WaterGroup now provides a user-friendly, customisable Human-Machine Interface (HMI) to monitor rainwater tanks, storage/buffer tanks, treatment plants and related parameters. This HMI enables plant and facility operators to view their site comprehensively through a single, intuitive plant schematic or single-line diagram.
“Including this HMI interface on our UtiliOS platform, which displays multiple sensors on a single screen, revolutionises IoT applications. If sensors are present, we can visualise their data. Monitoring tank levels, pressure, water quality indicators like dissolved oxygen, chlorine, pH or ORP, along with pump status and operating hours, is much easier with this user-friendly page that consolidates all information for a plant or complex site,” said Guenter Hauber-Davidson, Managing Director of WaterGroup.
“This technology minimises the need for numerous and often redundant site visits to remote locations. Rather than sifting through a comprehensive table of parameters, operators can quickly access all essential metrics for their site at a glance. It’s incredibly intuitive. Moreover, thanks to UtiliOS’s innovative design, it performs seamlessly on mobile devices like on any other platform. This streamlining enhances asset monitoring and maintenance, significantly speeds up troubleshooting processes, and is centred on presenting and analysing data to provide actionable insights. These improvements lead to substantial cost reductions and efficiency enhancements. Essentially, we’re eliminating the need for manual monitoring,” he added.
The solution leverages UtiliOS’s highly adaptable Alarm Configuration Engine (ACE). It enables the creation of significant alarms across various priority categories for any imaginable condition. Any asset equipped with an alarm will change colour, immediately guiding the operator’s attention to the asset requiring attention.
The attached graphic illustrates UtiliOS’ newest feature: a rainwater harvesting module. It calculates the expected rainwater inflow based on the catchment area and the nearest weather station. It allows for extremely useful logic cheques such that the tank is filling when it should otherwise, indicating a blocked cutter or collection pipe or that the tank is being used when there is water in the tank. Another useful feature is the pump running hours and status monitoring module.” Guenter is amazed “how many well-conceived systems are out there where the owners are blissfully unaware that this sustainability initiative, built and announced with great fanfare, is now sitting there doing nothing for the simple reason that a filter is blocked, a pump is tripped, or indeed somebody might have switched it off.
This solution is perfect for rain and stormwater storage tanks, buffer tanks, or small, straightforward water treatment plants that do not require a costly SCADA system. It enhances efficiencies in existing asset management practices. It is also effective for larger, more intricate sites with various sub-meters and associated water metrics, such as tank levels or rainwater harvesting systems. Examples include shopping centres and university campuses.
