Overhaul for ageing wastewater infrastruture

Hunter Water needed to improve the efficiency of its Burwood Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) due to ageing water infrastructure and tougher environmental legislation. The enhancements included migrating the automation control system over a tight eight-week time period, allowing no room for error or plant downtime.

Hunter Water began upgrading Burwood Beach WWTP as part of a five-year program that will see approximately $700 million invested in water and wastewater improvement projects across the Hunter and Newcastle area.

By applying new techniques, Schneider Electric was able to deliver an effective migration within the tight time frames specified, without causing any disruption to household services. The plant’s PLCs were cutover in just five working days, a process which typically takes several months. The success of the project has reduced plant maintenance time, increased reliability and created a platform to monitor and measure energy consumption.

By avoiding the traditional ‘rip and replace’ mentality, Schneider Electric was able to help Hunter Water make best use of its existing infrastructure. The upgrade involved replacing the old SY/MAX Model 450 processor rack and eight of its 14 remote racks, and a Model 50 PLC, with Quantum Unity PLC hardware. The other six SY/MAX racks were retained but are now controlled by the new Quantum PLC using NR&D’s (Niobrara Research & Development, a Schneider Electric Collaborative Automation Partner) SERI-T module, a SY/MAX Ethernet Remote interface that enables better connectivity and information flow.

Commenting on the migration, Mark Mills, Manager Electrical & Mechanical at Hunter Water, explained: “As an operating plant serving a large proportion of Hunter Water customers, it was essential Burwood Beach remained operational throughout the migration process. Schneider Electric’s technical expertise, strong project management and competitive pricing meant that we were able to meet this requirement and ensure the project was completed within the tight eight-week schedule we demanded. The first phase of the migration process was very efficient, taking less than an hour instead of the typical time frame of several days.

“By involving partners such as NR&D and providing a single point of contact, Schneider Electric removed the headaches traditionally associated with projects of this nature. As Schneider Electric’s installed-base services team oversaw the project through every stage, we were confident everything was being done to minimise potential risks of the migration.

“Now we’ve standardised with Schneider Electric product and have the latest infrastructure in place, the plant is far more reliable and any operating problems can be tackled quickly and easily,” said Mills.