The challenges of remote monitoring of assets

Despite the challenges facing the remote monitoring of water utility assets, new Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provide economical and durable operational means of remote monitoring.

The fundamental challenges that hinder a water utility’s ability to monitor its assets are sparsity of infrastructure and inherent budget limitations.

Many key functional devices in the treatment and distribution of both water and wastewater operate unsupervised. The outcome is a non-proactive approach to asset health and fault event management.

For the utility, the result is felt in elevated maintenance costs, recurring plant failure replacements and frequent unwanted events such as overflow in the wastewater collection line. More broadly for the community, such breakdowns and events spell a significant impact to the state of the surrounding environment as well as the function of the water services they pay for.

The continued emergence of low power IoT solutions, such as LoRaWAN, into the industrial sector gives operational teams a new means of remote monitoring of assets that is both cost effective and highly scalable.

In recent years, Shoalhaven Water has developed a robust LoRaWAN architecture including a network of over 15 gateways covering the Local Government Area (LGA) from Berry in the North to Lake Tabourie in the South, as well as back-end data flows which include cloud access data analysis tools, such as Grafana and SCADA integration for real-time alarming.

Shoalhaven Water continues to undertake innovative LoRaWAN-based remote monitoring projects to address sewer manhole blockage, Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) pressure issues and smart rubbish bins.

A significant challenge for Shoalhaven Water is managing overflow events in the sewer collection network caused by blockages or ‘choking’ in the pipeline. Choking may occur in both ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ scenarios, meaning it may be caused by an accumulation of debris in the pipe or excessive infiltration of water into the system during rain events.

Of particular concern for Shoalhaven Water the coastal town of Culburra, whose protected bay hosts an important oyster growing trade. The sewer line that runs adjacent to the bay is prone to overflow, particularly in periods of heavy rain. An overflow into the river system incurs a mandatory shutdown of the local industry for three weeks.

Additionally, such events are in breach of environmental regulations and naturally are of concern for the wellbeing of residents. The remote monitoring solution Shoalhaven Water employed is to hang a float switch in manholes of concern connected to a LoRaWAN device which relays data through a special antenna through the concrete lid of the manhole.

The attendant is notified when the water level in the manhole reaches the height of the float switch indicating that a blockage issue may have occurred. The monitoring method is simple and cost effective, totalling around $350 per site. Integration of IoT data into the SCADA network enables real-time alerting via SMS and email.

Shoalhaven Water is able to take a preventative, rather than reactive, approach to overflow management. Additional benefits - from an operational perspective - include the capability to network interactions between assets along the line, building a holistic understanding of wastewater collection.

MANHOLE SEWER FLOAT SWITCH

SMART BIN – ULLADULLA CIVIC CENTRE

One of the more critical assets in freshwater distribution is Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV). To maintain reliability of supply for consumers, the consistent operation of these valves may now be upheld using remote technology.

By using LoRaWAN-based pressure logging devices that tap-off the water main, Shoalhaven Water can monitor the pressure fluctuations as well as differential pressure across the upstream and downstream sides of the valve. The data provides supplementary measurables that indicate asset health.

The key concept that the pressure logging project addresses is the ability for proactive maintenance in the event of deterioration of the valve or variation in the conditions of the supply to the valve.

The smart rubbish bins project is an initiative that is part of a broader council interest. Using ultrasonic distance sensors secured to the underside of the bin lid, the level of rubbish in the bin is constantly monitored throughout the day. The level measurement enables data analysis of key statistics including frequency of filling and time-of-day usage.

Through remote monitoring technology, what was formerly an infeasible asset to monitor, now allows Shoalhaven Water to make informed decisions surrounding rubbish collection routing and problem areas. Thus, enhancing efficiency of the collection process and providing a cleaner environment for the community.

The LoRaWAN network is, by nature, only complimentary to Shoalhaven Water’s recently overhauled radio telemetry network, which remains the backbone of critical asset monitoring and control.

In response to major vulnerabilities highlighted by the 2019 Black Summer Bushfires, Shoalhaven Water continues to innovate, rolling out several solar recharged battery backup systems to our telemetry sites. The batteries provide redundancy of power during fires for remote sites with low voltage plants, such as valve actuators. Fire deluge sprinkler systems are also being introduced to protect many treatment plants in the event of fire. As Shoalhaven Water’s remote monitoring systems continue to build, several key challenges begin to arise, particularly in terms of operational reliability. LoRaWAN coverage is an ongoing challenge with the hilled terrain and dense bushland in the region. Cyber security is fast becoming the major concern for IT in water utilities, and IoT networks are at the focal point in terms of how they fit into best practice. Providing an accessible and useful data interface for users is a developing issue that relies heavily on competent device management. A primary challenge that many utilities will face in their IoT journey IOT GATEWAY is the elongation of battery life and replacement planning as devices reach their end-of-life on a large scale. The future focus for Shoalhaven Water is to expand current projects, in particular the sewer manhole network, enhance their LoRaWAN coverage through added gateways, further integrate IoT into broader IT cyber security strategies and improve device management and data flow through consultation and development of operational standards.

By Daniel Watson, Automation Solutions Innovator, Yokogawa

Thanks to the digital revolution, we are suffering from information overload, with the mentality of ‘there’s an app for that’ being accepted as the norm. Studies show that on average there’s more than 100 apps and websites an employee needs to interact with on a regular basis. But what is the impact of this?

SCADA solutions have been around for decades and have been one of the many apps and programs used by operators, engineers, and maintenance personnel. They are seen as an essential part of the automation toolkit, but can often become a point of contention when it comes to data accessibility, interoperability, or data quality.

A utility’s SCADA solution is critical to the operations of its business, not only is it used to ensure proper plant operation, but it’s the vital link between processes in the field and obligatory reporting requirements. The latter is only going to increase, especially as the shift to renewables becomes more stringent.

With the introduction of IIoT, there are now even more apps and integrations to manage as many IoT solutions come with their own cloud platforms (and a cost). An IT expert is almost a mandatory requirement to help manage the data flows and different platforms and it’s not uncommon to have different teams with different objectives each seeking their own solutions.

MORE SYSTEMS = MORE PROBLEMS

With many disparate systems there’s more risk of errors, and more areas where information could slip between the cracks. Unfortunately, we then see redundancy put in to compensate for this blurred boundary, which then introduces additional costs and overhead.

The logical solution is to have the SCADA platform as the data aggregation tool. All information from the field should be fed into the SCADA platform and then it can be shared with other systems as needed. This provides a central repository with all information available.

VISION IN THE CLOUD

Yokogawa’s CI Server has a vision for the future which includes autonomy and reduced complexity. CI Server is a SCADA solution with DCS grade HMI and IT/OT convergence tools at its core, and this was pivotal in the move of a major New Zealand District Council utilising CI Server for their water infrastructure. This installation utilised the CI Server Cloud Subscription which gives easy access anywhere anytime via mobile friendly HTML5 graphics.

The solution has the flexibility and scalability to grow with the council, and the native IOT integrations were critical in bringing data from the pumping and treatment sites via secure MQTT protocol. Through the combination of the Cloud CI Server and the Yokogawa Edge processor, the data integration to existing Omron PLCs was seamless and the data presented where and how it is needed. It’s a solution that can be easily maintained with the existing workforce.

As the world shifts to more technology don’t let the abundance of disparate solutions become a burden on your staff day to day. Consider a single platform which you can make work for you.