One of the biggest challenges in managing water and wastewater facilities is the need for constant oversight and real-time visibility to ensure optimal operations while preventing potential issues. Facilities must provide safe drinking water and protect the environment from contaminants. This requires continuous monitoring of conditions like pump status, flow rates, equipment status and tank level.
Water and wastewater monitoring equipment helps facility operators oversee environmental conditions and equipment status. These systems remotely monitor various parameters and system performance, eliminating the need for their physical presence on-site.
For facilities serving large areas or multiple locations, wastewater treatment plants may need to monitor the status of various sites simultaneously. When choosing water and wastewater monitoring equipment, it’s important to consider the size and complexity of the plant. Monitoring individual pieces of equipment or locations separately is often inefficient for keeping the entire system running smoothly.
Many water and wastewater treatment plants are transitioning to more advanced, cloud-based remote monitoring systems like the Sentinel™ PRO. These sophisticated systems offer enhanced capabilities and integration, allowing operators to monitor multiple locations efficiently.
Outdated Software-Based Methods
Older plants may still rely on outdated software-based monitoring that operate on legacy platforms or hardware. Maintaining this technology can be costly, and it lacks the flexibility needed to manage operations across multiple locations.
Software-based monitoring methods often include numerous hardware components, increasing potential failure points and complicating maintenance and configuration. Several technology issues can hinder communication with SCADA, PLC or HMI systems, leading to unprocessed alarms, including:
• Computer lockups
• Windows and driver updates
• Hard drive failures
• Power outages
• Network & firewall interruptions
Evolution from Auto Dialers
For decades, basic Sensaphone auto dialer systems were used to monitor SCADA systems and other critical facility conditions. These systems, known as a “backup dialers”, served as secondary callout systems that activated when a primary alarm system failed —whether the primary system relied on a cellular or landline connection. Typically, the primary system was a separate software-based program that used dial-up modems connected to a phone line.
The Sensaphone system interfaced with SCADA, HMI, PLC, field instruments and MTU and RTUs over a data connection. When an alarm was detected, it would alert the designated personnel via a USB modem.
However, software-based auto dialer systems have proven to be expensive. Beyond the high initial investment, total costs can accumulate significantly due to:
• Licensing fees
• Costs for secondary server programs for specific features
• Network maintenance
• Computer hardware
• Analog line costs
• Cellular line costs
• Secondary backup dialing system expenses
And the list goes on.
The Sentinel PRO
To eliminate the costs and unreliability of software-based systems —as well as the need for a backup auto dialer—wastewater treatment plants can modernize their facilities with a cloud-based monitoring system.The Sentinel™ PRO is a turnkey IIoT (industrial internet of things) system, providing advanced capabilities at lower costs compared to traditional software-based systems.
The Sentinel PRO can read values, log information and send immediate alarms when values reach critical thresholds. It provides instant notifications of any changes in status, via email, text or phone calls. From the dashboard, users can run reports, perform analytics and check the status of treatment plants, pump or booster stations in real time.
Available at a fraction of the cost of software systems, it doesn't require additional hardware to deliver the following benefits and functionalities:
- Integrates with SCADA/PLC over Modbus RS485 and TCP.
- Monitors data from third-party Modbus sensors, transducers, or programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
- Stores data values in the cloud.
- Provides system access from any mobile device or PC without complex configuration or port forwarding.
- Uses the existing controller’s configuration without requiring additional hardware.
System-Wide Monitoring
Only one monitoring device is needed to monitor up to 64 Modbus registers and 12 different digital or analog status conditions, including:- Power
- Pump status
- Tank level
- Flow rate
- Pressure
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Water leaks
A Supervised Connection
The Sentinel PRO provides a supervised connection that eliminates the need for secondary alarm devices. If it loses connection with the servers for 30 minutes, it sends an offline alarm to designated personnel. During this time, it continues to log data and watch for new alarms.Additionally, if a Modbus register fails to be read, the system notifies designated personnel. This feature is especially useful if the HMI or PLC loses communication with the system.
Users can program the system to call specific people based on the type of alarm, day of the week and hour of the day. Calls can be configured to go out sequentially or as a blast call, where everyone on the list (or tier) receives a call simultaneously.
Enhanced Via Cloud Technology
The Sentinel PRO gathers data and sends it to the cloud, ensuring remote access anytime, from anywhere. Users can monitor facilities and environments in real time and check the status of multiple locations through Sensaphone’s website or the iPhone/Android app.With this system, users can:
- Send alerts
- Acknowledge alarms
- Generate reports
- Review data
- Ethernet-based
- Cellular-based, for remote locations without internet access
The Sentinel PRO system also functions as a data logger, allowing data to be recorded stored over time.
It enables users to:
- Graph monitoring points for any selected date range
- Generate summaries of data points and alarm logs
- Access additional reporting tools
Get more information about the Sentinel PRO system.
