When creating SCADA software specifications, engineering firms must focus on meeting the immediate start-up and operational requirements of the SCADA system. This often means specifying products with which they are familiar. The engineer wants to ensure that the new system meets all start-up requirements at a reasonable price. It is often difficult to look past[…]

Q&A With Clermont County, Ohio Clermont County is one of the fastest growing counties in Ohio, with a population of 197,363. The Clermont County Water Resources Department (WRD) recently recognized the need for a new SCADA system. Bryan Gruber, Maintenance Supervisor for Clermont County WRD, describes their process for choosing and developing a new SCADA[…]

Centralized Backup and Configuration for Remote Plant HMIs As Wastewater Manager for four sewage treatment plants spread across Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Nicole MacDonald* faced the daunting task of ensuring all SCADA systems continued to function seamlessly on a 24/7 basis. Each plant had its own separate monitoring and control system that allowed it to[…]

A Utility’s Fifteen-Year Migration to a Single, Non-Proprietary Monitoring and Control System Most people imagine a SCADA system as single computer interface overseeing a utility’s entire remote infrastructure. The reality more often resembles the system found in Ocala, Florida, which was developed over multiple years by a variety of system integrators. The budget for the[…]

A Profile of J.D. Irving, Limited Doaktown Sawmill in New Brunswick Over the past five years, J.D. Irving, Limited Sawmill Division has invested $70 million in the latest operational equipment as part of their continuous investment in sustainable forest management strategies. In 2015, the company chose VTScada monitoring and control software to replace the aging[…]

SCADA Dreams and Realities Every time a business or utility completes a new Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, their secret dream is that it will work flawlessly forever. In reality, the average system has an effective lifespan of about ten years. While some software manufacturers support their products well beyond this timeframe, others[…]