WIPAC Monthly - February 2020

WIPAC MONTHLYThe Monthly Update from Water Industry Process Automation & Control
www.wipac.org.uk Issue 1/2020- January 2020

In this Issue
WIPAC Monthly is a publication of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group. It is produced by the group
manager and WIPAC Monthly Editor, Oliver Grievson. This is a free publication for the benefit of the Water Industry and please
feel free to distribute to any who you may feel benefit. However due to the ongoing costs of WIPAC Monthly a donation website
has been set up to allow readers to contribute to the running of WIPAC & WIPAC Monthly, For those wishing to donate then
please visit https://www.patreon.com/Wipac all donations will be used solely for the benefit and development of WIPAC.
All enquires about WIPAC Monthly, including those who want to publish news or articles within these pages, should be directed
to the publications editor, Oliver Grievson at olivergrievson@hotmail.com
The picture on the front cover is from a presentation given by Hach at the Sensors for Water Interest Group Workshop on Real
Time Control Systems
From the editor............................................................................................................. 3
Industry news..............................................................................................................
Highlights of the news of the month from the global water industry centred around the successes of a few
of the companies in the global market.
4 - 11
Delivering Digital Transformation..................................................................................
In this month’s feature article Oliver Grievson, Executive Director of Water Industry Process Automation & Control,
goes through some of the themes that have actively been discussed at the latest conference’s and workshops and
how the discussions can be used to deliver Digital Transformation.
12-14
Information Security and a practical approach to the defence of water systems..............
In this article by Ron McGinn of Bayshore networks and the technology that can be used to protect water systems
following the publishing of guidance in the USA.
15-16
Monitoring & Control of the Activated Sludge Process..................................................
In this article by Michael Dooley of Strathkelvin Instruments we look at the principles of the monitoring of
the activated sludge process with particular reference to the Oxygen Utilisation Rate and how we can use an
instrumentation based control approach to make savings with wastewater operation
17-19
Workshops, conferences & seminars............................................................................
The highlights of the conferences and workshops in the coming months. 20-21

From the Editor
The first conference season of the year is in full swing and its busier than ever and there are interesting themes
coming out of the discussions with companies showing a very active interest in the Digital Transformation of the
Water Industry and the water companies are coming together to address the common issues in a way that has never
quite been seen before. In the UK at least, this is partly due to the financial pressure that is being put on the industry
with deliverables that are not only difficult to deliver on a normal day but with the cost cutting exercise that the industry
is facing by its regulator are near impossible. Hence of course why some of the water companies have appealed to the
Competition & Markets Authority. All of this causes turmoil within the industry and has a negative effect on the way the
industry operates.
The programme of deliverables does include a lot of instrument based systems especially directly around wastewater
flow management and a massive installation of smart water meters but more indirectly there is the potential for control
systems around phosphorus reduction and other such schemes as the permit limits are so tight that some of control
system is necessary to maintain control over the effluent discharge from wastewater treatment works. This is not all as
there is a genuine interest in what can be done with data and its conversion to insight - the fundamental basis of the
Digital Transformation of the Industry.
In Europe and the USA we are seeing a large move in this direction. This month I visited the WWETT Show in Indianapolis and those present including the
municipal water companies that were present were actively talking about the use of Digital Transformation in the wastewater network and the benefits that it
could bring to the industry. It is a concept that in the smaller companies is only just starting at the moment but the benefits can be seen and the move towards
the concept is becoming an imperative. As I wrote last year “it’s not an option it is becoming a must.”
In the next few months the conference season continues with WEX Global at the beginning of March, IWA Digital Water at the end of April and the SWAN
Forum Conference in May all of which will actively be discussing the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry but when will we see some actual results
from all of this discussion. The answer is that most of it is happening now but in small pieces. In this issue we see in the news Northern Ireland Water installing
a virtual assistant, something that other water companies have done before but is coming more and more mainstream as the demands of the customer drive
the industry in that direction. This is all on top of the interaction with customers with social media platforms which only five years ago was a concept that was
strange and unusual but now is becoming commonplace.
This is all on top of various innovations that have been talked about within the industry, in the conference circuit, for years. Multi-variate process control and
real time control which was all the discussion 5-10 years ago which didn’t get the uptake that it should have done to the extent that most of the manufacturers
had virtually given up on is now seeing somewhat of a resurgence at the current time. Arguably this is the travel through Gartner’s “Trough of Disillusionment”
and these technologies are starting to travel up the “Slope of Enlightenment” and into the “Plateau of Productivity.” Its something that the industry should
have travelled through a good few years ago but now that its happening let’s see where the industry is going to go.
Have a good month,
Oliver

3rd
WIPAC Monthly - Serious Gaming scheduled for 4th March
The next complimentary WIPAC Webinar on Serious Gaming in the Water Industry is scheduled for 4th March 2020 at 12:00 (GMT) and this time it is on Serious
Gaming in the Water Industry. Of course this sounds absolutely insane....what has Serious Gaming got to do with the Water Industry. The answer is quite alot and
Dr Mehdi Khoury of the University of Exeter is going to tell us all about the application of serious gaming in the Water Industry, how it has already helped some
of the major water companies within the industry and how it can be used to help with customer engagement.
Serious Gaming in the Water Industry has huge potential for Water Companies to engage with their customer on everything from local issues and root cause
analysis to the big strategic issues that the industry faces.
The 3rd WIPAC Webinar will discuss the concept of Serious Gaming in the Water Industry and will be led by Dr Mehdi Khoury who is an Associate Research Fellow
in the Centre for Water Systems at the University of Exeter.
His main area of expertise is Serious Games and interactive visualisations, as well as machine learning (classifiers using hybrid techniques such as Fuzzy Gaussian
Inference, evolutionary algorithms, and deep learning). As a computer scientist, Dr Khoury’s research interests are in serious games applied to multi-disciplinary
problems, and complex systems visualisation and optimisation. The latest research activities are focused on the development of a serious game modelling
consequences of climate change on the nexus of interdependencies formed by water, food, land, energy and climate.
The SIM4NEXUS Serious Game project presented in this webinar has been funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
under grant agreement No 689150 SIM4NEXUS
CIWEM UDG launch Call for Papers for “Digital Technologies in
Urban Drainage
The CIWEM Urban Drainage Group has recently launched a call for papers for their Spring Conference which is to focus on Digital Technologies in Urban Drainage.
as there is a realisation that like other sectors, ours is embracing new technologies at a fast pace ranging from real-time data-analytics, low-cost sensors, machine
learning, artificial intelligence, automation, intelligent real-time control, mobile applications and cloud computing.
For those who would like to submit a paper for consideration please send an abstract to ciwem.udg.papers@gmail.com not later than 28 February. This should
be no more than one side of A4 and take the following format:
1. Paper / presentation title
2. Presenter(s) and affiliation (maximum 2)
3. Any other authors and affiliation
4. Contact details for corresponding author
5. Paper outline - be concise and clearly state any novelty or innovation and who will be interested in the paper and why.
There will be a new thematic approach to the annual one-day conference. This year, the focus will be on Digital Technologies in Urban Drainage. Like other sectors,
ours is embracing new technologies at a fast pace ranging from real-time data-analytics, low-cost sensors, machine learning, artificial intelligence, automation,
intelligent real-time control, mobile applications and cloud computing.
This conference is targeted at both experienced urban drainage professionals looking to ‘upskill’ in digital technologies and data scientists and other technologists
looking to learn more about the unique challenges and opportunities in the urban drainage operations and management sector.
Conference delegates will deepen their understanding of how digital technologies are already assisting water & sewerage companies and other agencies to
plan and operate assets more effectively to combat the effects of climate change, growth and ageing assets whilst meeting exacting performance standards for
flooding, pollution and compliance. The conference will combine conventional podium presentations with panel discussions from experts.
Page 4
Industry News

Metasphere Point Colour RTUs now support SDI-12 Multidrop
Metasphere is pleased to announce that its Point Orange and Point Blue RTU, both
of which forms part of the Point Colour range, now provides support for SDI-12
Multidrop for up to 10 sensors. SDI-12 is a serial communications protocol used to
connect intelligent sensors with dataloggers/ remote telemetry units (RTUs) for the
purpose of monitoring environmental parameters such as all-weather parameters,
including rainfall, water quality and soil moisture. It can also be used to provide
interfaces for geotechnical sensors such as vibrating wires.
These sensors are typically low-power devices deployed at remote locations and
communicate with a data logger or RTU. The SDI-12 protocol was developed to
provide an easy and reliable means to connect sensors to data loggers and ensure
their compatibility. Metasphere’s SDI-12 Multidrop solution enables the Point
Orange or Point Blue to request data from up to ten sensors (each with a unique
address) at any one time, by following a set master slave configuration for data
interrogation. The logger/ RTU then sends this data to either Metasphere’s Palette
Cloud Telemetry Service, or a customer’s own WITS-DNP3/DNP3 Masters, or FTP/
FTPS server.
Providing support for SDI-12 Multidrop on its products, Metasphere demonstrates to its customers and business partners its continued commitment of
providing collaborative solutions that integrate with other devices and systems whilst being easy to use. The Point Colour range of RTUs provide a selection
of easy-to-use, self-contained, low-cost telemetry devices for data collection and monitoring, The devices offer software configurable I/O, Modbus and SDI-12
communication options as well as providing an array of information across numerous parameters with intelligent alarm reporting functionality. It communicates
with Metasphere’s Palette Cloud Telemetry Service, WITS-DNP3/DNP3 Masters, or FTP/ FTPS servers.
Simon Dawe, Sales Manager, said: “With an ever-increasing reliance on telemetry to provide data for effective asset management, environmental monitoring
and flood warning; providing support for SDI-12 Multidrop on our products ensure we can integrate to the increasing number of environmental sensors available
on the market. Our customers can rest assured that we offer them best of breed solutions with the necessary flexibility whilst continuing our core commitment
to remain close to our customers by securely looking after their valuable assets and information’’.
Chelsea Technologies (A Sonardyne Group Company) designs and manufactures ingenious environmental monitoring technology to make the world safer, cleaner
and smarter.
For over 50 years, Chelsea has applied its deep passion for science and innovation to solve customers’ problems. Its fluorometers, sensors & systems have been
used around the world to help customers understand the natural environment, improve water treatment processes, comply with ballast water and exhaust gas
wash water monitoring regulations, monitor for pollution and contaminants in rivers and lakes, and support oceanographic & defence research.
On display at Oceanology International will be a range of Chelsea’s sensors and systems for marine science, including multi-parameter and active fluorometers for
PrimaryProductivityEstimation,InsituAlgalMonitoring,PollutionMonitoring,NutrientStressAnalysis,ClimateChangeResearchandMonitoringofHydrocarbons.
New for 2020 is the VLux MiniSonde, Chelsea’s latest multi-parameter fluorometer for measuring algae, hydrocarbons and tryptophan corrected for turbidity,
absorption and CDOM. Also being launched at OI is the LabSTAF, a portable laboratory-grade system for the analysis and measurement of Phytoplankton Primary
Productivity for research vessels and ships of opportunity.
A small selection of Chelsea’s standard, OEM and custom acoustic hydrophones and projectors will also be on show.
Throughout the week, Chelsea’s technology and application experts will be on hand to offer advice so please drop by Stand E551. To make an appointment ahead
of the show, please email: ekeegan@sonardyne.com
Chelsea Technologies showcases new fluorometers
Page 5

GoAiguia becomes Idrica
Scottish Water uses surfboard as state-of-the-art inspection device
on Talla Aqueduct
ScottishWaterhasworkedwithpartnerstoturnasurfboardintoastate-of-the-artautomated
inspection device to gather information on the condition of infrastructure vital to the supply
of Edinburgh’s drinking water. The water company recently successfully trialled the unique
device - to inspect of a section of the Talla Aqueduct. Called the Platypus due to its shape,
the device makes it significantly safer, quicker, easier, and cheaper to detect and analyse
cracks and other faults on hard to reach assets.
Previously, inspections of the vital infrastructure, which is buried six metres below ground
in places, were much more difficult, requiring teams of inspection engineers and rescue
personnel to enter the structure, with additional teams needed on the surface. The
inspections, which have been carried out every ten years, involved a team of up to 200
people and hundreds of hours.
The aqueduct also needed to be fully drained in sections for inspection. The surfboard technology will now be used by Scottish Water to carry out an inspection
of the entire 45-km length of the aqueduct. This time round far fewer staff will be needed and the process will be done much more quickly and at less cost and
no water will have to be drained at the site. The Platypus was the brainchild of robotics experts in Australia, Abyss Solutions. The firm had previously developed
remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) which gathered high resolution underwater imagery from reservoirs. They adapted this to be able to gather high resolution
imagery from above and below the water inside Talla Aqueduct so it could be kept fully operational.
Working with Scottish Water they created the Platypus, which operates as an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV). It was developed using a standard surfboard as
a platform to support specialist recording equipment. High definition cameras and lighting were fitted along with sensors which steer it along a pre-programmed
alignment and redirect it around obstacles. The Platypus uses sonar, gathering data below water level and a remote sensing method that uses light in the form
of a pulsed laser to measure ranges above water level. The data generates three-dimensional models of the internal surface which is recorded on the device.
The footage is then passed through software which cleans up the images and is then able to identify and categorise defects within the asset. Once detected,
engineers can carry out more detailed inspections and necessary repairs in these areas.
Darragh Hoban, project manager for Scottish Water, said:
“Like all water companies we need to maintain an ongoing understanding of the condition of our assets. A number of factors led to us looking at new ways of
inspecting the Talla Aqueduct. It is almost entirely below ground and access is mostly through access shafts often in remote locations which increase health
and safety risks associated with personnel entry to the aqueduct. By removing the need for personnel entry to the aqueduct, the health and safety risks are
substantially reduced and there is no need to interrupt water supply to the water treatment works. ”
The Platypus was recently trialled along a 1.5km long section of the Talla Aqueduct. It was the first time the asset was inspected without the need to physically
send operatives into the aqueduct and without having to interrupt the flow of water.
Darragh Hoban added:
“The trial was a huge success with the Platypus providing a safer and less disruptive method of inspection, we are now planning to inspect the remaining part the
of aqueduct using the Platypus. Results to date indicate the Platypus ASV approach may also offer solutions for inspection of other similar Scottish Water assets.”
Idrica is the new leading company in digital transformation for the water industry. It provides
services and technological solutions for the water cycle management. The company is
born with a brand engineering division with experience in management, operation and
maintenance, engineering and consultancy.
Idrica offers high added-value services, such as: Master Plans, Digital Transformation, Non-
Revenue Water reduction, Smart Metering Roll-out and analytics, Digital Twin, project
management, technical support, energy efficiency and water networks & infrastructures
management. Their technological solution GoAigua is the result of the digitalization of
Global Omnium, a company with more than 125 years of experience in integral water cycle
management. They are backed by more than 10 years’ experience in the implementation of
technological solutions for processes and infrastructures in the water sector. GoAigua is the
product of this evolution.
Global Omnium began in Valencia (Spain) and has consolidated itself as a leading company in its home country and abroad, operating in more than 400 cities
in Europe, South America and the Middle East, through its four areas of activity: drinking water supply, engineering and infrastructures, hydraulic services and
waste water management.
Page 6

Securing the future of water in the UK
Smart meters are increasingly being called on to detect leaks and prevent water wastage, and their reliability depends on a secure, resilient fixed network. The
World Bank has predicted that GDP growth rates could decline by six per cent due to water-related impacts on agriculture, health and incomes, with a loss of
$4.50 trillion by 2050. This stems from the expectation that there will be a 40 per cent shortfall in global fresh-water resources by 2030.
Whilst population growth and the impact of climate change are adding to supply pressures, the biggest waste of resources remains water leakage. In England
alone, 3.2 billion litres of water are being lost from leaking infrastructure every day, enough to fill 1,273 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Despite the National Infrastructure Commission’s recognition of smart water meters as an effective method to reduce both leakage and usage, and their growing
presence in UK households, leakage figures have remained static.
This is because many smart water meters lack critical technology that should underpin a smart meter programme – an always-on real-time network.
Many water companies use the simplest type of smart (AMR) meters, which can automatically collect readings within a 10ft radius, over a short-range radio
connection. Whilst some companies send out fitted vans, others have inventively attached reading technology to dustbin lorries. These, however, only capture
data from around 75 per cent of the smart meters and only when the bins are collected. These weekly readings from AMR meters are considered out of date by
the time they have entered the analysis system.
In contrast, the latest generation of fixed network smart meters (AMI meters) send hourly readings in near real time to the water provider, which can reduce leak
detection to under two to three weeks. This rapid response time requires a network that can guarantee coverage and capacity. Whilst water companies battle
to tackle water wastage, there is a growing recognition that the onus is not just on the suppliers, but that responsibility also lies with consumers.
As smart meter networks continue to grow and generate vast amounts of data, smart meters are fast becoming integral tools for water providers seeking to
increase consumer engagement. In fact, smart meter ownership has been shown to reduce consumption by 17 per cent. The two-way data exchange, supported
by a private network, allows water companies to easily add additional sensors to the existing network. This provides an ever-increasing rich data set from which
to derive actionable outcomes, and ultimately help customers to understand and act on their water usage.
This increased level of consumer data collection, teamed with the explosion of connected devices, has left data privacy a common concern amongst both
customers and providers.
However, whilst data breaches are prevalent, cyber-attacks within the utility sector are of even greater concern. Given the immediate links to critical national
infrastructure, the potential repercussions are significant. A data breach is concerning, but a loss of water could be catastrophic to both business and society.
Private fixed smart meter networks can help water providers to avoid the security issues associated with internet connectivity. By using a private licensed radio
spectrum, fixed meter networks avoid sharing a spectrum with other applications – ultimately evading the susceptibility of online communication. Considering
their status as a data-rich alluring target, it’s vital that water providers secure their smart meter networks, or risk being compromised.
As the installation of smart water meters becomes more widespread, the industry will begin to look to other tools and technologies to improve resource
management.
Currently only 23 per cent of European utility providers consider AI a high strategic priority, with 60 per cent preferring to take a follower approach. Clearly, the
industry is waiting for business cases to build up. With the International Data Corporation estimating global spending on AI to double by 2022, these use cases
are predicted to surge, and the water industry looks set to see the benefits.
With 300 million pieces of operational data collected per day, the water sector is an ideal candidate for a “big data optimisation makeover”. However, the
delivering on this depends on a fixed network’s ability to quickly and reliably relay large amounts of data. A truly resilient network can provide a concrete surface
for the addition of automated monitoring devices.
As awareness around the world’s water scarcity crisis continues to rise, the argument for smart water meters has never been more persuasive. Behind the
benefits of these devices must lie a resilient fixed network, for both short-term solutions and future applications.
NI Water launches online virtual assistant for customers
NI Water has launched an online virtual assistant in a bid to make customer queries as effortless as possible.
The virtual assistant will help customers get answers to simple queries more quickly than ever before and not necessarily with the need to speak to anyone.
Orla McGivern, Customer and Insights Senior Manager at NI Water commented:
“As part of NI Water’s digital transformation strategy to enhance customer experience, we decided to partner with IP Integration (IPI) to develop this knowledge
based assistant.
“It adds to the functionality of NI Water’s website and our 1.8 million-strong customer base. Staff worked hard to develop customer focused content that the
assistant would draw from to provide intelligent and conversational answers to frequently asked questions. To improve accuracy, it will use Artificial Intelligence,
to analyse responses given and then actively refine and improve on them.
“As a utility company, we know our customers sometimes need information quickly, so don’t want to be on hold with a call centre or have to search through
pages of information for the answers they need. The online virtual assistant solves this, providing quick and easy access to information and improving our
customers’ experience. We have already seen some benefits with really positive customer feedback.”
Page 7

Scottish Water and the SWAN Forum Collaborate to Launch the
10th Annual Smart Water Conference in Glasgow
The Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) is the leading, global smart water hub collaborating with utilities, solutions providers, regulators, researchers,
investors, and academics to promote smart water and wastewater solutions. Now in its celebratory 10th year, SWAN is pleased to announce that its annual,
flagship event will return to its roots in the United Kingdom. In partnership with Scottish Water, SWAN’s Lead Utility Partner for the event, the SWAN 2020
Conference will take place 12-13 May 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland and join together thought leaders from around the world to further accelerate the smart water
sector.
Last year’s Conference in Miami drew over 340 delegates from 21 countries and 40+ utility speakers - this year will build off of this exciting momentum while
adding additional cutting-edge topics. The Conference theme, “Moving Beyond Data to Value Creation,” will identify and showcase data use cases in the smart
water and wastewater sectors that delivered meaningful value to relevant stakeholders. For those with a passion for both water and data, this event will offer
both high-level content and ample networking opportunities with key decision-makers.
Commenting on this exciting news, Professor Simon Parsons, Strategic Customer Service Planning Director at Scottish Water remarked: “We’re pleased to be
partnering with SWAN to welcome senior global utility leaders and proven solution providers to beautiful Glasgow. This is an exciting time to showcase best
practices in leveraging data for valuable decision-making”.
Amir Cahn, SWAN’s Executive Director, added: “This 10th Annual event marks a pinnacle moment for the movers and shapers of the smart water sector. For a
decade, SWAN has led this initiative thanks to a fast-growing global network of passionate members and partners.”
This must-attend event is highlighted by a number of prominent utility speakers, among them: Peter Simpson (Chief Executive of Anglian Water), Martine
Watson (Manager of Network Operations at Unitywater), Jennifer Rebeiro (CIO at City West Water), Frederico Fernandes (CEO at Águas do Porto), João Faria
Feliciano (CEO at AGS), Rob Mustard (Director of Digital and Transformation at Scottish Water), Reid Campbell (Director of Water Services at Halifax Water) and
Cindy Shepel (Director of Drainage Operations at EPCOR).
Meanwhile, a number of SWAN 2020 Sponsors have already been confirmed, including: Jacobs, Idrica (formerly GoAigua), Mueller, s::can, Metasphere, Primayer
(part of Servelec Technologies), Xylem, Abloy UK, AVEVA, and Analytical Technology UK.
We invite you to join these and many other global industry thought leaders in Glasgow and take an active role in shaping the smart water and wastewater sector
in this new decade. Learn more about SWAN and register for the Conference on the official SWAN 2020 Conference website: www.swan-2020.com.
Northumbrian Water and partners offer £25k to develop Dragonfly
sensor network
Northumbrian Water, CGI and the Water Hub are offering inventors and creators up to £25,000 to help them turn an idea which will both protect the environment
and improve rural internet connectivity, into a reality.
The information will help the North East water company maintain its industry-leading environmental performance by managing its water and wastewater
network better, as well as helping other organisations make decisions about how the catchment is managed and water safety.
A number of the different sensors placed in rivers and streams would form a mesh concept, linking multiple units together by 5G and also creating a physical
network of wireless connectivity for the benefit of rural communities. The idea came out of Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival last year, where more than
100 people took part in the five-day challenge to enhance rural communities and the environment, facilitated by global IT and business consulting company, CGI.
Now, the two organisations, together with the Water Hub - a Durham University-led partnership between Durham County Council, the Environment Agency and
Northumbrian Water, are looking for inventive minds to help them develop a working Dragonfly product. Up to £25,000 will be awarded to the chosen applicant,
who will have until July to create and build the prototype, before showcasing it at Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival from 6-12 July 2020.
The concept will also be presented at the Water Hub’s Ripple Event on Wednesday March 18, 2020 - a networking event for water technology innovation.
Northumbrian Water’s Catchment Co-ordinator, Clare Deasy, said: “Dragonfly is a very exciting project that came out of our Innovation Festival.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to help us bring Dragonfly to life, exploring the possibility for creating a low-cost, low-maintenance, self-powered
sensor which would have huge benefits for water companies, the partners we work with and our customers.
“We’re very excited to see what possibilities the chosen applicant brings to the table and to start helping us make a difference for the environment.”
Page 8

Hydranautics – A Nitto Group Company, launched a cloud-based membrane projection software – IMSDesign Cloud. The software is based on its popular
simulator and is the company’s next gen integrated membrane projection software to simulate RO, UF, and NF membrane projections in various combinations.
This thoughtfully designed unique web simulator is strengthened with an array of new features that makes it a value-added tool. Users can use this auto updated
tool to run projections, anytime, from anywhere and share or forward them to their colleagues and seek expert advice from Hydranautics technical experts thus
making it more collaborative.
The simulator operates from a variety of PCs or laptops or tablets running on Windows, macOS, or Android operating systems. All the projections are saved on
the cloud for easy retrieval from anywhere and at any time. IMSDesign Cloud is safeguarded with latest security measures and firewall from AWS, making it a
safe and secured tool.
With the system, users can enter feed pressure as input and the simulator will predict performance. which is useful in analyzing an operating system. The system
can also predict performance with organic chemicals and BOD, COD, TOC in wastewater applications.
Hydranautics will continue to update and support existing desktop version of IMSDesign until December 2022. Users will have an option to use desktop version
too because calculation results from both versions will match. However, IMSDesign Cloud will offer several enhanced features and greater flexibility.
Hydranautics Releases Cloud-Based IMSDesign Simulator
Emerson’s Virtual Reality Simulation Improves Workforce Safety
and Speeds Training
Emerson announced Mimic™ Field 3D, an immersive training experience designed to help new and incoming workers gain a deep understanding of how changes
in the field impact industrial plant processes. This virtual reality-based (VR) solution gives personnel simulated hands-on experience to prepare for any plant
event, helping them make better decisions regarding operating changes and practice proper procedures before entering potentially hazardous plant areas. In
the coming decade, experts estimate there will be more than 2.5 million skilled jobs that go unfilled in the United States. There’s a clear need for organizations
to seek innovative technology solutions to address this talent shortage quickly through innovative augmented reality (AR) and VR solutions like Mimic Field 3D.
In fact, a recent survey found that 66% of companies plan to adopt these technologies by 2022.
The Mimic Field 3D immersive plant experience enables operators to learn about and interact with devices and assets in virtual reality prior to making a trip to
the field. The Mimic Field 3D immersive plant experience enables operators to learn about and interact with devices and assets in virtual reality prior to making
a trip to the field. Field operators typically train on physical equipment, which adds risks and costs, particularly during some of the plant’s most critical phases
— startups, shutdowns, turnarounds, and outages. Many organizations are seeking technology solutions to rapidly upskill new workers for high performance
in the shortest amount of time.
“Emerson’s digital twin portfolio is changing how we prepare the future workforce. Our industry will become increasingly reliant on VR tools like these to address
the growing skills gap and improve training effectiveness,” said Jim Nyquist, group president of systems and solutions at Emerson. “This advanced technology
enhances training by offering a hands-on experience, which ultimately improves the safety of workers.”
This effort supports Emerson’s larger digital transformation initiative that provides software, data analytics, automation technologies, smart sensor, and
consulting services to help customers achieve Top Quartile performance — meeting performance metrics within the top 25 percent of peer companies. As part
of Emerson’s Plantweb™ digital ecosystem, Mimic Field 3D empowers new workers to acquire knowledge and experience at a faster pace as they learn from each
immersive experience, enhancing safety and overall operational performance.
Wipro And Smart Energy Water (SEW) Form Global Strategic
Alliance To Accelerate Digital Transformation
Wipro Limited a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company and Smart Energy Water (SEW), today announced a
multi-year global strategic alliance. This partnership aims to develop and deliver joint solutions, which will accelerate digital transformation for enterprise clients
in the utilities space globally. Headquartered in California, SEW is a global energy and water cloud platform provider serving over 200 Utilities worldwide.
The joint offerings, built on SEW’s industry-leading digital Customer Experience (CX), Workforce Engagement, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Machine Learning (ML) and Big data analytics platforms will deliver transformational benefits to both companies’ new and existing clients in this space. It will
help enterprise customers adopt self-servicing capabilities, gain real-time analytics on peak load management, leakage and high-usage, and accordingly optimize
workforce efficiency. It will further enable them to transform their operations for greater efficiency and customer centricity.
N.S. Bala, President and Global Head, Energy, Natural Resources, Utilities & Construction, Wipro Limited said, “The Wipro-SEW partnership is key to our Utilities
marketplace as clients seek to provide enhanced experience for their customers and workforce. We will leverage our rich industry expertise, domain-specific
knowledge and SEW’s products with its analytics capabilities, to help fulfill the digital transformation agenda of our Utilities clients.”
“We are excited to engage with Wipro as our global strategic partner,” said Harman Sandhu, President, Smart Energy Water. “The Utilities industry worldwide
is going through a major transformation in customer experience and operations. This partnership will help us gain access to Wipro’s proven expertise and
implementation experience with leading global Utilities. It will support and accelerate delivery of SEW platforms to our customers.”
Wipro has invested over two decades assisting Electricity, Gas and Water Utilities across four continents, helping them bring about speedy and effective
transformations. We are helping Utilities across the world build a more intelligent network that is resilient, flexible and dynamic to the proliferation of distributed
energy resources (DER), electric vehicles, and advanced metering and sensors. We help Utilities harness and interpret their data to retain and grow customer
revenue and ensure a more secure environment leveraging technology, analytics, and connected devices. With our proven industry expertise as leaders in
driving customer experience and digital transformation initiatives, we are at the forefront in helping Utilities evolve towards digitization and innovation.
Page 9

Partnership Advances Water’s Digital Future
Grundfos and Augury sign strategic partnership to bring intelligent, sustainable water solutions to the market.
Grundfos, a world-leading pump and water technology company, and Augury, a fast-growing data analytics company and leading Digital Machine Health solution
provider, are taking a major step toward digitizing water and utility infrastructure worldwide by signing a long-term strategic partnership. Together, they will
develop smart diagnostics solutions and services for Grundfos’ customers.
The two companies have already been working together successfully over the past two years to test new products and service offerings across several markets
and industries. Now, they are committing to the next step, offering a range of services and new business models enabled by connected equipment.
“By adding an AI-driven intelligence layer on top of existing assets, we can automatically collect mechanical and operational data, providing actionable machine
health insights and diagnostics to our customers and service organisation,” says Tommy Due Høy, Group VP, Global Service & Solutions, Grundfos. He believes
the partnership puts down a marker for future solutions.
“When we stand ten, fifteen years from now, this could end up being one of those defining moments where we took a real step forward,” he adds.
Augury works with the world’s largest manufacturers and industrial companies to transform their operations by providing real-time diagnostics regarding the
health and performance of their machines. The combination of Augury’s AI-based solutions with Grundfos’ deep applications expertise has the potential to
change water delivery and services as we know them.
“Water is at the core of how we live, work, and thrive - yet it often goes unnoticed,” says Saar Yoskovitz, Co-Founder and CEO of Augury. “Through this partnership
Grundfos and Augury will work to make water a safer, more available and more useful resource for businesses, individuals and even nations worldwide.”
“We have spent the last eight years working with manufacturers and utilities to ensure that people around the world can always rely on the machines that
matter and have seen first-hand the impact it brings. I am thrilled to be partnering with Grundfos to bring this impact to a wider market.”
“Our applications knowledge has consistently been the key differentiator for us to provide best-in-class pumping solutions to the world. As we prepare our
portfolio for the future, it is key that we leverage this knowledge base to build more intelligence, IoT, remote monitoring and advanced diagnostics into our
offerings to ensure differentiation, which is one of the highest priorities for Grundfos,” said Anupam Bhargava, Group Vice President, Industry at Grundfos.
ETRI Develops Drone And AI Technology To Predict Algal Blooms
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has developed a technology for analysing water quality with drones and using artificial
intelligence (AI) to predict the level of algal bloom. The technology is expected to reduce public anxiety about algal blooms that reoccur each summer and help
manage drinking water safety. ETRI reported it successfully measured and predicted harmful algal blooms in a remote lake with a hyperspectral camera built
in a drone. The research was published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment.
Algal blooms have been observed in many rivers and coastal waters where water flow is slow or stagnant. Large algal blooms can be toxic to the environment
and people. If the algal bloom growth reaches a certain point, it expands exponentially making it difficult to manage. Thus, it’s critical to accurately monitor
and predict algal activity.
In the past, it took a couple of days to collect samples and analyse water quality. Moreover, the process was cumbersome as it required physical site visits,
making it difficult to respond quickly before the algal bloom spread.
The technology developed by ETRI uses drones to remotely examine water bodies, making it easier to study blue-green algae status, including migration,
spread, and distribution in rivers or streams. Compared to satellites or aircraft, drones can monitor the water more easily at low costs and high resolution. The
acquired big data is then quickly analysed with AI, which helps predict where the blue-green algae will bloom.
A hyperspectral sensor is central to the system’s success. While conventional images divide light into three primary colours (RGB), the hyperspectral technology
can divide the visible and near-infrared regions into 200 or more colours. Thus, the technology can classify the components of an object in more detail and can
be applied widely in the military, environment, medicine, healthcare, and other areas.
The hyperspectral camera in a drone can easily indicate whether the blue-green algae level is at ‘Attention’, ‘Warning’, or ‘Outbreak’. It uses the light spectrum
of blue-green algae to check the current status digitally.
“We have the goal of achieving the world’s best level of accuracy in algae prediction. We plan to make it possible to track down the growth of blue-green algae
and facilitate early response to prevent further spread,” said Dr. Yong-Hwan Kwon, the ETRI project manager.
ETRI has used the hyperspectral camera drone to examine the water quality of Daechung Reservoir in South Korea. The research team next plans to construct
a real-time monitoring map of algal blooms in the reservoir. The objective includes a study on automating the process of exploration, data collection, input and
analysis after establishing the optimal moving path of the drone.
The research team has the goal of increasing the accuracy of the algae prediction to 90% or higher by enhancing the analysis performance. They also plan to
reduce the weight and size of the hyperspectral sensor by 2022.
Page 10

Verizon And Honeywell Enable Utilities To More Quickly Deploy
LTE Smart Meters
Verizon and Honeywell have announced this month to announce that they are working together to enable utilities to more quickly deploy LTE smart meters by
• Honeywell is integrating Verizon’s Managed Connectivity LTE solutions into smart meters and other edge devices, developing the next evolution of
the smart electric grid
• Collaboration allows Honeywell to provide its customers with a wireless networking platform as part of its Smart Energy software, hardware and
services, delivering secure and reliable IoT communications for utility applications
Verizon has teamed up with Honeywell to help utilities speed up and simplify the deployment of new communication-enabled, intelligent sensors and controls
for the smart electric grid. By integrating Verizon’s Managed Connectivity LTE solutions into Honeywell’s next-generation smart meters and other electric, gas,
and water solutions, the two companies will drive energy savings by more quickly deploying smart electric grid technologies. These technologies allow consumers
to use energy at the optimum time and help utilities manage and plan for peak demand. Combining Managed Connectivity, which will be offered as a service
on Verizon’s LTE network, with Honeywell Smart Energy software, hardware and services, the collaboration will provide utility companies with a highly scalable,
fully managed, open computing and communications platform to help them manage operations efficiently and safely deliver new services to their customers.
“Working with Honeywell on these next-generation solutions will enable the reliability and scalability of the communications needed to deliver smart metering,
manage distributed energy resources, conserve water, and make the digital world work better for utilities and consumers,” said Jay Olearain, director, Enterprise
Products and IoT at Verizon. “Our Connected Utilities solutions bring connectivity and computing capabilities to all kinds of IoT devices, helping companies like
Honeywell grow their leadership positions in the utilities space and expand their business models into new market opportunities.”
The open secure edge computing and networking platform enables Honeywell to incorporate sophisticated technologies like artificial intelligence and machine
learning into its meters. The two companies are also working to explore how 5G can transform the utility industry through higher bandwidth, faster speeds and
low latency, enabling advanced industrial automation and control solutions along with real-time analytics.
“The Honeywell portfolio of utility applications and analytics expands with the new capabilities of wireless IoT,” said Ann Perreault, director, Connected Utilities,
Honeywell Smart Energy. “By taking advantage of an already built, cellular infrastructure, our utility customers can more quickly deploy new capabilities based
on interoperable communications, allowing them to facilitate innovation. This means that it is easier and more cost effective for utilities to apply analytics to plan
for energy demand and to integrate emerging new technologies including micro-renewable generation, electric vehicles, battery storage and semi-autonomous
control into the next evolution of the grid.”
The availability of Verizon Managed Connectivity firmware within LTE network interface cards and LTE edge server routers accelerates the development of a new
and innovative digital ecosystem of utility connected devices on LTE at scale.
Itron And CPS Energy Expand Collaboration To Improve Energy
And Water Literacy
Itron, Inc. which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water, and CPS Energy, the nation’s largest municipally owned energy and natural
gas utility in the city of San Antonio, Texas, have expanded their collaboration to improve energy-water literacy and launched a new online resource aimed at
providing interactive educational resources and materials to educate communities and inspire the next generation talent pipeline.
The new online resource, Smart Energy Education, will leverage pre-existing programs, such as the Resourcefulness: An Introduction to the Energy-Water Nexus
STEM curriculum, and include new programs, such as the Watt Watchers of Texas program, that provide interactive learning materials for students, educators,
industry professionals and communities around the globe. Additionally, the Resourcefulness and Watt Watchers of Texas programs are now available in Spanish
as a result of Itron and CPS Energy’s ongoing commitment to connect with as many communities as possible in the San Antonio region and beyond.
Smart Energy Education is bridging collaboration among community thought leaders, trusted educational programs and digital platforms that are working to
improve energy-water literacy and student multimedia experiences around the world.
“CPS Energy is an industry leader that shares Itron’s passion for educating communities about resourcefulness,” said Marina Donovan, Itron’s vice president of
global marketing and public affairs. “With Smart Energy Education, students in the Greater San Antonio region and beyond will be equipped to think critically and
carefully about energy-water management and conservation. This is a local initiative that can be leveraged globally and is being made available by our ongoing
commitment to invest in education and corporate social responsibility programs and initiatives that promote the resourceful use of energy and water.”
“CPS Energy is proud to collaborate with Itron on Smart Energy Education,” said Rudy Garza, Chief Customer Engagement Officer (CCEO) for CPS Energy. “San
Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States, which makes our community the perfect place to launch a program with interactive learning materials
that encourage our next generation to be resourceful. Our goal is to demonstrate how Smart Energy Education can not only foster community engagement but
also inspire children to implement energy saving practices into their everyday life starting at a young age.”
Page 11

Case Study:
Delivering Digital
Transformation
Over the past few weeks there have been a number of conferences and workshops that have opened up the discussion on the Digital Transformation of the
Water Industry and they way that the industry could operate could change the way it works. No matter what it is called, be it Smart Water/Water 4.0 or Digital
Transformation, the global water industry is going through a revolution. This is being pushed through the development of technology and to a certain extent
through the pressures of operation. Water Companies are looking at how they can operate to reduce costs and deliver more for less coupled with all of this
though are the environmental pressures from climate change, increased population and the impact that operations, especially increasing energy costs due to
tighter regulation, has on the global environment.
The first workshop was that discussed the concepts this year was the WWT Wastewater pre-conference workshop that was held in Birmingham. The workshop
was nominally on smart wastewater networks and how the concept can be brought into reality but the discussions were on a much wider basis. The past
five years have seen the delivery of the Event Duration Monitoring programme which has given the industry a view of the performance of the wastewater
network especially in wet weather conditions but also how it performs in dry weather conditions too. This of course links to the method of regulation that the
Environment Agency proposed a number of years ago with OPRA-PBC, a process-based control approach to regulating wastewater treatment works. At the time
the concept did come into being because there was not enough of an incentive for the approach to be taken. After the concept faded into past thoughts the
work done by Exeter University on process-based permitting of not just the wastewater treatment works but the whole wastewater system showed that the
environmental outcomes of the water industry, i.e. a river eco-system with at least a good status could be achieved with less of operational cost which in turn
results in an improved overall environmental cost through reduced energy consumption. This would a win-win situation but it still isn’t a reality within the water
industry. There have been dalliances into this area with variable permitting but in reality this concept doesn’t go far enough. Nationally and internationally
countries are setting goals around zero-carbon emissions which is not going to happen unless all industries including the water industry take radical steps. In
reality this will be down to the water companies almost move beyond regulation and deliver much more strategic goals that the current regulatory bodies
allow. This is a hugely difficult task.
The wastewater network pre-conference workshop tried to bring this together using the
wastewater network and the delivery of a “smart network” as an example. The focus was
set in four main areas looking at technology, regulation, supply chain and the drivers behind
all of the development. In reality these four discussions were linked.
The drivers for a smart water network were very much around what has already been
mentioned in regard to strategic challenges such as climate change and the impacts that this
will have with rising sea-levels causing increased saline infiltration and the performance of
the wastewater network in both wet and dry weather but also due to the changing ways in
which people use the wastewater network and the challenges of increased blockages down
to sewer misuse. However this is not the full story as the drivers towards leakage reduction
and reduced per capita consumption actually also causes problems with increased septicity,
increased blockages due to lower flushing which in turn can cause faster asset deterioration
due to hydrogen sulphide build up in the sewer. These are the more technical impacts that
the future potentially brings to the water industry and in fact the severity of the impacts
very much depend upon the way the sewer is operated. Taking the case study of Germany
for example where there are over 50,000 storm tanks within the sewer environment there
is much more of a potential to use control systems to hold back water and use flushing
gates within the sewer environment as flows get lower and lower. This is a potential way
of controlling the sewer network but this approach is not applicable to sewers in other
countries. Reduced water consumption has its impact in other countries too and a manual
flushing approach has to be taken.
At the centre of all of this is a triumvirate approach of trust between the customer, the
water company and the regulator. The water industry in some countries have seen per
capita consumption reductions to below 100 litres per head per day (the UK’s target) and in
the main this has been down to cultural attitudes. Within the UK there has been a number
of successful projects using customer influencing techniques to reduce water use and this reduction is an important target in the UK for many of the water
companies. In the wastewater environment there is a similar attitude need around wastewater. There are a number issues including fats, oils and greases and
the issues of unflushables that have been publicly discouraged and influencing campaigns to affect customer behaviour however there is a much greater need
to drive this even further.
The second area of discussion is how to use regulation to drive these drivers into actual practice. Mistakes have been made in the past especially around smart
water meters with many water companies identifying them much earlier in their business plans which weren’t allowed to be delivered because of a lack of
foresight in the financial regulator and as a result five years were lost. This has changed in the most recent plans and a number of the water companies are
delivering more than a million smart water meters. In the wastewater network this even less developed. The approach in Germany with storage within the
wastewater network allows management of the whole wastewater system and allows for throttling of flows and a much greater management of wastewater
Page 12

flows. However this brings greater operational risk.
There are regulatory drivers and requirements though
with the current EDM programme (which already exists
in a large number of countries within Europe) identifies
the weaknesses with the wastewater network around the
combined storm overflows. The weak points of course need
toberectifiedandthiswilleventuallyleadtoanimprovement
of the environment as a whole. What was highlighted at the
workshop that, with the current environmental awareness,
the speed of change may not be sufficient to satisfy the
customer and in reality the customer needs to be putting
pressure on the regulator to a much greater extent giving
the water companies a much greater ability to deliver the
environmental objectives that they want.
WhattheEDMprogrammedoesthoughwhichhasasimilarity
to the smart water meters is produce a huge amount of data
that have the potential to overload the current systems
that are available within the water companies. This needs
a change of process to enable the management of the data.
This is where simple alarm based reporting systems fail to
live up to the needs of the industry.
This moves things forward and in reality pushes the industry
to a much greater systematic approach using a number of inputs and a multi-variate analysis of the operation of the network using the data in a much more
intelligent way to identify what the performance of the system as a whole is. The industry is starting to see this now as there is a driver towards flow management
of the wastewater treatment works which is driving flow management throughout the wastewater system. As a whole this level of regulation is driving the
water industry to smart wastewater networks to manage the drivers around climate change, population growth and the strategic drivers as well as the drivers
around pollution reduction. In order to achieve this approach the water industry will have to move beyond current levels of financial legislation and deliver
the approaches outlined in OPRA-PBC as well as the more for less approach that was studied at the University of Exeter. Something within the industry has to
change and if the financial regulation can’t keep up then there needs to be a pressure from both the customer and the environmental regulator to move beyond
regulation. It is an approach that has been seen in Europe.
The last two areas are intrinsically linked and that is the supply chain and the
technology available to the industry as well as the technological needs and this
is linked to innovation that has been identified as a key area of delivery within
the water industry. The innovation competition that is set to be important within
the water industry could have the potential to do a lot of good but also has the
potential to be invested in the wrong area of the business and not address any
of the key drivers.
Technological innovation has to be driven by the water companies to address
their needs but it also has to address the need of the many and not the few.
As there has to be trust around regulatory drivers so there has to be trust
around the supply chain and the water companies. Part of the discussion that
was very interesting was a challenge surrounding level monitoring within the
wastewater network and the technological application depending upon the
driver for the level monitoring. For example a level monitor designed to manage
flows through the wastewater network are not applicable for level monitors that
are designed to protect customers located on small lateral pipework within the
sewer environment. There are solutions available but they either don’t suit the
application or the price point is far too high. Thus an adaptation of the approach
that is taken is needed to compromise between the challenges that the water
companies face and the technical and practical application of technology. This requires a collaboration between the water companies to identify common goals
that the industry faces and the creation of the market to enable research and development of technology that will work. Both parties, the supply chain and the
water company have to collaborate and trust each other in order to develop the technology that the industry requires.
The second key workshop demonstrates the progress that the industry has made so far and the fact that there are technical solutions that have either been
available for quite a while within the industry and yet the uptake hasn’t been as good as it should be, despite the technologically being sound or the continual
research and development that is moving the industry forward. All of these technologies address current drivers within the industry.
The concept of real-time control has been around for a number of years and is an instrumentation based-control system. For almost as long the concept of multi-
variate process control using a branch of artificial intelligence has also been available. In reality working on a system of systems based approach both techniques
Page 13

are applicable to the wastewater system. However both techniques have never been used together. The question to ask is why? In the main this has been a
cost-based decision as one technique could be applicable but both would not be cost efficient. However with the development of the techniques the situation
has changed and to go down this route is, in reality, not an option. If the industry is going to move forward then it must (a) move towards a holistic systematic
approach and (b) move to a strategic environmental approach.
The Real-Time Control approach has been very successful on wastewater treatment plants and although it has been around for over 10 years it is only starting
to become a mainstream technology now. Some companies have tried and failed to successfully apply this approach by just using instrumentation and a simple
controller (usually a PLC using ladder logic) but this does not realise the full benefits as there is normally a complex algorithm sitting behind the instrumentation
as installed. This is typically something that typically requires modelling and in the third conference in the year (the WWETT show in Indianapolis) this point was
highlighted when during the sessions live modelling looked at ammonia control which when modelled shows the interaction between the blower system, the
sludge age and the measurement of both dissolved oxygen and ammonia. There is an efficiency point in the ammonia control system and this dependent on
modelling the interactions but without sludge age control the majority of the benefit is lost.
Truly though it is when the industry takes the multi-variate approach and the real
time control approach together, although it is expensive to do, that the industry will
get the full benefits of looking at a more holistic approach with whole wastewater
systems and although initially expensive the potential environmental benefits are
that the industry will move towards a situation as shown in the University of Exeter
study where the industry realises a situation where there is a better environmental
benefit for less operational and environmental cost and the permitted levels that are
being seen at the moment where there are limits that are 10 times cleaner than the
old standards in potable water. This will take developments in both instrumentation
and control systems and interestingly some of the technologies presented recently,
especially around bio-electrochemical systems, show promise in the way the industry
is going.
The technology and its application within the industry has long existed and the industry has got to a point where it needs to take the measures to use it even if
this means going beyond the boundaries that the financial regulator accepts. The drive towards zero carbon, climate change and its impacts as well as growing
population and the resulting resource draw means that the industry has to take a step change in what it does. This step change is something that can be
delivered through the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry. There is more to be done and the research and development costs to do this can be realised
by identifying the markets for instrumentation and partly can sourced from OFWATs innovation fund (although competition for this money is bound to be high)
but something must be done and at least in the next five years, due to the financial pressures on the industry, the development is going to be slow and in reality
time is running out.
Credit: Martin Butterfield - Hach -Driving De-nitrification in a conventional activated sludge plant - Sensors for Water Interest Group Real Time Control workshop
Credit: Martin Spurr - Newcastle University - Organic load & Toxicity Monitoring with
BES Opportunities for Process Control
Page 14

Is The Water Industry Prepared for An Attack?
For over 20 years now, the enterprise IT security industry has built solutions around three simple concepts:
• Confidentiality,
• Integrity,
• Availability.
Entire product categories and methodologies have consumed hundreds of billions of dollars of R&D investment, and the industry’s best practices have matured
into a robust set of frameworks and real solutions. The problem will never be “solved” but it’s no longer an anomaly for a mid-sized company to have an
information security officer and at least some amount of skills and ongoing budget to defend the information assets from malicious or accidental compromise.
As Sun Tzu taught us in the 5th century.
Attackers seek to exploit our weaknesses with overwhelming force and where we are most unprepared.
Any casual reading of the news will reveal that products and procedures to protect from compromise is not yet universally deployed, but efforts are being made
to mitigate risk, even if we may not always publicly hear about the impact of the efforts. What is clear is the scale of reconnaissance activity — building an
inventory of known vulnerable targets — is running at a level many orders of magnitude higher than it was even five years ago.
Comparing enterprise information security to the security of physical plants, we’ve seen isolated investments as a result of certain federally-designated critical
infrastructure categories. Bulk power, financial systems, and transportation have all enjoyed real investments in security and adapted when efforts were shown
to be inadequate or ineffective. We’ll discuss this in greater detail below, but for now, it’s sufficient to accept that it is possible, despite all the bureaucracy,
budgeting, and political challenges, to improve the security of physical infrastructure in a meaningful degree with practically applicable solutions.
Despite the evolution of stronger security options and with full knowledge of the potentially catastrophic effects of a disrupted water supply, power grid, or
emergency response network, most physical infrastructure in the western world has little or no significant cybersecurity protection in place. We’ve learned how
to do it on the enterprise side and in the designated critical infrastructure sectors where it “matters most”, but what about everything else?
Twenty years after the advent of information security as an industry category, we face a major gap in degrees of preparedness and a critical mass of risk and
attackers willing and able to exploit these connected networks which are relatively unprotected. Many of these networks are the economic lifeblood of regional
employers, or the enablers of vital resources to communities: power, communications, and water. Large telecom companies at the national scale are more
mature in their security practices, but many local or regional carriers, as well as municipalities, power cooperatives, and water plants, are all woefully behind.
Further compounding the problem is a budgeting process which isn’t yet oriented around the ROI of risk management and security spending, and a workforce
which does not lend itself to rapid recruitment of security professionals.
Contemporary Approach Based on AWIA 2018
It wasn’t until the passing of America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) in 2018 that
the EPA received concrete guidance on protecting our nation’s water. Section
2013(a), in particular, provides the first actionable goals via “Community Water
System Risk and Resilience.”
It requires that community water systems first undertake an assessment for the
risk of malevolent acts and natural hazards, and, second, implement an Emergency
Response Plan, which illustrates strategies and resources to improve the resilience
of the system to include cybersecurity risks.
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act created a new entity intended to
drive the United States towards a comprehensive cybersecurity defense strategy,
and critical infrastructure is one of its areas of focus. The entity, known as the
Cyberspace Solarium Commission, will issue recommendations in the Spring of
2020. These are meant to be prescriptive and will be framed as a defense-oriented
activity, rather than an academic or research objective.
One of the most pressing issues about water systems is their age, and that networking technologies have been retrofitted to existing water processing equipment.
The transition to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been pursued with varying enthusiasm across the country, but most plants have at least some
networking infrastructure linking the machines to the control rooms. Such additions were done with little use of embedded security protections because it is
believed that the difficulty of gaining physical access to a water plant is sufficient protection from most threats.
Article:
Information Security and a
practical approach to the
defence of water systems
Page 15

A Practical Approach to the Defence of Water Systems
If an automated environment is compromised, there are immediate real-world effects. Regardless if the original intention was malicious, accidental or simply
unexpected, the product is lost, the lights go out, and people can’t get water from the tap. Worse still, than no availability, is if the water is contaminated and
users don’t know how or why.
Large-scale water supply problems can impact millions of people, and even if the utility can notify 95% of customers within 6 hours (which is in and of itself highly
unlikely), the consequences of the remaining 5% being ignorant to the risk are potentially catastrophic.
While understanding why network issues happen is an important question worthy of investigating, the #1 priority of Bayshore’s technologies is to keep the plant
online and safe. Bayshore Networks, founded in 2012, has developed security products specifically for OT environments. Its comprehensive technology inspects
industrial network activity in real-time, to protect assets whenever anomalies appear. The company created SCADAfuse, SCADAwall and OTaccess to address the
challenges of availability, integrity and confidentiality of OT environments.
The following table outlines the cybersecurity risks to OT networks, within the prioritized ICS framework of availability, integrity and confidentiality. The eleven
impacts of ICS Attacks as defined by the MITRE ICS ATT&CK Framework can be categorized into this framework.
• Availability impacts include actions which result in the following: Loss of Control, Loss of View, Damage to Property, Denial of Control, Denial
of View, Loss of Availability, Loss of Productivity and Revenue, Loss of Safety
• Integrity impacts include actions which result in: Manipulation of Control and Manipulation of View
• Confidentiality encompasses actions that result in: Theft of Operational Information
SCADAfuse is an automatically configured industrial firewall and intelligent Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) designed for easy deployment and use automation
engineers. It is a physical device that sits in front of critical utility endpoints protecting PLCs, VFDs and other network connected devices. It learns and enforces
normal operations for your plant environment, and actively eliminates threats to OT assets in real-time.
SCADAfuse enables customized policies to ensure integrity of access and content of your unique environment and protect the ICS network from unauthorized
config changes, device resets, device reads, logic updates and message values.
It is your last line of defence for protecting plant assets from unauthorized or unintended (mis)use.
How SCADAfuse Protects A Water Plant From Loss Of Availability
SCADAfuse protects the PLCs and other critical assets in a water plant from loss of availability. The assets will keep doing tomorrow what they were doing
yesterday and today. No matter what happens, SCADAfuse ensures that those assets continue to take only known good instructions from known good sources
and to block any deviations from that baseline.
SCADAfuse introduces strong security measures and operates via a transparent bridge mode at runtime. It seamlessly integrates into existing environments with
no disruptions. SCADAfuse is effectively invisible to the protected assets and workstations. Due to these traits, the introduction of SCADAfuse to an environment
seeking deep security requires no other networking changes, and a strong security posture is achieved with minimal effort.
SCADAfuse is an innovative approach to the generation of subjectively enforceable security policies. Its learning engine is designed to provide highly specific
security rules based on an automated assessment of the network behaviour patterns and resulting policies.
Rules are constructed based on learned traffic patterns encountered in the protected environment and surpasses what any generic set of rules could achieve
given the number of unique possibilities within different ICS communication protocols and environments. The generic rules utilized by typical firewalls, are in
fact, largely ineffective because in multiple environments running the same exact ICS communications protocol(s), there can be highly customized and modified
variants.
To be truly useful, products operating in an OT environment need to understand the operational ranges of values such that threshold, or out of range violations
are detected and handled accordingly based on the needs of each individual customer’s environment.
SCADAfuse allows two responses in handling violations:
• raise alerts or notifications, yet allow traffic to flow
• actively block traffic flows
Beyond automated learning of appropriate policies for each unique environment, SCADAfuse allows experts to make modifications of these rules via a web-
based graphical user interface (GUI). This is accessible from the control room but is protected from unauthorized use via the same protection policies SCADAfuse
uses to protect PLCs from unauthorized access.
About the Author
Ron McGinn is the East Region Director of Sales at Bayshore Networks. He is an Experienced Sales and Business Development Manager
with a demonstrated history of working in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry. Strong sales professional skilled in ICS/
OT, Pricing Strategy, Motors/VFDs, Account & Channel Management, and Marketing. Bayshore Networks is a company with a suite
of ICS/OT active cyber security products within the Eastern United States. Their Key industries include Water/WasteWater, Chemical,
Pharma, Utilities as well as discrete and process manufacturing sites.
Page 16

Article:
Monitoring & Control of the
Activated Sludge Process
Introduction
The Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR) by the bacteria in Activated Sludge is one of the most significant measures available in wastewater management and a new
generation of sophisticated online OUR multi-parameter instruments linked to Plant Control Systems and the Internet of Things is planned to deliver the next step
change in Environmental excellence. These devices have the capability to radically reduce operating costs while reducing loads on the receiving environment.
This article is intended to give a basic understanding of OUR in wastewater applications, interpretation of test outputs and to give some case studies of applying
advanced techniques to control and optimise the Activated Sludge Process.
The Science behind Oxygen Uptake Rate
ThebacteriaintheAerobiczoneofanActivatedSludgePlantbiodegradethewastematerialsintheinfluentstream.Viewingthisverysimplisticallythebiodegradable
waste materials can be broken into organic Carbon-based compounds such as sugars (C6
H12
O6
) or Ammoniacal Compounds (NH3). The biodegradation process
for each can be represented in the following diagrams.
In the degredation of BOD carbon (figure 1 on the left) compounds are degraded in line with following equation
C6
H12
06
+ 6O2
→ 6CO2
+ 6H2
0
In the degredation of nitrogen (figure 1 on the right) the process of nitrification follows the following equations:
2NH3
+ 3O2
→ 2NO2
-
+ H2
0 + H+
2N02
-
+ O2
→ 2NO3
In each case we can see that if we can measure the rate of Oxygen consumption in the reaction, then we can measure the rate of biodegradation of the waste
materials. Dissolved Oxygen measurement in Activated Sludge mixed liquor is now a well-established technique and modern Luminescent Dissolved Oxygen
Sensors are highly stable and have been on the market in demanding applications for many years. A new generation of closed cell Respirometry Chambers (which
seal the measuring environment from external oxygen sources) allow the measurement of the decline in Dissolved Oxygen levels in real time and hence the
Oxygen Uptake rate. The fact that this equipment can self-clean and self-calibrate means hitherto unrealisable levels of accuracy and reliability can be achieved.
The following graph is a simplified model of the Activated Sludge Biodegradation process.
The Endogenous (or starving) OUR rate is the oxygen consumption rate when there is no
Biodegradable material available. This correlates to a BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand)
of 0 mg/l and an Ammonia level of 0 mg/l. Adding a food source to mixture leads to a
rapid increase in Bacterial activity and an instantaneous increase in OUR. The rate of
OUR is now maximised as the bacteria will consume the Readily Biodegradable (rbCOD)
food. In an Activated Sludge plant, this is analogous to the time when the Influent Flow
mixes with the Return Activated Sludge flow in the presence of Oxygen. As time passes
and the readily biodegradable fractions are consumed, the OUR will reduce as only
more difficult to digest or recalcitrant (sbCOD) is available and the biodegradation
process slows down. Finally, only the fraction of Nitrogen compounds not consumed
as a nutrient balance in the BOD removal process are consumed – this OUR rate is
much slower as the proportion of Nitrifying bacteria is normally much lower than
Carbonaceous types. Once biodegradation is completed, the OUR rate will return to
Endogenous levels. The treatment plant design intention is that this occurs before the
mixture leaves the aeration zones, as were this not the case untreated wastes would be
discharged to the receiving waters.
Page 17

This graph above is known as a Respirograph and if we know the shape and
values on the Respirograph we can begin to design an activated sludge process
to properly biodegrade the waste. The example below is an online Respirograph
produced by an ASP-Con system on a sewage treatment plant in Scotland.
In the above example, we can see that it took an additional 3 hours of treatment
to fully biodegrade the contamination present in the sample, that the OUR
maximum rate was 40mg/l/hr and the Endogenous rate is 22mg/l/hr.
Practical Applications of OUR in Activated Sludge Management
Discharge Compliance Monitoring
One of the biggest challenges facing the operator of an Activated Sludge plant
is that they never truly know, in real time, if the plant is compliant or not. Most
plants are regulated for BOD5 in the discharge and this test takes 5 days to
complete in a laboratory. Measuring discharge COD, pseudo BOD5 and Ammonia give some comfort but not enough to give certainty, thereby leading to
inefficient processing as the operator over treats significantly rather than risk non-compliant
discharge. However, an automatic OUR measurement at the end of the treatment process
quickly picks up if the mix has returned to the endogenous level. The example below is from an
ASP-Con installed at approximately 70% of the treatment lane footprint. Here Ammonia and
OUR are both measured to give confidence in treatment completion.
Locating the compliance tracker at this point allows the control system time to respond if high
Ammonia or high OUR is detected in the outlet. In this example, we can see that the plant is
generally compliant at this early stage but there are significant occasions when the OUR trace
is indicating that biodegradable load remains to be treated.
Plant Treatment Profiling
Similarly, few operators truly know the full extent of where and when the load is being
removed in the treatment process or what residual load is left at each stage. Using a portable
respirometer (OUR measuring device) such as the AS-Bioscope (pictured), allows us to determine the OUR profile of an operational Activated Sludge Plant.
Shown below is a real-life example of one such profile undertaken by Strathkelvin Instruments Ltd in the UK.
The OUR profile can give a lot of information about the treatment process. In this example, we can see that the OUR has returned to the endogenous rate at
approximately 60% of the treatment lane footprint, indicating spare capacity in the system. The OUR profile indicates possibilities for different Dissolved Oxygen,
Feeding, MLSS and Blower set point strategies to give more efficient treatment while assuring compliance is not compromised.
Aeration System Sizing.
The following graphs are the output from an ASP-Con system measuring the OUR,
Ammonia and pH in the Anoxic (Inlet) Zone of a municipal treatment works. While the
Ammonium and pH measures are continuous, the samples for OUR are taken and
automatically analysed online every 20 minutes. The OUR measured at this point in the
treatment process represents the maximum oxygen demand per litre of Activated
Sludge. Knowing the treatment plant aeration lane volume allows the engineer to
calculate the maximum aeration system oxygen demand. The graph below shows the
maximum and normalised air supply requirement measured on an Activated Sludge
plant in Scotland.
The normalised calculation of predicted air demand is explained as follows. As the
biodegradation process proceeds, the system oxygen demand will reduce as the
biodegradable load is removed and the Respirograph taken for an influent sample
allows the engineer to optimise the overall oxygen supply sizing and to profile the
proportion of oxygen supplied at each zone of the aeration system. The actual aeration
sizing process is complex, with a requirement to consider Standard Oxygen Transfer
efficiencies, mixed liquor alpha and beta factors, basin geometries and the Aeration
System Control Strategies. However, many engineers are completing system designs
without accurately knowing the actual incoming load commonly leading to oversized
and therefore inefficient systems, leading to increased Carbon Footprint of the
treatment system.
Activated Sludge Plant Control
The use of self-cleaning and self-calibrating feed forward and feedback control systems
are now within the Operators grasp. The graph below shows an example for feed-
forward and feed-back OUR and Ammonia control strategy proposal for a treatment
Page 18

About the Author
MichaelDooleyisacharteredMechanicalEngineerwith24yearsexperienceinProcessEquipmentDesign,Operationandmaintenance.
He has been managing Director and part owner of Strathkelvin Instruments Limited and is considered one of the foremost experts
in #Biological Wastewater treatment in the UK and Ireland. He regularly consults for companies such as Calachem, Northern Ireland
Water, Veolia, Scottish Water and many others. He specialises in reducing aeration energy costs of Wastewater treatment. He is an
entrepreneur and innovator and in the last 6 years has successfully launched 4 new technologies for the wastewater and Biomed
Industries. He is named as inventor on 4 different Industrial patents. His latest market launch the ASPCON won the WEX 2014 global
innovation award sand was described by the judging panel as the next step change in activated sludge treatment. The product is
rapidly gaining acceptance in global markets.
works.
In this example if the inlet OUR and Ammonia loads are at or close
to discharge compliance and this is confirmed at the outlet then the
Aeration blowers can be run at optimum energy efficiency strategies.
Depending on plant engineering design intermittent aeration strategies
can be deployed. Conversely if a high load is detected at the plant inlet
then Blower and Dissolved Oxygen set-points can be raised in advance
of the load arriving in the aeration zones. In this manner, the plc can be
programmed with load and compliance risk managed control strategies,
to fully treat the incoming load, while optimising energy consumption,
costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Toxicity Analysis
The example below shows toxicity analysis from a multi-cell laboratory respirometer. Similar
processes can be applied to online units such as the ASP-Con. The laboratory respirometer
measures the OUR under increasing concentrations of the influent under test. If the OUR
decreases under standardised feed conditions then the influent is having a toxic effect. The
system software automatically calculates Inhibition rates and depending on the test protocol
followed can distinguish between Carbonaceous and Nitrifying Toxicity.
Critical Oxygen Point Determination
Measurement of this process is unique to Strathkelvin Instruments Ltd. The software can
automatically detect the Dissolved Oxygen Levels at which BOD (Carbon) and Ammonia removal
is maximised.
This allows experimental data based decisions on plant operating set points
rather than simply applying rules of thumb. The theoretical explanation for this
technical advancement is shown below.
Once the dissolved oxygen level goes above the critical point there is no
increase in OUR (Biodegradation Rate) but the oxygen transfer efficiency
reduces meaning expensive oxygen is being lost to the atmosphere. The most
efficient DO operating set-point is as close as possible to the critical oxygen
point (allowing for system dynamics and plant geometry).
Similar data can be gathered for Nitrifying plants where 2 points of inflexion will
appear on the graph – the first for Carbonaceous Bacteria and the second for
Nitrifying bacteria as seen in the example below.
Conclusion
This article has outlined some of the more straightforward applications of OUR measurement in the Activated Sludge Process. Several other application areas
are available such as.
• Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate – Bacterial Health.
• Activated Sludge Nitrification Capacity.
• Online Toxicity.
• Online influent treatability.
Adoption of OUR as a control strategy has applications in all Activated Sludge plants. When combined with Ammonia sensing it is the only real-time measurement
which can give full visibility of all aspects of the Aerobic Treatment Process. Combining this data with online bacterial measures of performance such as MLSS
and SVI can facilitate optimisation of the Activated Sludge Process to give Aeration Energy Consumption reduction in excess of 40% whilst assuring and in most
cases improving discharge compliance performance.
Page 19

Conferences, Events,
Seminars & Studies
Conferences, Seminars & Events
March 2020
WEX Global 2020
2nd
- 4th
March 2020
Valencia, Spain
Hosted by WEX Global
Successfully using Instrumentation in Challenging Environments
4th
March 2020
Manchester, United Kingdom
Hosted by Sensors for Water Interest Group
Future of Utilities Summit
24th
- 25th
March 2020
London, UK
Hosted by Marketforce
April 2020
Leakage and its effects on Resilience
1st
April 2020
Peterborough, United Kingdom
IWA Digital Water Summit
27th
- 30th April 2020
Bilbao, Spain
Hosted by International Water Association
May 2020
SWAN Forum 2020
12th
- 13th
May 2020
Glasgow, United Kingdom
Hosted by SWAN Forum
Migration to Smarter Comms
20th
May 2020
Exeter, United Kingdom
Hosted by SWAN Forum
June 2020
Odour Control
10th
June, 2020
London, United Kingdom
Conferences Coming Soon
WEX Global 2020
2nd
- 4th
March 2020
Valencia, Spain
The Water & Energy Exchange Global Conference is one of the leading
Business to Business conferences in the Water Industry and again in
2020 WIPAC will be supporting WEX Global in the Smart Water track
looking at how the industry can Digitally Transform.
This year’s main theme is “Delivering Smart Circular Solutions for a
Sustainable World,” and the Smart Water track will be centred around
the Digital Transformation of the Water Industry and how the industry
can develop into the future.
Successfullyusinginstrumentationinchallengingwastewater
environments
4th
March 2020
Manchester, UK
Data from on-line instrumentation is increasingly being used for
process optimisation and control and for monitoring compliance critical
operations. Such instrumentation is therefore becoming fundamental
for managing risk, maximising efficiency and providing the wider
business with reliable and trusted information. It follows that proper
installation, maintenance and operation is essential.
Although the quality and reliability of instrumentation has improved
significantly over recent decades there remain applications which are
operationally challenging; for example: measurements in crude sewage
at STWs; clarified turbidity and intake ammonia at WTW’s. In many cases
the challenge arises because of inappropriate technology selection, poor
installation and/or insufficient maintenance. Selection may have been
based on purchase price and inflexible asset standards; maintenance
represents an additional operational cost that can be squeezed.
To contest this view, this workshop will present case study examples
where new thinking has delivered solution and proven best practice
for instrumentation use in challenging applications. Those attending
the workshop will see real examples of the benefits achieved from
effective instrumentation, which can be gained across the wider water
company business, and justify an alternative to a ‘one solution fits all’
instrumentation approach.

Join us for the leading Water and Energy
Forum for doing real business
WEX GLOBAL SUMMIT
Delivering Smart Circular Solutions
for a Sustainable world
2–4 March 2020 | Valencia, Spain
WHAT IS WEX GLOBAL?
WEX, the Water and Energy Exchange, occupies a unique
place in the water conference calendar. It is the place
to create new business in the water industry. The global
exchange is for suppliers, utilities and the leading
thinkers in Water and Energy to work together, meet
and talk in person over three important days.
Business meetings and conversation lie at the heart
of WEX, along with the principle of ‘exchange’: the
exchange of ideas and philosophies, business cards,
solutions, and methodologies, to form strong networks
on which to build.
WEX Global Leading in Water and
Energy since 2006.
WEX GLOBAL PLATINUM SPONSORS
Contact us to find out more about attending
WEX Global, or visit the website to see the
full agenda.
info@wex-global.com
www.wex-global.com
Delivering Smart Circular Solutions for a Sustainable world | 2–4 March 2020 | info@wex-global.com | www.wex-global.com
‘WEX has a remarkable reputation in the
industry as the goto place to do significant
networking and to meet the right partners
to move your technologies forward.’
Malcolm Fabiyi, Drylet
Page 21

WIPAC Monthly - February 2020

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WIPAC Monthly - February 2020