Lift Station Control System

Engineering & Marketing International
Technology

ControlByWeb

Industry

Water Treatment

Client

Ohio Valley

Country

Ohio, USA

Goals

Achieve easy remote access to process data with on-board logic that remains secure & unaffected by external factors like network connectivity

Provide scalability for larger water and wastewater projects while maintaining simplicity for smaller installations

Ensure reliability and affordability in control systems design for water and wastewater projects in the Ohio River valley

Challenges

Initial consideration of designing custom control boards for specific project requirements

Need for efficient remote monitoring of lift stations, well levels, pump status, and fault conditions

Address the challenge of accommodating both smaller and larger projects with varying control system needs

Solutions

Utilize ControlByWeb's X-420 with programmable digital and analog inputs for flexible configuration

Integration of a 3" HMI screen with Ethernet input for local display and programming, enhancing monitoring and programming capabilities

The use of multiple X-420s or the X-400 with expandable I/O modules to meet increased I/O requirements of larger lift stations

Implement the X-417 for lift stations with Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs), mirroring analog signals from level transducers to VFD units

Results

Adoption of ControlByWeb programmable I/O controllers, specifically the X-420 and 400-Series products

Successful implementation of features such as pump start/stop signals, pump alternating logic, and email/text alarm functionality for lift station management

Replacement of several components in a pump control panel by the X-420, contributing to operational profitability and cost savings for Ohio Valley Control Systems

How Lift Stations Work


They are known as lift stations because they pump the wastewater up and allow gravity to take over as it flows toward the next lift station. Mountainous or hilly areas will have fewer lift stations because they have more slope to work with. But flat areas need more lift stations to engineer a slope where it doesn't naturally exist.

Lift stations consist of:

A well where wastewater collects,
Pumps that move the water once the well is full enough, and
Controllers that monitor the well and send signals to the pumps, operators, and a central control system.

Features


Expandable I/O
Monitor Analog, RS-485 Modbus, and Digital Inputs
Analog Output for VFDs
Multiple Alarm Solutions
And much more...

Common Problems Solutions

Expensive monitoring - Access to additional monitoring such as pump status and fault condition monitoring requires additional I/O and can dramatically increase the cost of the monitoring solution

Insufficient alarms - On-site alarms are insufficient to notify operators of emergency conditions, and remote critical alarms often leave out helpful maintenance notifications

Lack of scalability - Lift stations vary wildly in their complexity, modernity, and available budget. However, industry standard control systems don't scale up or down easily

Affordable functionality - Industrial-grade, inexpensive and flexible I/O empowers control systems engineers and municipalities to monitor more, like pump status and fault condition, for the allotted budget

Text and email alarms - Text and email alarms can be triggered easily in our built-in setup pages for any parameter you are monitoring, making it easy to communicate with your operators in real time

Expandable I/O - Easily configure a solution that matches your needs and your budget. Whether you're working with simple float switches or a VFD driven quadplex pump station