WaterNewswatch

SCADA Implementation in Water Treatment Facilities

Live Streaming Online November 7-8, 2023

An EUCI Program

Click Here to register $1195

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all registrants for three business days after the event

Water treatment facilities are faced with increasing permit standards while continuing to strive for cost savings via operational excellence efforts. These two items can both be achieved through improvements driven by real-time data analysis, which directly relies upon the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) components. In order to optimize facility performance, it is necessary to provide automated process control with the ability for human interaction with these systems to react in critical conditions and maintain output and quality goals.

This intensive course will cover a wide range of SCADA fundamentals, including:

  • The nomenclature, philosophy, and architecture of SCADA
  • The past, current, and potential future industry standards, best practices, and trends
  • Alarm processing and supervisory control
  • Fundamentals of designing and maintaining a SCADA implementation
  • Current cybersecurity needs for ICS in Water/Wastewater

Attendees will grow their confidence in understanding of the various elements of this converged informational/operational technology (IT/OT) that creates the overarching SCADA environment. This course will focus on water and water resource recovery treatment but has general application in other industries. A general understanding of IT systems and networks will be necessary for successful course content comprehension.

Learning Objectives

  • Review the history and evolution of SCADA systems
  • Highlight the relevant hardware and software components of SCADA systems
  • Review SCADA system architecture
  • Discuss the need for SCADA in Water/Wastewater facility operation
  • Examine basic process control concepts
  • Cover protocols that are used to transmit, collect, store, and manage data
  • Identify the data flow from field, to control room, to repository and back
  • Discuss alarm processing and supervisory control
  • Overview of designing and maintaining a SCADA implementation
  • Brief on current cybersecurity for ICS in Water/Wastewater

Agenda

MONDAY, JULY 24, 2023

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time

Short breaks will be taken throughout the sessions

A Brief History of SCADA in Water Treatment

  • Evolution of Technology
    • Local – Direct or mechanical-based
    • Edge – Field devices and controllers
    • Central – Datacenters and historical data
    • Cloud – Predictive process analytics
  • System Types
    • Proprietary
    • Local
    • Remote

Introduction to SCADA in Water Treatment

SCADA Components

  • Devices
  • Communications
  • Applications
  • Data
  • Logic
  • Users

SCADA Basics

  • Nomenclature
  • Field devices
  • Datacenter
  • Applications
  • Data repository

SCADA Architecture

  • Field Communication Networks
  • Application Servers
  • Operational Workplace
  • Device and Logical Control Loops
  • Data Paths, Storage and Analysis

Basic Process Control

  • Defining the system
  • Controller design
  • Interdependencies
  • Error handling

Networks

  • Input/Output (I/O) communications
    • Fieldbus
    • Ethernet
    • Traditional
  • Plant-wide Ethernet
    • Segmentation
    • Redundancy
    • Topologies
      • Converged
      • Separated
      • Isolated
      • Cloud

Data Collection in Water Treatment

  • Field Measurement Types
    • Continuous (Analog)
    • Discrete (Digital)
    • Totalizers
    • Physical vs. Logical Points
  • Interaction and User Data
    • Process event frequency
    • User-device interactions
    • Graphic use statistics
    • Alarm generation & response rate
  • System Performance Analytics
    • Client response time
    • Screen loading delay
    • Alarm package
  • Simulation and Predictive Analysis
  • Data Path Robustness and Resiliency

Day One Wrap Up and Q&A

TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2023

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Central Time

Short breaks will be taken throughout the sessions

Designing and Maintaining Water Treatment SCADA Environment

  • Industry Standards
    • System design
    • Naming conventions
    • Alarm philosophy
    • Code management
  • Good Practices
    • Balancing local vs. remote vs. cloud
    • Alarm rationalization
    • Redundancy vs. complexity
  •  Monitoring
    • Control room
    • User notifications
    • Process area alerts
  • Reporting & Regulations
    • Data integrity and validation
    • Retention requirements
  •  Cybersecurity
    • Advantage vs. risk
    • Regulations
    • Getting started
  • Long-Term Planning
    • Benefit vs. cost
    • Upgrading/replacing an existing system
    • Beginning with the end in mind

Course Wrap Up and Q&A

Workshop

Advanced Process Control in Water Treatment Facilities

TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2023

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Central Time

In the SCADA implementation and monitoring process for water treatment facilities, it is necessary to provide automated process control with the ability for human interaction with these systems to react in critical conditions and maintain output and quality goals. By building on the fundamentals taught in the SCADA in Water Treatment Facilities course, this advanced workshop will showcase the optimization of water treatment facility performance and how process and data control can help plant staff identify and mitigate issues efficiently.

Learning Outcomes

  • Discuss the purpose of Process Control in Water Treatment Facilities
  • Define a process control system including the components and variables, control objectives, and monitoring & reporting
  • Practice Process Control System Walkthroughs

Agenda

Short breaks will be taken during the session

Purpose of Process Control

  • Process control concepts
  • Brief history of control
  • Transformations from technology

Define a System

  • Components and variables
  • Control objectives
  • Reactive vs. predictive
  • Monitoring & reporting

System Control Walkthroughs

  • Sump level control
  • Maintaining tank temperature
  • Usage of intermediate vessels
  • Implementing robust solutions

Workshop Wrap Up and Q&A

Instructor

Greg Budzynski, Founder, IT/OT Systems

Greg Budzynski is the founder of IT/OT Systems in Denver, Colorado. He obtained his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology and has since been working in the field of automation and controls, with 15 years of experience in multiple industries ranging from material handling, food & beverage, and wastewater. He has 10 years of experience working at a large 150 MGD water systems. Greg has implemented novel methods of integrating various technologies from both operational and information technology fields. His current focus is working with facilities to increase their communication network robustness while reducing their exposure to potential cybersecurity attacks.