Wastewater treatment plant SCADA Application
Eng. Bogdan HUMOREANU
Faculty of Automation and Computer Science
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Bogdan.HUMOREANU@aut.utcluj.ro
Abstract—The efficient administration and treatment of
municipal and industrial wastewater is crucial to sustaining
community health and a clean, safe environment. Applying
standard SCADA solutions has a positive impact on the
operations, maintenance, process development and savings for
the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). This paper describes
a SCADA software application implemented on wastewater
treatment plant relating to the architecture, the interface to the
process hardware, the functionality and capabilities to create a
comprehensive real-time applications management environment
for a modern wastewater operation.
Keywords-SCADA; data acquisition; hardware architecture;
wastewater treatment; process monitoring.
I. INTRODUCTION
Acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition, a
computer system for gathering and analyzing real time data,
SCADA platforms are used to monitor and manage a plant or
equipment in industries like telecommunications, water and
waste control, energy, oil and gas refining and transportation.
A SCADA system gathers information from a range of
processes, transfers the information back to a central site,
alerting the home station when an event has occurred, carrying
out necessary analysis and control, such as determining if the
event is critical, and displaying the information in a logical
and organized fashion. SCADA platforms can be relatively
simple, such as one that monitors environmental conditions of
a small office building, or incredibly complex, such as a
system that monitors all of the activity in a nuclear power
plant or the activity of a municipal water system. [1]
Data acquisition refers to the procedure used to
access and manage information or data from the equipment
being controlled and monitored. The information accessed is
then forwarded onto a telemetry system prepared for transfer
to the various sites. They can be analog and digital
information gathered by sensors, like flow meter, level, etc. It
can also be data to control equipment such as actuators, relays,
valves, motors, etc. Telemetry is frequently related with
SCADA systems. It is a technique used in transmitting and
receiving information or data over a medium. The information
can be measurements, such as voltage, speed or flow. These
data are transmitted to a different location through a medium
such as cable, telephone or radio. Information may come from
multiple locations. A method of addressing these various sites
is incorporated in the system. [2]
SCADA systems can be used at any water or wastewater
system to integrate various processes and monitoring
information [3-5]. In water and wastewater applications,
Prof. Dr. Eng. Ioan NASCU
Faculty of Automation and Computer Science
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca, Romania
SCADA is often applied to link remote and/or local sensing
units to a central monitoring location, from which coordinated
responses to monitoring data can be initiated. Waste Water
Treatment Plants (WWTPs) are complex dynamic systems that
are difficult to manage and that require long-term expertise
and constant monitoring for efficient operation.
SCADA system is commonly used in WWTP for the
following applications:
• provide data for process modeling and energy use
optimization
• provide immediate detection of problems through
diagnostic displays, enabling quick intervention for
fast resolutions
• predictive system for seasonal flow and wet weather
• reduce the energy use and costs associated with
aeration in biological processes
• improve the settling characteristics of the biomass
• overview screen showing the overall status of the
system
• alarm summary screen showing all the acknowledged
in-alarms, unacknowledged in-alarms
• alarm history screen with selectable start and end date
• trend screen for each important parameter of process
sensors showing the real-time and historical data with
timeline
• report package
II. SCADA HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE
To monitor all operational systems from the central
monitoring station, a communications network is needed. This
network provides a way to transport all information collected
throughout the system. SCADA communications take place on
PROFIBUS with RS485 support, and TCP/IP protocol over
fiber optic network. To alleviate security concerns when
transporting sensitive data, communication of data is done
over internal LAN, not the public Internet.
SCADA utilizes protocol communication methods, so
input and output devices cannot interpret or create SCADA
communications on their own. PLC’s and RTU’s interpret
information from connected sensors and transmit it to the
SCADA master. In turn, the PLC and RTU receives control
commands in protocol format from the SCADA master, and
forwards these commands to the appropriate control devices.
This allows the SCADA master to control specific operational
processes all through the network from a single location. The
RTU’s devices implemented in SCADA system are multi-
parameter controllers designed to function with any of the
digital probe family and can also be configured with relays,
analog outputs, analog or digital inputs, and digital fieldbus
cards.
Figure 1. SCADA Hardware architecture for wastewater treatment plant
The following components are present within the SCADA
system:
• HMI (Human-Machine Interface) - connect the human
operators to the system by using a browser interface
that permits the system operator to react to data
gathered from all parts of the network.
• CMS (Central Monitoring Station) – is the master unit
of the SCADA system. It is in charge of acquiring
information gathered by the remote stations and of
generating necessary action for any event detected.
The CMS has a single computer configuration and
allow sharing of information from the SCADA
system.
• RTU (Remote Terminal Units) - collect data
automatically and connect directly to process sensors.
They function as slave units to supervisory controllers
or supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
master. Remote Terminal Unit monitors the field
digital and analog parameters and transmits all of the
data to the Central Monitoring System (CMS).
• PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) - is used for
automation of the wastewater treatment process and is
designed for multiple inputs and output arrangements,
extended temperature ranges, immunity to electrical
noise, and resistance to vibration and impact.
• CI (Communication infrastructure) - connects the
RTU and PLC to supervisory system.
• FI (Field Instrumentation) - refers to the devices that
are connected to the equipment or machines being
controlled and monitored by the SCADA system.
These are sensors for monitoring certain parameters
and actuators for controlling certain modules of the
system.
III. WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT PROCESS
OVERVIEW
The plant is designed for industrial wastewater treatment
from the technological process of producing paper and is
composed by the following component parts, as shown in the
bellow figure.
Figure 2. Wastewater treatment plant
Wastewater treatment consists of the following processes:
filtering, elimination of the colloids through the process
physical-chemical clotting and flocculation, treatment to
regulate the Ph of the water, biological treatment and finally,
decanting and sludge extraction.
Screening precedes all other treatment processes within the
wastewater treatment plant. The removal of coarse solids
achieved through screening provides protection to all
equipment, pipes and channels in the treatment plant. Raw
wastewater from the collection system enters the screen
chamber. The wastewater then flows through a bar screen or
similar device where large materials, such as sticks, rocks, and
rags, are removed in order to protect the downstream
equipment from being damaged.
The influent pump station provides the required hydraulic
energy needed to enter the primary treatment area of the plant.
The influent pumping system includes three fixed centrifugal
pumps. Under regular operation, two pumps operate as a lead
or base pumps, and the third is in backup duty if flow demands.
The pumps automatically alternate by a programmable logic
controller to change the order in which they are started, so as
not to over use just one pump.
The next step is the primary sedimentation stage that
involves the separation of suspended and dissolved organic
material from the wastewater stream. Primary settling tank is
equipped with mechanically driven scrapeer that continually 20 mA. This signal is receiveed by the PLC via a controller
drives the collected sludge towards a hopperr in the base of the (SC100 – Hach Lange) that makes the conversion for its
tank where it is pumped to sludge treatmennt facilities. In this interpretation and comparison with
w the desired values and thus
stage coagulant and flocculant preparationss will be added to the corrective actions in the syystem are made. This transducer
water to decant the water pollutants by coagulation and has an internal temperaturre sensor (thermistor). The
flocculation (process where colloids come ouut of suspension in temperature measurement siggnal is used internally by the
the form of floc or flakes). A mixer willl be continuously sensor for automatic temperatuure compensation and is shown
working throughout the process for mixing the chemical on the controller. pH is the neggative logarithm of the hydrogen
compounds to water. ion activity and a measure off the acidity or alkalinity of a
solution.
The second tank in the technological proccess is the clarifier,
where the biological treatment process takes place.The pH is measured with a glass
g electrode and a reference
activated-sludge technique is a biological treatment process electrode. The glass electrodde acts as a transducer which
where aerobic (requiring free dissolved oxygen for their converts chemical energy (thee hydrogen ion activity) into an
respiration) organisms are contacted with thee wastewater in an electrical energy (measured in i millivolts). The reaction is
environment suitable for their proliferation. The
T function of the balanced and the electrical circcuit is completed by the flow of
activated-sludge unit process is to convert organic
o substances ions from the reference solutionn to the solution under test.
into oxidized products and a settleable floc. This floc, referred
as "activated sludge", is later removed from m the wastewater. The electrode and reference solution together develop a
Activated sludge is a living biomass that utilizes
u the organic voltage whose magnitude deppends on the type of reference
substances in the wastewater as a food thhereby eliminating electrode, the internal construcction of the glass electrode, the
these wastes from the wastewater stream. To T keep a level of pH of the solution and the tempperature of the solution.
oxygenation suitable in the clarifier, air is injeected, generating a Figure bellow is showinng the trend display of pH
bubbling of air from the bottom. Decanted waterw is filtered and measurement during one weeek period. Since WWTP has a
stored in a tank and chlorinated to remove paathogenic (disease- sequential process flow can be b observed how, through the
producing) organisms. WWTP operates in a true batch mode flocculation and coagulation doosing solution and water quality
with aeration and sludge settlement both occcurring in the same input pH value recorded will be some fluctuation depending
tank in a time sequence. on the influential factor.
Evacuated water from de clarifier tank is treated with ozone
in the disinfection chamber. Ozone ( ܱଷ ) is generated by
passing oxygen (ܱଶ ) through a high voltage potential resulting
in a third oxygen atom becoming attachedd and forming ܱଷ .
Ozone is very unstable and reactive and oxiddizes most organic
material it comes in contact with, therebyy destroying many
pathogenic microorganisms. Ozone is consiidered to be safer
than chlorine because, unlike chlorine whichh has to be stored
on site (highly poisonous in the event of an accidental
a release),
ozone is generated onsite as needed.
IV. MONITORING OF PROCESS PA
ARAMETERS
A. On-line monitoring
The use of real-time sensors and SCA ADA systems has
become commonplace in large centrallized wastewater
treatment systems. On-line instruments and a SCADA are
available to remotely monitor a wide rangee of parameters at Figure 3. pH variation in physic-chhemical treatment stage (green colored
wastewater treatment facilities. These systtems can provide linne)
early warning of an existing or impennding mechanical
equipment failure or process upset. On-line data visualization 2) TSS (Total Suspended Soolids)
of process sensors can be accessed from thhe Graph menu of Total Suspended Solids (TS SS) is the measure of combined
main SCADA application screen and allow operators to have settleable and non-settleable solids in wastewater treatment
process values presented in curve charts so that they can plant. As levels of TSS increaase, a water body begins to lose
evaluate their variation with respect to time. The measurement its ability to support a diverssity of aquatic life. Suspended
parameters and principles for the proccess sensors are solids absorb heat from sunnlight, which increases water
summarized as follows: temperature and subsequentlyy decreases levels of dissolved
oxygen (warmer water holds lessl oxygen than cooler water).
1) pH
On-line measurement is basedd on a transducer that combines
One of the important aspects of the proccess is the need to
multiple beams alternating liight method with an infrared
control and maintain constant the pH of water
w coming from
system and beam focusing. Thhe 2 channel 90° scattered light
the entrance well. To take the measurement,, one transducer is
measurement method conform ms to the relevant ISO standard.
used that convert physical quantity, pH, intoo analog signal 4-
A scattered light measurement method at 120° is integrated for
determination of solids. 8-channel multiple angle optics make
the system rugged and resistant to interference factors such as
air bubbles, temperature, colorants, etc. Sensor calibration has
to be performed upon initial startup and periodically hereafter.
Calibration can be performed as a 1, 2 or 3 point calibration.
Usually a 1 point calibration is sufficient. If the measured
value is below calibration point minus 50 % or above
calibration point plus 100 %, calibration must be performed at
a lower or a higher point respectively. If a reference value for
one of the calibration points is not keyed in, the transducer
will continue to measure with the old calibration values.
Because WWTP has a sequential process flow, the
measurement of TSS has a rising slope every time when
transfer pumps are running and water is pumped from primary
tank to biological tank.
Figure 4. TSS variation in biological treatment stage (orange colored line)
3) DO (Dissolved Oxygen)
The wastewater treatment plant uses the low maintenance
optical, LDO oxygen sensor to ensure reliable compliance
with the ܱଶ target value during aeration. This sensor is
mounted in the second basin, where biological step occurs,
optical method of measuring dissolved oxygen avoids the
disadvantages of traditional electrochemical measurement
methods. The LDO principle is based on the physical
phenomenon of luminescence. Some materials emit light when
excited by a stimulus other than heat. In the case of the LDO
principle, the stimulus is light. If a combination of a suitable
luminophore and a suitable wavelength of excitation light is
chosen, the intensity of the luminescence and the time it takes
to fade are dependent on the oxygen concentration around the
material.
The sensor consists of following components: the sensor
cap with the luminophore coating on a transparent carrier
material, the probe body with a blue LED which emits the
light that triggers the luminescence, a red LED which serves
as the reference element, a photodiode and an electronic
evaluation unit. In operation, the sensor cap is screwed onto
the sensor body and immersed in the water. Oxygen molecules
from the analysis sample are indirect contact with the
luminophore.
To carry out a measurement, the excitation LED transmits
pulsed blue light. The energy-rich blue light enables highly
precise measurements to be made. The light pulse (50 msec)
passes through the transparent carrier material onto the
luminophore, to which it transfers part of its radiant energy.
This causes some of the electrons in the luminophore to jump
from their basic energy level to a higher one. Within
microseconds they then fall back to their original level via a
number of intermediate levels, emitting the energy they lose as
they do so in the form of red light. When oxygen molecules
are in contact with the luminophore, two effects occurs: firstly
the oxygen molecules are able to absorb the energy of the
higher level electrons and enable them to return to their basic
energy level without emitting light. The higher the oxygen
concentration, the greater is the reduction in the intensity of
the emitted red light. The oxygen molecules also cause
“shocks” in the luminophore, so that electrons fall back from
the higher energy level more quickly. The lifetime of the
emitted red light is therefore shortened.
Automated control of the aeration process is very
important and can save a plant considerable energy by quickly
adjusting to variable conditions within the clarifier basin. The
oxygen required to maintain biological processes (the oxygen
demand) within the aeration basin is proportional to organic
and ammonia loading in the influent wastewater. Oxygen
demand for aeration, therefore, follows the same diurnal
pattern, dipping in the middle of the night and peaking in the
morning and evening. Automated DO control system use
real‐time dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration readings from
DO probe located within the clarifier basin as inputs to
SCADA system which provides control output to the aeration
system that responds by adjusting the blower speed to deliver
the proper amount of air needed to maintain the target DO
concentration. It is a feedback control loop, whereby blower
and air flow rates are manipulated in response to changes in
the DO level in the clarifier basin.
Figure bellow is showing the trend display of DO
measurement during one week period. DO level is decreases
when water from primary tank is pumped in the biological
tank and rises in the aeration period.
Figure 5. DO variation in biological treatment stage (bright turquoise
colored line)
 4) COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)
The COD sensor is mounted on the outlet wastewater
treatment plant, and is used for the continuous measurement of
the UV absorption of dissolved organic substances in
evacuated water. The process probe has a flashlight
photometer with a cuvette formed by a gap (aperture) in the
probe housing. The UV extinction of the immersion medium
around the probe is measured across the width of this
measuring aperture. A wiper in the aperture prevents fouling
of the measuring window. The effect of turbidity on UV
absorption is compensated by a reference measurement.
Organic compounds dissolved in water in general absorb UV
light, for this reason the measurement of UV absorption
represents an independent total parameter for dissolved
organic substance water load. The spectral absorption
coefficient at 254 nm serves as a measure of the organic
material. A reference wavelength of 550 nm is used for
automatic baseline compensation and turbidity correction.
The sensor comprises a multiple beam absorption
photometer with effective turbidity compensation. Turbidity
compensation is done by measuring the SAC (Spectral
Absorption Coefficient) at 550 nm and subtracting this value
from the SAC measurement at 254 nm.
Progress graph of COD is shown in the bellow figure,
variation of measured values is given by the sequential
evacuated water. COD concentrations fulfill the
NTPA001/2005 standard.
Figure 6. COD variation in wastewater plant outlet (red colored line)
B. Remote monitoring
Remote web access is enabled on SCADA client stations
for several reasons: a plant operator/engineer may remotely
monitor equipment status, or need to collect current
production data, or the maintenance personnel may have to
diagnose and fix operational problems. In order to minimize
the probability of unintentional misuse or tampering, users are
limited only to functions for which they are authorized. For
example, the maintenance personnel logging in to update a
patch must not be able to run any control system commands. If
a user’s laptop contains spyware, or his antivirus is not up to
date, that user should not be allowed access to the control
system network.
VPN (Virtual Private Network) was developed to provide
secure connections through the Internet to internal corporate
networks. Based on the existing public network infrastructure
and incorporating data encryption and tunneling techniques, it
provides a high level of data security. A VPN server was
installed as part of the firewall to which external users will
authenticate before gaining access to the SCADA networks.
The remote access solution with implemented SCADA
system has the following requirements:
• plant operator station must have the server version of
the remote access software installed
• SCADA server with the appropriate number of client
licenses
• the client must have a browser supporting ActiveX
How it works:
• the client enters the URL for remote access to the
operator station
• the client logs on with his user name and password
• the client now takes over control of remote screen,
mouse and keyboard
• the client has full access to all IGSS features, as if he
was working on a normal operator station
Live data is extracted from the SCADA ODBC Server into
an SQL Server. Using ASP code it is possible to extract the
data from the SQL Server and present it live on a web page.
The figure bellow shows the chosen solution.
Figure 7. Web-based SCADA supervision
Operators, plant managers and other staff can now view
the key values from the wastewater plant in a standard web
browser.
C. Local monitoring
A mimic diagram of the whole plant is displayed on
SCADA server for easier identification with the real system.
Each I/O point of the remote units is displayed with
corresponding graphical representation and the present I/O
reading. The main screen display for the wastewater treatment
plant is presented in figure 8 and has the following dynamic
symbols and monitored parameters:
• entrance well - monitor on/off status of mixers, pH
and temperature sensors, control on/off status of
mixers
• physical-chemical tank - monitor on/off status of
transfer pumps and level sensor, control on/off status
of transfer pumps
• biological tank - monitor on/off status of discharge
pumps and blowers, flow rates, level, temperature,
DO, and TSS sensors, control on/off status of
discharge pumps and blowers
• sludge facility - monitor on/off status of sludge pumps
and sludge level from the storage tank, control on/off
status of sludge pumps
• dosing station - control flocculation and coagulation
• ozone generator - monitor on/off status of ozone
generator, control ozone production from 0-100g/h
• pumping station - monitor on/off status of pumps and
level sensor, control on/off status of pumps
• outlet well - monitor DO, pH, conductivity, COD and
temperature sensors
Any item provides access to additional information in the
form of a graphic for that component or portion of the process.
All operators and supervisors log in and out from this screen.
Security levels of access are set by the supervisor and
controlled via the login process. All screens are available for
access at the WWTP main office computer and the operator’s
office computer over the corporate LAN. This screen provides
high level information to the operator and the current status of
all the major components.
Figure 8. The main overview screen of SCADA system
V. CONCLUSIONS
Wastewater treatment plants are complex dynamic systems
that are difficult to manage and that require long-term
expertise and constant monitoring for efficient operation.
Implementation of a SCADA system on the technological
process of wastewater treatment plants is a key issue to
providing treated water quality. Properly configured, the
system is a powerful tool in terms of both data management
and optimization of process operation. In terms of process data
management, the major advantage is versatility of the specific
functions for archiving, processing, analysis and visualization.
Thus, there is the possibility that a technologist to perform
specific tests based on real data gathered from the SCADA
system and to propose ways to long-term process
optimization. This is very useful because the process of
wastewater treatment is a slow process, which extends over
tens of hours. Another major advantage of implementing a
SCADA system is the possibility to optimize the functionality
of the process. First, monitoring of treated water output
parameters, and especially their evolution for extended periods
of time will allow the implementation of corrections at the
technological process. The purpose of these corrections will be
to achieve a quality of treated water according to the norms,
with lower energy consumption. This is very important, given
the large amounts of electricity consumed by the process
elements, such as for example oxygen blowers from the
biological stage. By way of process alarm management, it is
possible to transmit the necessary information in a very
efficient way, where they are needed. Also, certain decisions
can be taken by the system, according to information and
operator acceptance. We can say that the implementation of
SCADA systems in the wastewater treatment technologies,
brings a very powerful and flexible tool, advantages which
directly impacts the performance and efficiency of a
wastewater treatment plant.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper is supported by the project "Improvement of the
doctoral studies quality in engineering science for development
of the knowledge based society-QDOC” contract no.
POSDRU/107/1.5/S/78534, project co-funded by the European
Social Fund through the Sectorial Operational Program Human
Resources 2007-2013.
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