Botswana Water Affairs has implemented local supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) system, Adroit Technologies, in one of the country’s largest water and sanitation supply projects, Mogoditshane.
The Mogoditshane water and sanitation supply project utilises the Adroit scada HMI as a standalone system in the department's water management process: monitoring reservoir levels, pump status, flow meters and line pressure to ensure water supply to the Gabarone area. Mogoditshane follows close on the heels of the country's largest water management project, North South Carrier, which boasts approximately 460 km of pipeline.
The Department of Water Affairs, Botswana, contracts Gauff, Libenberg & Stander as consultants and principal engineers on the project. The tender was awarded to Ginaker LTA, which was the principal contractor on the project. Scales and Associates were contracted for electrical and telemetry expertise.
Moreflow Engineering installed the mechanical plant on the project whilst Remotronics installed the Datawatt telemetry monitoring system and data transmission equipment at the outstation, as well as the Adroit scada HMI, which is used to translate the telemetry protocol into graphic representations providing intuitive visual representation of plant operations for ease of use.
Dirimogolo pumps and the Gabane pump set each comprise a duty pump and a standby pump, which allows for fail-safe water supply to the reservoirs. The Dirimogolo pumps feed water into the reservoir, from where it gravity feeds into the surrounding reticulation.
The system is installed with start/stop functions set according to predetermined level parameters. The plants can operate in three modes: (1) manual, where the operator starts and stops the pumps manually from the motor control centre (MCC); (2) auto control, using the PLC to monitor the reservoir levels, flows and line pressure, the system controls flow accordingly; (3) offline mode where the PLC uses historical data to control the pumps should there be a loss of communication between the master station (MOGO) and the slave sites.
The Mogoditshane pump station forms the centre point of the network linking five remote dial-up connection points that receive secure data from the server. The Adroit HMI monitors the entire network via a RS232 link with the FEP which collects and sorts data transmitting it via the RF network. The FEP has sufficient capability to connect with other existing sites via the Adroit server at the Mogoditshane pump station consolidating the department's various water management components and plants into a single centralised network.
The Adroit system implemented at the site has unlimited I/O points for future expansion purposes. D70 MRTUs monitor the local I/O at the plant's three sanitation pump stations as well as at the Dirimogolo, Gabane and Forest Hill reservoirs.
The Forest Hill reservoir receives water from the existing network and supplies it to the Mogoditshane booster pump station from which the Dirimogolo and Gabane both receive water. All three reservoirs supply the local villages and reticulation system.
Chlorination equipment is installed at both the Dirimogolo and Forest Hill reservoirs, and monitored by the Adroit HMI. The chlorination pumps are controlled by the inlet flow meters to the reservoirs to ensure that the supply is not over-chlorinated. Monitoring four separate points, Tidalflux flowmeters provide data on the flow rate and totalised flow to the FEP to monitor the amount of sewerage flow into the treatment plan via an EMAC PSTN connection.
The implementation of the new telemetry and scada systems is an important step towards the optimal management of water and sewerage supply in the Gaborone area. The installations will create a centralised point for execution, monitoring and coordination of control functions. They provide a major improvement in the way in which the system is monitored by providing realtime data to plant operators and supervisors.
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