The Village of Monee, Ill., located in the northeastern part of the state, sought SCADA system proposals in the spring of 2002. The area’s existing system used local system pressure for the well pump control, and it just wasn’t working anymore for this growing community.
Siemens Water Technologies originally furnished a proposal, but the village decided to use a proposal from the lowest bidder, instead. The existing water distribution system consisted of two remote metering stations, two wells and one elevated storage tank. The village also had plans to add another elevated storage tank in the near future.
Cheaper Isn’t Always Better
The lowest bidder furnished a system using proprietary hardware, phone telemetry and a proprietary HMI package, but after two years, Monee still did not have a complete and functional SCADA system.
“The system they furnished did not allow us to remotely control our pumps from the SCADA PC, and the system communication time was extremely slow,” explained Dave Else, the Village of Monee’s water and wastewater superintendent.
Due to the bidder’s lack of responsiveness, the village contacted its local Siemens representative for a proposal to install a turnkey SCADA system. The SCADA system was completed in less than a year.
“I can now monitor and remotely control our water system the way we expected,” Else commented.
The System
The Siemens system consists of IntraLin LC3000 remote telemetry units, radio telemetry and an open architecture type HMI package with a master telemetry unit at the public works facility.
The LC3000 units serve as the cornerstone of the control system. The hardware includes high performance CPU, large memory, powerful programming tools, scalable I/O and built-in Ethernet. The SCADA personal computer is connected to the CPU via this Ethernet connection. The controller has multiple local and remote access options and combines an industry standard control programming language (IEC61131-3) with Modbus communications to deliver an open architecture. In addition, the LC3000 hardware will allow for ease of expansion as the village grows in the future.
Else and his team are pleased with the ease and functionality of the HMI screens and the ability to remotely monitor and control the well pumps from this location. According to Else, the new SCADA system has reduced labor costs, improved operating efficiency and allowed more accurate reporting of water usage, water quality and real-time operation.
“Siemens came in and quickly installed the system and got it up and running,” Else said. “They have been extremely responsive from the beginning. The system has been trouble free since it was installed. The village has been very happy so far with the service.”
Kevin Forsman, is a branch manager for Siemens Water Technologies. He can be reached at 847-949-8004 X4034 or by e-mail at [email protected].
