Articles and News

Verdantix named ABB a leader in 2025 Green Quadrant benchmark report for its comprehensive industrial AI analytics capabilities.

Standardizing on Emerson’s Ovation platform, Arizona power provider reduces maintenance costs by 30%, cuts troubleshooting time in half.

EcoStruxure Automation Expert has been deployed across 19 water plants to enable rapid scaling and smart water management.

IMI has delivered the largest known production choke valves ever manufactured to a landmark unmanned processing platform in the North Sea.

The innovative solution streamlines operations, reduces labor and water usage and sets new industry standards.

dhp Technology’s solar roof solutions are setting new standards in energy innovation for water treatment plants, logistics hubs and car parks.

Monitoring water levels and flow in canal systems is critical to efficient water delivery.

Hapman, a global leader in custom bulk material handling equipment, is proud to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

As climate change accelerates and populations grow, traditional water management strategies are nearing the point of exhaustion.

AI's competitive advantages for WWTPs include: data-driven process optimization, predictive maintenance, wastewater discharge control and hydraulic efficiency.

A cost-effective nozzle testing program can avoid millions of dollars in unplanned outages and equipment damage.

A public utility used a cybersecurity platform to identify and counteract a persistent breach.

A pilot customer from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is already testing the new solution.

Rotork is excited to announce that Rotork Site Services is now officially Rotork Service.

The 2024 Automation Professional Salary Survey results are in!

The partnership aims to integrate automation and modular treatment solutions.

For improved energy performance at pumping stations and better flow of water within the irrigation network, ABB’s host of solutions can help Greek farmers.

ABB has been selected by Vitens to develop a new process automation system and test it on a first site during a pilot project.

The topics covered included data management such as Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, information security, E-billing, asset management, micro and macro metering, and leak detection.

Cybersecurity has become a major issue for companies in the water sector. In recent years, there have been multiple attacks on utilities, given the importance of this sector as an essential service.

Global corporations and utilities have been recognized for pioneering water innovation.

A tailorable, connected suite of solutions from Badger Meter enables confidence in operations for global utility, commercial and industrial water customers.

NEUMAN & ESSER has formed a strategic partnership with Swedish tech developer SurfCleaner to boost water treatment and sustainability across global industries.

This article covers the top 10 major mistakes Greg McMillan has seen in pH design and installation in a neutralizer tank in a waste treatment system.

Siemens has expanded its software portfolio for the water industry, enabling its customers to optimize their plant operations using artificial intelligence - without the need for technical expertise.

Beamex is proud to announce the successful implementation of its calibration ecosystem at a prominent water and wastewater facility in the southeastern United States.

Industrial water treatment methods must evolve to remain relevant and efficient.

Last year, Endress+Hauser celebrated its 70th anniversary across the globe in a number of ways–and in the process reached an impressive fundraising goal.

Water resource management is one of the main priorities in smart buildings.

The acquisition provides real-time monitoring hardware and software targeted at distributed data collection for applications in water, wastewater, stormwater and environmental water monitoring.

To everyone who submitted content: thank you; you helped to make Automation.com what it is. To readers who might have missed a newsletter or two, here are the top 12 most-read articles.

WaterSignal, an innovator in the water conservation space, leverages Telit Cinterion’s technology to ensure always-on connectivity for its water monitoring system.

The Water Environment Federation has awarded vice president and industrial water expert Houston Flippin the prestigious W. Wesley Eckenfelder Industrial Water Quality Lifetime Achievement Award.

The three year financial partnership will enable the Well Done Foundation to continue the race to plug methane emitting orphan wells across the United States.

When relaxing poolside, odds are that the equipment keeping the water flowing and filtered safely is not top of mind. Behind the scenes, there are likely some fascinating control systems keeping things afloat.

Siemens Grid Software has secured a new contract with Northumbrian Water Group and deployed EnergyIP MDM X, part of the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio.

The ABB Ability OPTIMAX energy management system unlocks efficiency potential at the Schwarzenbruck plant, controlling and optimizing the energy flows.

The ABB Ability OPTIMAX energy management system unlocks efficiency potential at the Schwarzenbruck plant, controlling and optimizing the energy flows.

LEC, Inc., a US-Based IIoT Solution Provider in the Water/Wastewater Industry, announced a strategic sales partnership with Everett J. Prescott, Inc.

Endress+Hauser employees around the world are celebrating the Group’s 70th anniversary this year during a wide range of events–and at the same time committing to a good cause in a special way.

Rockwell Automation, Inc., is pleased to announce a novel partnership with The Water Council (TWC) to promote corporate water stewardship across the world.

UFT continues momentum, adding two leading equipment solution providers in highly strategic Texas and Midwest regions.

New gear motors help the City of Newport, Oregon, watestwater treatment plant address capacity limitations, save energy costs, and process up to 15 million gallons daily.

To reach UN water targets by 2030, global wastewater treatment capacity needs to increase by 8.56 billion cubic meters each year.

Pre-emption and prevention, security, reuse, process automation, optimization and planning are the main technological challenges ahead for water management in 2023.

Any improvements in energy efficiency, achieved through water savings, energy savings or process improvements, translate directly into lower costs and increased economic efficiency.

Badger Meter, Inc. has announced the acquisition of Syrinix, Ltd., a privately held provider of intelligent water monitoring solutions, for £15 million, funded with available cash.

Digital sustainability, a key concept in today’s world, stems from the far-reaching digital transformation that companies have to tackle and the need for them to exploit their data to add value.

Long-time Endress+Hauser representative partner is now the exclusive authorized sales and service provider for municipalities for the east Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware markets.

The cooperation will harmonize OPC UA-based field instruments and accelerate development and adoption in automation.

In 2022, and over the next few years, digital twins are set to be one of the most widely used tools to tackle new challenges. The current scenario of uncertainty has accelerated the adoption of digital twins in the water sector.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces that its subsidiary Yokogawa Middle East & Africa has received an order for an integrated water facility monitoring and management system from the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority.

These trends are set to bring innovative use cases to transform the industry and ensure the sustainable management of water and its availability. Climate change and water scarcity are challenges that must be tackled urgently. The future depends on digital transformation as a way to extract value from data and turn information into business intelligence.

Automated wastewater treatment systems can help food processors remain in compliance with EPA and local standards, while significantly reducing the cost of treatment, labor and disposal.

Basin Water Resources, LLC (BWR) was selected by a major international gold producer to supply a dual-train nanofiltration (NF)/reverse osmosis (RO) pilot system to evaluate various membrane performance characteristics.

The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) has named Water Design-Build Council (WDBC) Executive Director Mark Alpert, PE, as one of the five industry leaders chosen for the 2020 Class of DBIA Fellows.

Vector Controls and Automation Group, a leading manufacturing representative, distributor, and service provider, announce that they have formed a strategic partnership with IMI Critical Engineering.

With technology, it's possible to better predict how people use water and monitor its quality.

The increasing demand for new water and wastewater facilities to meet the world’s rapidly growing need for clean water will help drive modest long-term growth over the five-year forecast period.

The purification plant will treat wastewater from 26 municipalities across two provinces, servicing the needs of more than 90,000 inhabitants.

The Jubail-Riyadh water transmission system, owned by the state-run Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), will transport water from desalination plants near Jubail on the Persian Gulf coast to Riyadh, the growing capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Taking place on May 26th at 16:00pm-17:00pm (CEST), the first live event is expected to attract a crowd of up to 500 delegates. Bridging the themes of innovation and digitalisation from the physical Aquatech events, the online discussion will kickstart with utilities, European partnerships and global engineering thought leaders from across Europe and the Middle East.

Aqua America’s existing alarm notification system at the PA facility was experiencing frequent failures, which eventually lead to a catastrophic failure of the entire alarm notification system. Aqua America turned to TopView Alarm and Notification software for their new platform.

Emerson announced that it has completed the purchase of American Governor Company, maker of technologies and services for hydroelectric turbine controls.

The city collaborated with Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering firm that specializes in the planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities, to help with the technology selection process. The team evaluated different solutions’ capabilities, support services, and more. The PlantPAx distributed control system (DCS) from Rockwell Automation came out on top.

Stadtwerke Lohr am Main has been supplied with 39 GT pneumatic piston actuators and 13 CK modular electric actuators to be used at two municipal water works which supply the town of Lohr am Main, in Bavaria, and surrounding areas.

The company looks to capitalize on this large and growing market focusing on comprehensive wastewater treatment generated during the on-shore production of oil and gas from either conventional or frac-drilled wells.

Third generational IQ multi-turn electric actuators have been installed on eight penstock gate valves to control the flow of wastewater entering the STP in Murrumba Downs, a suburb in the country’s state of Queensland.

The Hi-Def Controls team comes with relevant industry-specific experience which will not only provide synergies to the JMP Solutions organization but will also compliment the skills of the current JMP team allowing for growth, promoting learning, and ultimately resulting in the delivery of end to end customer experience.

The union with TRIMAX is intended to provide opportunities for TESCO to increase its water/wastewater market share in Southern California and gain entry to additional industries served by TRIMAX.

The financial situation of the average automation engineer got a nice boost in 2018. With the need for experienced professionals still growing, we anticipate the demand to remain strong for engineers for the foreseeable future, with a great deal of opportunity for young graduates and those who are interested in a STEM career.

The conference program will feature technologies and best practices that apply to multiple infrastructure sectors. Today’s challenges include leveraging data analytics in a meaningful way, navigating the new world of IIoT with safety and cybersecurity in mind, and applying the insights of recent Smart Cities Initiatives to improve operations.

This marks the first time the WDBC has invited a system integrator to join the Council. Representing TESCO as an allied member on the WDBC Board of Directors is Brian Adams, P.E., Director of Design-Build Projects.

Rockwell Automation will feature its smart solutions through a simulated digital control room where attendees will have a chance to see the latest release of the PlantPAx distributed control system and advanced production intelligence software that provides real-time visibility into operations.

Twelve independent jury panels of distinguished industry experts selected the 57 finalists from 420 nominations submitted by more than 340 user organizations around the world.

The announcement brings together two metalworking fluids manufacturers in the industry. Yushiro is a supplier of metalworking fluids in the Asia Pacific region, and QualiChem is a metalworking fluids business in North America.

To be held at the Hyatt Regency , from 7-9 August 2018 in Bethesda, Maryland, the event will include briefings by American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) officials, training opportunities, and a vendor exhibition that will showcase new products and services.

Nukon leveraged historical data in TasWater’s OSIsoft PI System using ananalytics application from Seeq, (an OSIsoft Gold Sponsor and ISV). Nukon delivered a proof-of-concept and solution, specifically a detection model for Midway Point’s sewage pumping stations and surrounding areas.

The ABB SCADA solution - ABB Ability Symphony Plus - will monitor and control the entire water distribution system and integrate TaKaDu’s Event Management Solution, which detects, analyzes and manages network events and incidents such as leaks, bursts, faulty assets, telemetry and data issues and operational failures.

Taking place at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda on 7-9 August 2018—only 15 minutes from the nation’s capital—the WWAC Symposium will feature two days of technical speakers, an exhibitor hall, a tour of a local water plant, and technical training courses on a variety of topics.

In the gravity filter plant, 18 butterfly valves are situated in an area beneath a walkway which made it difficult to access and operate the old actuators. With the Rotork actuators, the installation of Remote Hand Stations (RHS) has now eliminated this problem.

In connection to Kamstrup’s visit in Iran, the company signed both a partner contract and an agreement of two pilot projects with the local Iranian company Iran Ensheab Co. The projects include intelligent water meters and remote reading system.

Endress+Hauser has invested 4.9 million euros in a new building in Lyon. As well as 25 sales and service employees from Endress+Hauser, nine employees from the European headquarters of Kaiser Optical Systems will move into the new facility.

Eco Projects was undertaking a 17 month project in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, to alleviate a critical water shortage. Using boreholes, a deep, narrow hole made in the ground to locate water, the client pumped water to various reservoirs. This is to provide an accessible store of water for Windhoek.

Endress+Hauser’s OEM Business Partner Program is a new concept designed to develop and enable a higher level and more strategic OEM customer relationship that is focused on tangible business results and people development.

The City implemented Bedrock to control both de-chlorination and storm water remediation operations, and is planning other integration and control applications as part of its ongoing modernization program.

Krüger A/S provides with its STAR Utility Solution online control solutions that continuously optimize and stabilize the operation of the entire system for water and waste water. Prosys OPC developed for Krüger A/S a scalable, cloud-based solution for the data integration needs in their STAR Utility Solution platform.

The Egyptian Construction Authority for Potable Water and Wastewater (CAPW) recently sourced four custom-made pump drives from special motor manufacturer Menzel Elektromotoren for installation in a water pump station in Cairo.

By Jeff Miller, Optical Cable Corporation (OCC) Fiber optic cabling upgrade helps fend off lightning strikes, gnawing animals, environmental toxins, and other threats that can interrupt critical communications and control. Concerns of this kind recently drove the Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant to upgrade from PE-89 outdoor direct burial copper cable to fiber optic cable.

With Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure architecture, WaterForce developed a cloud-based IIoT solution so farmers can monitor and control irrigation pumps and pivots from their computer, tablet or smartphone.

The turnkey project is based on Kamstrup’s Smart Grid platform OMNIA and includes one million smart electricity meters and remote reading system, integration to various other systems, project management, installation of meters and infrastructure, consumer support and full system operation until 2034.

AES needed an expert integrator who knew the demands of recycling firsthand, with an engineering staff that could coordinate the equipment and automate the entire facility. Vecoplan, an industry provider of building and automating recycling technology, knew it could take on that project.

Each year, ISA’s technical division symposia events bring together innovators, thought leaders and other automation and control professionals from around the world to explore the latest technologies, trends and best practices.

Ghana Water has invested in 40.000 Danish intelligent meters to help diminish the nation’s supply challenges. The project is the first of its kind ever carried out in Ghana

Profibus DP enabled Rotork IQ multi-turn electric valve actuators were installed during the upgrade and expansion of the water treatment plant. The majority of the 136 IQ electric actuators were installed to control the inlet, outlet and backwashing functions on the new and existing filters.

The Bedrock controller is part of an integrated plantwide SCADA system. Users connect to that system via Ignition software from Inductive Automation. Ignition is an industrial applications platform that coordinates control and data acquisition for all plant PLCs and remote transfer units (RTUs).

Smart water solutions are gaining traction with municipal water utilities. Over $20 billion is slated for metering, data management, and analytics from 2016 to 2025, globally, according to Bluefield Research.

The expansion allows Huffman Engineering to accommodate a growing client base in the western part of Nebraska, as well as Colorado and Wyoming.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com In today’s industrial world, one of the the most annoying hindrances to effective system integration is the lack of interoperability between products from different vendors. Yet, efforts are being made to close this gap in the industry.

For this project, Yokogawa Middle East & Africa will deliver the CENTUM VP integrated production control system for the boiler, turbine governor, turbine protection system and the desalination plant at each of these units.