Needing reliable pressure and flow data for a digital metering trial in Melbourne’s Docklands, Grundfos delivered compact telemetry units that helped improve data capture in a challenging urban setting.
City West Water
A Government of Victoria retail water corporation, City West Water provided drinking water, sewerage, trade waste and recycled water services to inner Melbourne and its western suburbs. City West Water Corporation merged with the neighbouring Western Region Water Corporation in 2021 to form Greater Western Water.
The situation
City West Water was trialling digital metering for its District Metered Areas (DMAs). It established a DMA at Melbourne’s Docklands Park and wanted to monitor flow and pressure rates.
Site monitoring within such an urban area is challenging. Below-ground monitoring, which would be almost invisible to the public, presents greater difficulty in achieving good quality wireless communication. Additionally, the costs and logistics of opening pits below ground to maintain monitoring equipment are high and complex, particularly within DMA environments.
SAGE Automation, a provider of engineering solutions for industrial automation and control services, were subsequently engaged to devise a suitable monitoring solution.
The solution
The above-ground monitoring solution, put together as a collaboration between City West Water, SAGE Automation, Melbourne City Council, and Yarra Trams, ultimately comprised a bollard containing the monitoring equipment, as it had minimal impact on aesthetics or public safety. The aim was to blend with the environment and perform the role at a low implementation and lifetime cost.
The Grundfos Telemetry 4G datalogger was brought into the bollard as a key part of the system, along with an additional battery and flow transmitter, with an external antenna on top. It was fully integrated with City West Water’s SCADA system.
Technologies
- Grundfos Telemetry 4G low-powered battery-operated DNP3 remote telemetry unit / datalogger
- Krohne flow/pressure meter with Modbus support
- 4G or 3G
- Custom bollard
- Schneider ClearSCADA master system
Key benefits
Grundfos supplied:
- Grundfos Telemetry 4G units
Facts:
- Topic: Pressure and flow monitoring for district metered areas
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Customer: City West Water
The outcome
City West Water can now monitor flow and pressure rates for three below-ground sites at Docklands Park, using a highly accessible and discreet bollard solution. This has provided the water authority with another means to monitor its diverse range of assets and services. It will continue to roll out similar solutions within its DMAs where suitable.
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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