revolution.”

The model of data provision will also change by necessity. Software as a Service (SaaS) has become commonplace and a number of different companies are offering it as a solution. These are to be joined by other potential services including

IaaS Infrastructure as a Service – The bases of Cloud models provides networking, storage etcPaaS Platform as a Service - Combines Iaas with a set of services for software and Application developmentDaaS Data as Service – Lets you connect and use the Cloud for data storageSaaS Software as a Service – Multitennancy for business applications accessed by multiple users

This is where the workshop took somewhat of a dark turn into the world of Data Security and there was a realisation that to those initiated into the world of data security that the best practioners where not necessarily secure from a determined hacker know how to cope with the situation. Towards the end of the day Nick McLaughlan of Z Tech summed things up somewhat coarsely but perfectly.

Those gathered were treated to a plethora of reasons why security is so important and how threat assessment and knowledge is one of the best tools in the IT Security world. It made appreciate that the proclaimed “paranoia” of IT Security is actually justified and is real. There are various standards around IT security and one of speakers from the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) made us aware of the tools that are available from them including. The CPNI is not responsible for just data but the focus of the day was on data security.

To say it was frightening to see the vulnerabilities pointed out to those present is not an outrageous statement. It was truly eye-opening including the various Phishing & Whaling scams that are proliferating the industry. For those who want to investigate this area there is CPNI website which is a weatlh of information including best practice documents and videos.

We were also treated to the view of the Water Company from Severn Trent and what they have done about digital security. What they of course found is that the amjor problem, like all organisa-tions was technologically based but people based and by deaing with the cultural issues half of the potential problems and risks could be dealt with, cultural changes such as simple awareness at all levels in the organisation and active engagement by IS with relevant members of staff broke down the traditional barriers that exist. Processes such as testing vulnerabilities and being aware of the risks and addressing where those risks can be minimised was the key to providing robust protection for the company. The potential consequences of not taking digital security precautions were stag-gering so it is an easy business case to justify.

The workshop as a whole identifed that this an area of huge development for the Water Industry and the efficiencies that we are challenged with delivering can be understood in the data that we gather and potentially realised by the proper use of data to inform the operation and design of the industries asset base. The examples given last AMP were in the region of £6 million for a part of the capital programme of one water company. The risk around data security is real and this workshop gave me a greater respect of my IS colleagues and perhaps i won’t complain as much when the computer seems to be a bit slow in starting of the morning as after all it is probably due to something that is there to protect both me and the company.

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Leakage Workshop

Where: ABB, Daresbury, UKWhen: 17th June 2015

Description

Leakage from the underground water distribution system continues to chal-lenge the water industry. Over recent years leakage has largely been main-tained at target levels. However following the recently updated Water Re-source Management Plans and Water Company Business Plans, a significant number of Water Companies are planning to drive leakage levels down. The drivers for the planned reductions in leakage come from the need to abstract less water, customers’ asking companies to lower their leakage levels and the outcome incentives offered by Ofwat. Regardless of the reasons for the planned reductions, the challenge will be: “How to reduce leakage further in the most cost effective way?”. Just doing more of the same is unlikely to de-liver the savings, so companies will need to meet the challenge making best use of technology, people and data analytics. SWIG is running this workshop to explore the role that new sensing technologies can play in helping to meet this challenge.

This workshop is being chaired by Dene Marshalsay of Artesia Consulting and is kindly being hosted and sponsored by ABB

Sensing in Water 2015

Where: Nottingham Belfry Hotel, Nottingham, UKWhen: 23rd-24th September 2015

Description

Sensing in Water is the highlight of the SWIG Calendar and is its Biennial two day conference. This year it returns to the Nottingham Belfry Hotel where the theme of the conference & exhibition will be “The Service of the Sensor” and has the aim of

“using sensors and instrumentation to help deliver water company out-comes in AMP6 and over the next 25 years.”

There will be four sessions at this years conference covering:

Serving the customers – communications and communicating with the customer.Serving supply – potable water treatment and distribution.Serving the environment – monitoring and control of wastewater collection and treatment.Serving the company – managing assets, people and processes

The keynote speaker for this years conference will be Martin Kane who is the Chief Engineering Officer of Severn Trent Water and the conference dinner will take place at the Nottingham Belfry on the evening of the 23rd September including after dinner entertainment.

SWIG Events in 2015

Conferences, Events,Seminars & Studies

Conferences, Seminars & Events

Events Calendar in 2015

May

19th May, 3rd National Wastewater Infrastructure & Networks ConferenceBirmingham, UK

June

7th - 11th June - ACE 2015Anaheim, California, USA

17th June, SWIG Leakage WorkshopABB, Daresbury, UK

29th June - 1st July, Sludgetech,University of Surrey, Guilford, UK

July

1st - 2nd July, NEL International Flow ConferenceCoventry, UK

September

23rd - 24th September, Sensing in Water 2015Nottingham, UK

26th - 30th September, WEFTECChicago, USA

October

12th - 13th October, 9th European Wastewater Management ConferenceManchester, UK

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