The collection of data using telemetry systems is a well-established practice in the water and waste water sector. Typically, telemetry outstations are used to:
- Collect and concentrate data from sensors and devices connected to plant and structures
- Transmit the data to computer-based master stations using various means of communication.
In the UK, the original telemetry systems were installed by water companies to alert network operations staff of out-of-course events on the networks and to enable basic operational parameters to be monitored.1 Most telemetry data consisted of measured reservoir levels and pipeline flows, for example, and plant status signals such as "pump running/stopped" and "sump overflows." In some cases, remote control facilities were provided to allow either manual or automatic coordination of assets located over wide geographical areas.
The availability of remote field data is now considered essential for the operational monitoring and control of water and waste water networks. The data collected constitutes a valuable resource of information for asset managers, network planners and regulation and audit authorities among others (Figure 1).
Telemetry data often remains locked within the domain of the network operators, however, and attempts to exploit this valuable information are often frustrated by impenetrable user interfaces or inexplicable data descriptions.
From Field Data to Asset Information
Figure 1: Typical Real Time Information Flows.
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Figure 2: Integration of Real-Time Data into Corporate Information
System Estate.
QMS: (Water) Quality
Management System
NMS: (Water) Network
Management System
WQI: (Water) Quality
Instrumentation
DMA: District Meter Areas
PLC: Programmable Logic
Controller
RTU: Remote Terminal Unit
(Outstation)
Instr: Instrumentation\uCTRL
Microcontroller
SCADA: System Control and
Data Acquisition
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The need is to transform telemetry from being an independent technology tool used to facilitate network operation to being a source of valuable intelligence for the water business. This change involves:
- Embedding telemetry into the corporate information systems (IS)
- Making data available to corporate applications, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Work Management Systems (WMS), and others (Figure 2).
The major challenges to integrating such asset information into the business are often in the areas of information management and business process management. A study recently conducted by PB for a major UK water utility identified the major obstacles utilities typically face regarding effective integration of asset information into the business. These are:
- Inconsistent asset naming
- Lack of data quality management, linked to:
- Unclear ownership and responsibility for information
- Monitoring of inappropriate parameters
- Inappropriate presentation of information, often out of context
- Failure to exploit the value of available information
These findings resulted in instigation of an extensive information audit to:
- Identify the actual business needs for information.
- Allocate values to this information based on its criticality (and the consequence of its non-availability).
- Identify the associated benefits (how the information can be used to improve asset efficiency).
Understanding the value of information is key to the engineering of appropriate information architectures for the business.
From Asset Information to Business Intelligence
The same water utility has embarked on a project to present asset information in context making use of the concept of "dashboarding." In its basic form, this simply means presenting appropriate information to users in an appropriate format and in the correct context. For example, asset managers are presented with the key performance indicators (KPI) relevant to their assets in a clear, unambiguous form, with simple intuitive links to supporting information. By such means, asset information becomes business intelligence, enabling operational or investment decisions to be based on real, empirical facts. We are continuing to work with this client to improve the effectiveness of its real-time information systems.
Information audits can be used to identify opportunities for leveraging business improvement. Monitoring of asset energy consumption patterns provides opportunities to significantly reduce energy consumption, and condition monitoring can be used to inform intelligent predictive maintenance regimes, releasing valuable staff and revenue funding and enhancing system reliability.
Remote data acquisition through telemetry has come of age as an essential tool for effective asset management.2
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