Wastewater Monitoring Solutions
Wastewater lift stations and pump stations are critical pieces of infrastructure that nobody thinks or cares about until they don’t work. If they fail and overflow, then they get a lot of attention and none of it good. This includes angry property owners and managers as well as hefty environmental agency fines. Proper monitoring and maintenance of wastewater lift stations and pump stations is critical.
Nexcomm Monitoring Capabilities
The Nexcomm Systems LiftPoint system is a complete hardware, software, and cloud services solution for monitoring and controlling wastewater lift stations and pump stations.
This is a fully integrated system. Gone are the days of trying to connect disparate sensors and monitors to PLCs and then to get that to communicate with an expensive, single source, proprietary SCADA radio. There is simply one box with wires that land on the terminals inside the panel.
Furthermore, with thorough national cellular coverage, most lift stations and pump stations will not need special antennas or antenna alignment. Remote and rural stations may need extra attention, but most stations become plug-and-play. The LiftPoint System reduces both hardware costs as well as installation costs.
What do you get for your money?
The LiftPoint system has several features that offer advantages over traditional SCADA systems.
The system sends out text messages and emails when an alert condition is triggered, such as a high float or power disruption. The alerts are configurable, including what triggers an alert, who gets the alerts based on a schedule, and the content of the alert. Voice calls are also available. The system also records who cleared the alert and when to show that someone has addressed the issue.
Current Transformers (CTs) can be added to monitor the current of the motors and provide insight into their health. This can include wear on bearings as well as clogged pumps. Analog sensors can be included to provide more insight, such as flow, temperature, pressure and so forth. Some motors and pumps have signal lines that can be monitored, such as leak detection.
Technicians can enter maintenance information for a specific station when they do field work. This can include a list of what was checked as well as a text field for entering any notes or points of concern. All of this is saved with the date and technician ID with the rest of the data for that station. It can then be automatically pulled into a monthly report that can be sent to the station owner.
The LiftPoint hardware includes cellular modems and SIM cards for the largest cellular service providers. The latest generation modems offer better performance and no configuration is required. Software updates and data plans are included.
The connection between the device and the Cloud services is secured with Microsoft Azure technology. Without getting deep into the topic, each device has a unique key to encrypt the data and log into the Azure system. This system is maintained at the highest level of security by Microsoft and is updated with the latest industry best practices.
The LiftPoint and LiftPoint Light have outdoor rated polycarbonate enclosures with mounting flanges that let them be easily attached to the panel or Unistrut. They are 110VAC compatible, so wires can be connected directly to the panel without any special connectors or adapters. Split core current transformers can be snapped around the power lines to the motors, making installation very simple. 4 to 20mA inputs allow the connection of additional sensors, such as flow, level, temperature, and pressure sensors.
A connectorized flying lead option is available. This allows the panel to be pre-wired for monitoring with a weather-proof bulkhead connector on the bottom of the panel. The monitoring hardware can be installed later with a matching cable and connector. Mount the box, plug in the connector and done.
The cloud services offer many options, including
- Over-the-air (OTA) updates pushed out to all units from the cloud (do not have to physically touch any of the devices)
- Device provisioning services; link a specific box to a specific station and specific customer for billing and reporting
- Secure connections using Microsoft Azure
- Login system with user levels to control access and read / write privileges
- Trouble shooting and support
- Tools to assist with billing customers. Reports with data usage, performance metrics, alert history, and maintenance records for each station can be automatically generated. This provides justification to the customer for the service they are paying for.
- Visualizations, graphs and reports on the web that can be accessed from anywhere at any time.
- The highest level offers control capabilities with the ability to activate relays or current sink outputs to control equipment at the station.
- Branding options to look like your website
Municipalities with existing SCADA systems can still use the LiftPoint System. An independent cellular router can be connected to SCADA servers and feed the data into the existing system. This completely bypasses IT departments and their security concerns, providing an independent link for the wastewater infrastructure that is completely disconnected from any other systems in the municipality.
System Levels
The LiftPoint Monitoring System has three levels.
Basic Monitoring
- Monitoring and status of devices on an independent system
- Device provisioning services
- Over the air updates
- Link security from the device to the cloud
- Trouble shooting and support
- Device usage records to support billing
Monitoring and Reporting
- Everything in Basic Monitoring
- Graphs, charts and visualizations on the web
- Alarms and alerts through text message and email
- Maintenance records per device
- Usage, maintenance, and operation reports per device
Remote Control
- Everything in Monitoring and Reporting
- Send control commands to the devices
