The client’s challenges

The water treatment plant in the City of Saint-Gabriel used to rely on a display panel for monitoring the flow pattern of the entire plant. The indicator lights and high-priority/low-priority alarms were the only way to tell if the plant was functioning properly.

Unfortunately, this panel could not control the systems remotely and required the city to hire a day-shift and night-shift technician to take care of any incidents. Spills are severely punished by the government and incur heavy fines if the spills are too large or too frequent.

The system was simply not efficient. Every morning, a technician would have to manually determine the run-time of each pump and do all calculations by hand.

They wanted to update the plant and kick-start their very own industrial revolution.

Our solution

We automated the panel system by improving and changing both the display and alarm systems. The new display panel can now automatically send out efficiency percentages and operating ratios in real-time through SMS.

This smart plant now allows the technician to identify the severity of the alarm and fix the problem without having to be on site. They can remotely access the plant using the data-based visual imaging tool that we installed.

These automations, including a PC-based SCADA system, are just some of the new features that we suggested and installed.

The results

By making it easier to monitor the plant and eliminating any errors caused by manual calculations, we helped improve the quality of the city’s wastewater treatment process. There is no longer any delay between when the alarm sounds and when the technician responds. All operating standards are being met more efficiently to create a better water treatment experience.

We also helped the city save money on things such as the commuting costs for the night-shift technician and saving time on essential actions such as creating government reports and efficiency calculations.

After upgrading their system, the City of Saint-Gabriel was able to generate a significant return on their investment after just a year and a half. We are proud to have transformed this water treatment plant into a 4.0 plant.

 

Are you considering a similar automation project? Contact Groupe BEI today. We would be happy to discuss your needs and find a solution that works for you!