The problem
According to Yorkshire Water’s Cook et al, despite significant on-going investment, water companies continue to receive an unacceptable number of discoloration related customer complaints.
In 2010 Yorkshire Water (YW) implemented a telemetry infrastructure to support their business goals by providing high quality operational information to help it improve business performance.
This was because previous systems were complex to maintain, and YW was mindful of system limitations that restricted the collection and analysis of real-time data.
The solution
The current system a solution put together by Capula, utilises the PI System infrastructure from OSIsoft and is able to measure and collect data from a range of sources including Instruments, plc’s, remote telemetry units, and data loggers, among other sources.
Since 2008 Caption Data Limited has been working with ATi UK to provide telemetry for a range of instrumentation. The latest application sees Caption Data’s RDL//nano integrated onboard ATi’s disruptive Turbidity monitoring technology.
Working with YW’s Real-Time Data Development Specialist, Caption Data was able to provide instant access to data as soon as it’s available, through a simple but secure connection between YW servers and their own.
Steve McGuin, YW’s, Real-Time Data Specialist says “Ease of integration is what we’re about. We were able to implement data from the CDLSmartHub against our standard structure by connecting our servers with Caption Data servers.”
“Through this method, we are able to collect data from CDL servers every ten minutes, back it up, and make it available as soon as it arrives”
The Product
NephNet is the first battery powered, portable turbidity monitor that gives the same performance as the more traditional fixed monitor, with no compromise on accuracy at low levels.
Before ATi partnered with Caption Data the data was being collected via a USB data logger, this provided excellent levels of granularity in terms of sampling time and accuracy however the data had to be retrieved manually, this would cause issues as the data could show alarms that were missed due to the slow reaction of analysis.
Within a water network, hundreds of turbidity monitors could be deployed. Traditionally that would mean a technician would have to visit each one to collect data.
Now with the embedded technology provided through the RDL//nano, the NephNet is able to provide real-time data via Caption Data’s CDLSmartHub.
Tristen Preger, Sales Manager Utilities, said “It was clear at an early stage the market required telemetry for the NephNet turbidity monitoring system and we needed to act quickly to gain traction as quickly as possible.
“We engaged Caption Data to specifically collaborate on remote monitoring of the NephNet over 12 months ago and have enjoyed a very successful relationship with them on this unique innovation.
“Caption Data assisted us in integrating the telemetry system seamlessly, quickly, and easily into our existing system.”
Let us take a look under the bonnet:
Dan Mackdemott, Director at Caption Data explains, “We don’t believe in complexity. Time and resources can be saved by keeping it simple, and that’s how we work.”
Your data, when you need it
Do you need online access to data in real-time from your sensors or equipment? We can help. Contact us online, by phone at +44(0)1905 754078, or by email to discuss how we can add value to your organisation, product, or service offering.
