Ovation® system provides Ridgway with increased operating efficiencies that directly translate into better and safer water production for their consumers AUSTIN, TEXAS (June 13, 2005) — For the 18 months of operation since replacing outdated controls with Ovation® expert control technology from Emerson Process Management, the Ridgway, Pennsylvania, Water Treatment Plant is experiencing measurable improvements in plant efficiencies. Improvements attributed to the new control system include:
Reduced Costs: Replacing several outdated, non-supported systems with one unified platform significantly reduced plant costs by decreasing spare parts expenditures and time spent pursuing multiple vendors for support. New, reliable components have also reduced plant downtime, which had been frequently required to replace components of the old systems.
Improved Communication: Important information from the Ovation SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) remote terminal unit (RTU) is readily available to the control system and desktops of Ridgway supervisors and managers enabling faster and more effective decision-making. Operators who previously spent a total of 2 hours per day manually checking reservoir water levels can now dedicate that time to focusing on improving plant processes and water quality.
Increased Operational Efficiency: Ovation has greatly increased the efficiency of many Ridgway operations. One example is improvements to the extremely sensitive and complex backwashing system, a cyclic process in which filters are periodically washed out to remove sediment. With Ovation, Ridgway now utilizes only 15,000 gallons of water, versus approximately 20,000 gallons previously required. This translates into a 25 percent reduction in water and chemical usage during each backwash process.
Enhanced Reporting: Prior to installation of the Ovation system, important plant data was collected and compiled manually from each separate control system. Now, Ovation provides approximately 90 percent of the information required to complete EPA reports. Additionally, improved efficiency of plant operations provides more accurate plant information for reporting.Obsolescence, Unreliability Spurs Move to Ovation To truly appreciate how far Ridgway has come, it is helpful to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the selection and installation of the Ovation system. In the early 1990s, the borough purchased several separate systems from multiple vendors to control its water treatment and five-bay filtration processes. Over the years, technology obsolescence issues led to difficulties in obtaining support and spare parts for all the systems. At one point, the existing systems completely failed, leaving Ridgway employees to manually operate the plant for several months. Working under an aggressive project schedule that spanned just five months from placement of the order to bringing the system online, Ridgway replaced an outdated Aquatrol plant control system and PLC-based filtration control system with Ovation control technology. Ovation, from Emerson’s Power & Water Solutions industry center, incorporates the latest technologies while also providing the best product evolution approach so that customers can efficiently and economically take advantage of leading technologies over the life cycle of their plant. Emerson supplied a redundant network, redundant controllers, a SCADA server, laptop PCs, operator stations and RTU for the plant, which supplies water to approximately 8,000 people in the borough and township of Ridgway, Pennsylvania. The Ovation system provides continuous monitoring and control of the overall plant, as well as its five-bay filtration system. All told, Emerson’s Ovation system monitors and controls roughly 770 I/O points. The Ovation SCADA server, located in the plant’s main building, maintains constant communications with the RTU unit at Laurel Mill, the primary reservoir for the water system. Ovation controllers, also located in the main building, communicate to I/O modules located in the filtration building for executing control strategies for the plant’s filtration system and all other non-filtration processes. The SCADA server is comprised of three main components: an Ovation real-time data interface to move process data between the network and the RTU, a redundant interface for failsafe communications and a polling engine for communication between the SCADA server and the RTU. The SCADA server supports operations and engineering functions, as well as Emerson’s Web Viewer connectivity software. This allows Ridgway plant personnel to remotely monitor and troubleshoot the plant’s control system from wherever the laptop PCs are located, without traveling throughout the plant’s service area. "We looked at different vendors and different systems, and we were impressed by Emerson’s technology – we knew it would serve us not only today, but into the future," said Ray Imhof, operations engineer for the borough of Ridgway. The Trickle-Down Effect Although the project is small in scope from a strictly I/O point of view, it is significant in that it demonstrates how the operational and economic advantages made possible by a state-of-the-art control system are within reach of municipalities of all sizes. Some of the largest cities in the country – including Detroit, San Diego and Sacramento – rely on Ovation technology. According to Doug Johnson, water industries development director for Emerson Process Management, municipalities serving smaller populations, such as Ridgway, also are interested in exploring how Emerson’s Ovation system goes far beyond the basic definition of process control to ensure cleaner, safer water supplies, reduce environmental hazards and deliver significant operational cost savings. "Over the last few years, the water and wastewater industries have become more aware of the control options available to them. As a result, more municipalities are moving beyond PLC-based control to more sophisticated and robust distributed control technologies, like Ovation," explained Johnson. About Emerson Process Management Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the power, water and wastewater treatment, chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and other industries. Emerson's Power & Water Solutions division www.emersonprocess-powerwater.com is a global supplier of advanced distributed process control and information systems. The Pittsburgh-based company is a recognized leader in developing plant-wide process control solutions for the power generation, water treatment and wastewater treatment industries. Power & Water Solutions plays a key role in the Emerson mission of combining superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Emerson brands include PlantWeb, Ovation, SmartProcess, Fisher, Micro Motion, Rosemount, Daniel®, DeltaVTM, and AMSTM Suite.About Emerson Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2004 were $15.6 billion. For more information, visit www.GoToEmerson.com.
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