Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) deployed more than 600 Grundfos Telemetry Ex units with digital float switches to capture reliable sewer level data. The system reduces blockages and uncontrolled spills, strengthening environmental protection across Singapore’s wastewater network.
Public Utilities Board (PUB)
PUB is Singapore’s national water agency, whose mission is to ensure Singapore has a reliable and secure water supply and is protected from inland and coastal flooding.
The situation
Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) is responsible for ensuring sustainable and efficient water supply across the country. It regulates and oversees Singapore’s entire water supply system, including water catchment systems, drainage systems, waterworks, water reclamation plants and sewage systems.
The country’s highly urbanised environment makes it especially important to have an effective sewer level monitoring solution in place. Seeking as reliable a solution as possible, PUB required level alarms at three discreet levels. All equipment was to be intrinsically safe, and a further stipulation was that rather than owning the equipment, only data should be paid for.
The solution
In partnership with A-Control, a leading Singapore-based system integrator and engineering company, a full turnkey sewer level monitoring solution was provided that collects sewer level data at various points in the network.
Equipment at each monitoring point includes a Grundfos Telemetry 4G Ex unit coupled with three digital float switches. The sewer level data collected enables monitoring for blockages and uncontrolled spills at various locations within the network.
The measured sewer level values are sampled and stored with time stamps at periodic 15-minute intervals, with the data being communicated directly to the PUB ClearSCADA system via the 3G network and using the DNP3 protocol. The highwater level alarms received by PUB from the remote telemetry units (RTUs) allow them to deploy operations teams to prevent potential sewer blockages before they occur.
Grundfos Telemetry Ex is an intrinsically safe ATEX/IECEx certified (to Zone 0, Gas Group IIB) self-contained datalogger / remote telemetry unit, with:
- Internal or external battery pack
- IP68-rated enclosure
- Either an IoT (NB-IoT/Cat-M1) or 4G (with 3G/2G fallback) modem
- Auto-switching internal and external antenna options
- Software configurable AI, CI, DI, Modbus and SDI-12 communication options (including Multidrop)
- Integrated submersion sensor
- Local diagnostic points
- Intelligent alarm reporting
It communicates with the Grundfos Connect Sensor Platform, DNP3/WITS DNP3 Masters, or FTP/S servers.
Key benefits
Grundfos supplied:
- 600+ Grundfos Telemetry Ex unit
(ATEX/IECEx certified-Zone 0, Gas Group IIB) - 3x digital float switches per unit
- Development of a project-specific ClearSCADA System for provision of data to PUB
Facts:
- Topic: Sewer level monitoring
- Location: Singapore
- Customer: Public Utilities Board
The outcome
To date, over 600 sites have been commissioned across Singapore to provide PUB with enhanced visibility of the sewer network performance.
The reliable and effective sewer level data from Grundfos Telemetry 4G Ex units allows for greater predictive operation, maintenance and management, helping avoid the sewer blockages and uncontrolled spills of raw sewage that cause public health and environmental issues.
A-Control have also tested the Grundfos Telemetry IoT Ex (4G/NB-IoT) – the first intrinsically safe, battery-powered IoT RTU to be deployed in Singapore.
This project was originally implemented by Metasphere, a company acquired by Grundfos in 2023. The full Metasphere range of remote monitoring products and solutions for water and wastewater networks and environmental applications is now available through Grundfos.
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