Completed by Express Electric
Kaufman, Texas is an attractive community of 7,000 people located just a few miles outside the Dallas city limits. In this profile, Jerry Yates, W/WW Superintendent, describes their Wonderware replacement project for the water distribution system.
The Public Works Department is responsible for the wastewater treatment plant, the wastewater collections system and lift stations, the water distribution system, drainage, streets, and parks. Yates says “The system we were using before VTScada consisted of one plant with three remote sites, one server, four SCADAPacks, Wonderware HMI software, and Freewave radios.”
“Our old system was outdated and could be moved to a new system or upgraded. After seeing VTScada at Texas Water in Dallas, and researching different SCADA systems on the market, we ultimately chose VTScada because of its clean design, being so user friendly, and its power.”
Robert Read, owner of Express Electric, describes the project. “After winning the bid, we went to the site and made backup copies of the Wonderware database, visited the RTU sites, interviewed the City of Kaufman water personnel, and took photos. Screens and tag databases were developed in our office and a return visit to Kaufman was made to install the computers and demo the screens. Kaufman personnel requested a few minor changes. These changes were made in our office and a Changeset file was created to load the changes on Kaufman’s new computers. The primary server was connected to the network and began receiving data. We then went through debugging and verifications. Once all I/O were verified, the redundant server was connected and the Wonderware system was disabled. We made one return trip to tweak a few items once the system had been online for a couple of weeks.”
Read continues with the testing process. “The existing Wonderware system was left running and the new VTScada system was put online beside it and this provided most of our verification, although small amounts of I/O were checked in the field, and analog levels etc., were verified with actuals.”
The contract was signed March 23, 2015, Notice to Proceed was issued April 13, 2015, and work began on VTScada Application development. The VTScada system began control and monitoring of Kaufman’s water system on June 23, 2015.
“Our system integrator, Express Electric, had one snag in that Wonderware was reversing the bit string in a word, but VTScada tech support quickly recognized the problem and got us back on track,” Yates says.
Yates describes their final system as, “Awesome, exactly what the City was looking for!” He continues “We are so happy to upgrade the inadequate system we had before. Now with VTScada, we have better control at and away from the office. More detail reading and history. We also installed a second server to utilize the VTScada auto fail-over feature.”
“We have been able to increase efficiency with more accurate control and better alarm notification. The VTScada Alarm Notification System is outstanding. We are planning to add our sewer collection on to VTScada.”
About Express Electric – Since 1983, Express Electric has been developing specialized water and wastewater systems. Their projects include water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, lift stations, booster pump stations, and elevated storage tanks. They have extensive experience with motor controls from fractional horsepower to 5000 +HP, variable speed drives of all sizes, and all types of PLC motor control and SCADA systems. They will use any PLC the customer prefers; however, they prefer using Allen-Bradley hardware and VTScada software. They can easily convert water booster pump stations to PLC control without electrodes or induction relays. Their systems can also control variable speed drives on booster pumps to maintain a constant pressure without using air compressors or pressure tanks.
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For More Details Robert Read: 903.626.5343 info@expresselectric-co.com |
