Automation and information management for today's water and wastewater treatment

By Tony Petrucci, P.Eng., CH2M HILL Canada Limited

Today's water and wastewater system managers are faced with the demands of rapid growth, higher water quality standards, more complex treatment technologies, increasing levels of facility automation, labour-intensive document management procedures and the challenges of the information technology age. A state-of-the-art facility automation and information management system can be designed to address these issues. Such systems allow for better process control and performance, improved operator efficiency, reduced operating costs, increased safety and improved water quality.

A web browser-based, flexible information management system may include information on such areas as plant instrumentation data, online operating and maintenance manuals, equipment maintenance information, technical information on control systems, graphical depictions of processes and equipment, and annual compliance reports.

The facility automation and information management system is an open information system and, unlike most proprietary SCADA systems, is very flexible in terms of the reports the system can generate. This allows the use of off-the-shelf information management tools to save on implementation time and simplify long-term support and maintenance of the information management system.

In addition to increased productivity, system efficiency and reductions in annual operating costs, facility automation and information management systems can help water and wastewater treatment plants realize the following benefits:

• communication improvements among operations and maintenance staff;
• the elimination of errors from paper-based documents, since daily analytical readings are transferred directly to the database;
• better organization of documents;
• one source of information;
• more uniform procedures;
• automated monthly regulatory procedures;
• easily assessable vendor information;
• reduced documentation and document maintenance costs;
• efficiency monitoring reports that aid in scheduling maintenance;
• chemical usage reports; and
• increased morale and teamwork.

Too often, discussions on facility automation focus on concerns about unattended operation, the reduction or elimination of human resources in critical functions and perceived increases in risk for the general public. With the right philosophy toward the facility automation process, such negative consequences can be prevented. Although based on the tools of technology, facility automation and information management systems are most successful when designed to treat the human operator as the key and most important element of the water or wastewater treatment system.

A properly applied facility automation and information management system will enable a range of improvements and create efficiencies in system performance. It will also provide employees with greater potential for professional growth and learning, due to the new skills and knowledge required for plant operation and maintenance.

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