How do you provide site monitoring within an urban area without compromising on function or aesthetics? See the above-ground monitoring solution SAGE delivered for a metropolitan District Metered Area.
Sophie Wang, Project Manager, City West Water
"SAGE were innovative and practical in coming up with a monitoring solution that would be suitable for our District Metered Areas."Challenge
City West Water is trialling digital metering for its District Metered Areas (DMA). It established a DMA at Melbourne's Docklands Park and sought to monitor flow and pressure rates.
Site monitoring within such an urban area is challenging. While below ground monitoring would be near-invisible to the public, it is more difficult to achieve good quality wireless communication. In addition, the cost and logistics of opening below ground pits to maintain monitoring equipment are high and complex, particularly within DMA environments.
City West Water engaged SAGE to come up with a suitable monitoring solution.
Solution
SAGE worked with City West Water, Melbourne City Council and Yarra Trams to position and implement an above-ground monitoring solution for the DMA flow meters that would blend with the environment, and perform its role at a low implementation and lifetime service cost.
After investigating other options such as power pillars, SAGE decided that a bollard could contain the monitoring equipment with minimal impact on aesthetics or public safety.
After considering other options, a bollard provided the best solution for the client, delivering above-ground monitoring that was cost-effective and could blend with the environment in the inner city.
The bollard houses an RTU-Datalogger, additional battery and flow transmitter, with an external antenna on top. It is fully integrated with City West Water's SCADA system.
Outcome
City West Water can now monitor flow and pressure rates for three below-ground sites at Docklands Park, using a highly accessible and discrete bollard solution. This has provided the water authority with another means to monitor its diverse range of assets and services. It will continue to roll out similar solutions within its DMAs where suitable.
The solution:
- is highly accessible
- has reduced lifetime service costs
- conforms to safe, attractive urban design
- is an energy-efficient, battery-powered solution
- provides high-quality 3G communication.
The custom-made bollard is highly accessible and fits with the urban design within the Docklands Park area.
Technologies:
- Metasphere Point Colour low powered battery operated DNP3 RTU-Datalogger
- Khrone flow/pressure meter with Modbus support
- 3G telecommunications
- custom bollard
- Schneider ClearSCADA master system.
SAGE site monitoring services
SAGE Automation provides site monitoring solutions for every context and location. It specialises in finding and implementing the best hardware, software and telemetry communications [including harnessing the Internet of Things] to give clients energy-efficient, flexible and maintainable solutions that minimise social impact.
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