Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE Students' Technology Symposium

14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur

Automated urban drinking water supply

control and water theft identification system
Gouthaman.J, Bharathwajanprabhu.R & Srikanth.A
M.Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur, Tamilnadu, India
Email ID: jgouthaman@ieee.org, nateshbharath@ieee.org, srikanth880@gmail.com
Abstract The rapid growing of the wide urban
residential areas imposes the expansion as well as the
modernization of the existing water supply facilities. Along with
this one more problem is identified in the water supply
channels, some people use HP to 1 HP pump to suck the water
directly from the channel of their home street. Process
automation system based upon utilization of an industrial PLC
and PC systems including all the network components
represents the best way to improve the water distribution
technological process. The water theft can be best monitored by
the flow variations given by the flow sensors mounted on the
channels. The system includes Remote Terminal Units RTU,
specific transducers and actuators distributed on a wide
geographical area and control and power panels for the pump
stations. The reliable instrumentation connected to PLC or RTU
assure real time monitoring of the main technological
para meters of large water distribution networks. The data
acquired of SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition) represent the support for optimization of the
process and data- driven Decision Support System. The
system uses HMI implemented on PC to ensure the process
supervision and remote control functions based on OPC
technologies and wireless communication components for WAN
data transfer. The complete SCADA system for water
distribution enable the user to get a high operation safety of the
network, a cost effective use of equipment, energy efficiency and
optimize the daily operation and maintenance procedures.

The global online supervision of the water distribution network

is realized by the central dispatching operator as well as the
remote control of the actuators installed into the most important
points of the system. According to the requirements of the water
flow condition, the pressure and flow transducers are installed in
booster stations or measuring points throughout the network.
These electronic devices are connected to the RTUs which
transmit the data to the central dispatching station in order to
offer the possibility to monitor the system dynamic behavior. The
RTUs provide the data acquisition from different sensors and
transducers (specific for water pressure, flow, level or chemical
components concentration) by the digital and analog modules,
insure the preliminary signal treatment and wireless data
communication to the dispatching unit.

I.INTRODUCTION
The water supply systems are part of the urban
infrastructure which must assure the continuity of the water
distribution, the water quality control and the monitoring
and control of the technological process parameters, and
deal with the restrictions imposed by the water availability,
hydrological conditions, the storage capacity of the tanks and
water towers and the increasing diversity of water use [1],
[2]. The system includes pumping stations, filtering/chemical
treatment utilities, storage tanks and towers, the piping
distribution network and the central dispatching unit.
The complete SCADA system structure includes one or
more central PC main-station(s) that communicates with more
PLCs implemented into the pumping stations or RTUs
located in control panels throughout the network (pressure
and flow measurement or valves remote control).
The PLC(s) handle the direct control of the
technological process whereas the central dispatching unit
user interface- HMI, the treatment of data is implemented by
the central PC station, Fig. 2. The reducing of the
operating costs and the decrease of the technological water
losses is now possible by the implementation of an
intelligent control system which offers the support for the
optimization of the functional exploitation strategy and the
optimization of equipment use.

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Figure 1 Dispatching unit main user interface

The SCADA system implemented to the central dispatching
unit manages the data communication [3] with all the RTUs
and PLCs, stores the received data from the measuring point
and from the pumping stations and offer to the operator
advanced analysis functions as well as the remote control of the
main technological parameters Fig. 2.
The computerized system is the support for determining the
energetically characteristics of the driving motor and pump units
by computing the pump discharge elevation H (total static head)
knowing that in a static liquid the pressure difference between
any two points is in direct proportion only to the vertical distance
between the points:

where p1G , p2G are the inlet and outlet pump gauge pressures
and hp1 , hp2 represent the elevation of the pump inlet suction
and outlet discharge related to the reference level; the pump
reference elevation is h.

978-1-4244-8943-5/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

87

Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE Students' Technology Symposium

14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur

v1 , v2 represent the fluid velocities in the inlet/ outlet pump

sections.
The electromagnetic water flow transducer measurement
offer the possibility to calculate the water velocities

where d1 , d 2 represents the inlet/outlet pipe diameters.

The pump shaft power is
where Q represents the volume capacity of a pump.
The efficiency of the pump engine group is

where Pae represents the electrical power demand.

The access of the operator to the SCADA system is

managed through three levels of restricted access by means of
identification codes or password.
Low level involves no ID code the operator is
authorized to read or print data reports and select the actual
user interface using the menu driven selection,
Authorization similar to the lowest level but in
addition offer the access to proceed the alarm/events
acknowledgement, to elaborate the on/off command for the
pumping units, open/close for the electric operated valves,
selection of functional regime automatic/manual, remote set up
of controller set-points and PID parameters and modification
of the technological parameters limits,
Global authorizations including the access to
configure templates, user interfaces, create or change specific
reports, technological P&I equipment process pictures, data
base definition and to include more digital/analogue
input/output parameters.

Using the measurements of the electrical parameters

obtained from the universal powers meters and the hydraulic
parameters the system calculates the energetic specific
curves at the rated speed:
H= H(Q) the load characteristic curve
= (Q) the efficiency curve;
II. WATER SUPPLY NETWORK STRUCTURE
The data acquired from the remote site panels RTU pole
mounted to avoid vandalism, from the pumping stations PLCs
and the water reservoirs are transmitted to the dispatching unit
computer installed in the water distribution companys
headquarter. The computer software system integrates an
SCADA application program specifically developed for water
distribution management. The program emulates the operator
console HMI and the technological user interfaces in order to
monitor the pressure measurements points and supervise the
correct functioning of the distributed system and elaboration of
the remote control of the pumping stations equipment.

Figure 3-Prototype of the proposed system

The SCADA system offers the on line support for the
management of the process events, generates alarms, triggers
the signals status change, support the operator manoeuvres,
elaborates the time controlled procedures, Fig. 4.
It is possible to define and select the class events to be
recorded or retrieved.

Figure 4 SCADA system application software structure

Figure 2 Technological parameters of the pumping station

The dispatching unit SCADA system elaborates daily,
monthly, yearly diagrams, tables and reports related to the
operator requested parameters. The system stores the acquired
data in a specific database for later use analysis and retrieving.

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The events are defined by their own features: the tag

number of the signal or variable; the process domain; the
alarm or event structured level; specific signal status or
logical level to trigger the event recording; analogue
parameter technological control set limit.
The event attached graphical symbols on user interface
announce by the changes on the process images that a certain
functional condition is fulfilled.

Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE Students' Technology Symposium

14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur

The alarms are memorized in the SCADA dispatching

system within programmable sampling time and saved in
a FIFO stack sorted according to priority and occurring time
of event. It is possible to acknowledge individually or in
groups the alarms through the alarm list. The already
acknowledged alarms are deleted from the alarm line and are
transferred to the alarm list. The alarms are maintained active
on the alarm list, until they are fixed. Alarms are
displayed in the graphical process image by their color
change and with an alarm identification attachment as a text
message. The alarm list is updated dynamically. It is
possible to assign or change the alarm priorities to all the
selected alarms according to the supervision schedule. The
alarm list for display or print follows the sorting criteria
imposed by the operator. The operator may change alarm
settings for parameter limits under normal operation. All the
acknowledged alarms are recorded in the SCADA database
name.
accompanied by the time stamp and the operator
The
transitory alarms
must also
be acknowledged. The SCADA system process the
information regarding the operation status of all electrical
engines, pumps and electric actuators; valves, the selected
functioning regime; the actual position of all remote
operated valves and equipment; the operation time and
number of starts for all electrical drives. Actual operation
status report is online updated in a graphical process user
interface on the dispatching console including operation
status.

for all the water installations and utilities are elaborated as

P&I- diagrams simplified for ergonomic display reason. The
actual operation is carried out through Windows pop-up
pictures, by mouse, keyboard, input fields using the menu
driven selection of the operation. In each process graphical
user interface it is possible to call out a menu picture which
allows displaying technological process images, curves,
reports, events, alarms and status lists. The operator is
inform about the process parameters measured values,
status signals and actual alarms change currently in real time
on all the actual user interface in use.
The process technological parameters, analogue data
acquisition
measurements,
digital
input/output
monitored signals and the results of mathematical/algorithm
equations are recorded in a SQL database. The data can be
exported to different software platforms, enabling the
possibility
of carrying out future mathematical and
statistical computation of both automatically and manual
acquired data.
III. COMMUNICATION SUPPORT
The SCADA system
includes equipment distributed
geographically within the city area; that is why the
cost effective data communication support selected for this
specific application is the radio wireless technology for
Wide Area Network WAN Figure 6. The WAN use the
GSM and its extension GPRS which allows the handling of
packet switching traffic.

Analogue measurements and calculations are displayed as

digital values in field areas coordinated with the process
symbol images and their associated graphical curves. The
operator can display the dynamic curves (trend diagrams) or
retrieve the recorded data and display them as historical
curves. The dispatching unit operator may print out the curves
or tables on the graphic printer.

Figure 6 GSM/GPRS communication support system

Figure 5-Program in GE FANUC Micro PLC

The analog
parameter
configuration programming
interface includes extended features for additional limit,
for alarms definition related to out of the range upper and
lower level limits, local controllers PID parameters and
process set points.
Complex integrated measurements and algorithm based
calculations are performed and presented in the same way as
analogue measured parameters. The specific process images

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The system uses the advantage offered by the GPRS the

equipment is always connected to the network and cost
charges are made according to the volume tariff not by the
time connected. The GSM/GPRS network data transmission
capabilities meet the transfer rates requested by the
application; it also supports the standard communication
protocols, offer the compatibility with other systems and
offer the openness to future development. Using the
GPRS/3G technology higher transfer rates are provided as
well as and effective error correction protocol. This ensures
the secure and correct transfer of the data, but introduces
data delay as a side effect that influences the data
consistency and must be acknowledged in the remote
control procedures. The GPRS service is used with fixed IP
addresses and a direct IP connection from the network

Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE Students' Technology Symposium

14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur

communication service provider. The Transmission

and Control Protocol/Internet Protocol developed for the
Internet to interconnect specific LANs in a WAN provide
the exchange of data irrespective of the source using a
routing protocol.

The intelligent devices connected to the RTUs in the

important points of the water network insure the supervision
of the dynamic functioning of overall system as the
direct interface with the process,

Software package for PC includes OPC server

and connection manager. The PLCs and RTUs software use
a specific programming block library and a permanent,
bidirectional wireless online connection via
GPRS communication to the main PC and between
remote stations. The advantages of the software application
solution [4]:
- On line monitoring of GPRS station connections,
- Low data
communication
costs
due to
optimized transmission with effective frame
design;
low-cost GPRS volume tariffs allowing
permanent and wireless online linking of large area
distributed equipment to a dispatching center,
- Protection
against
data
manipulation
and
encrypted data package
interference through
transmission between PLCs and the OPC server of
the SCADA computer by means of encryption and
scrambling algorithms over closed virtual private
networks (VPN),
- The possibility to lower the operating costs by
selectable cyclic or event-based transmission,
- The easy change of the central dispatching location,
- No need for expansive radio project and
wave propagation measurements,
therefore
fast commissioning with low project costs.

The hardware structure of the RTU, including the

following components:
- Power supply for the CPU and transducers,
- Central processing unit CPU,
- Communication interface for Ethernet and AS,
- Anti condensation controller,
- Digital and analogue input/ output interface,
- Galvanic insulation module,
- GSM/GPRS modem.

The OPC (OLE for process control), Figure 5, is a

widely accepted industrial communication standard that
enables the exchange of data between multi-vendor
devices and control applications without any proprietary
restrictions.
An
OPC server can communicate data
continuously among PLCs on the operation site, RTUs in
the field, SCADA systems, and software applications
implemented on desktop PCs. Even when the hardware and
software are from different vendors, OPC compliance
makes
continuous real-time
communication possible offering interfaces and methods
for use in process control and manufacturing automation
applications to facilitate interoperability.

Figure 7 OPC communication structure

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IV. PRESSURE MONITORING EQUIPMENT

The RTUs interfaces are connected with transducers to

measure the water pressure, flow, the free and residual
chlorine, pH, the water level in the reservoirs and
specific transducers for the water quality investigation.
The PLCs installed in the pumping stations monitor the
hydraulic parameters of the centrifugal pumps as well as the
electrical parameters [5] of the electrical drives and control
the start/stop sequences [6] according to the hydraulic
scenarios based on constraints, energy prices and continuous
monitoring of the pumping efficiency/performance. The
operator console allows the operator to configure the main
functioning parameters, the integration of measuring devices
with different type of signal output (analog current/voltage
output, data serial port communication protocol). The system
provides tools for commissioning (re-ranging, units changing)
and the ability to diagnose and can facilitate the move for a
preventive or predictive maintenance system. The RTU
provide the tool for conversion of data (offset and slope
adjustment for analog signals), the programming of lower and
upper measurements limits, the investigating rate and the
data transmitting scan time.
The RTU implements in the mean time a data storage
function for measurements values, events and reports,
operator commands and fault acknowledgement. The data are
stored in a FIFO memory stack and are transmitted after to the
dispatching unit when the communication link is restored; al
the data are recorded with their time stamp allowing the
SCADA computer to keep the track of all the parameters
trend. Some of the RTUs implement also control functions for
the electrical actuators of the valves or variable speed
controllers. Each operation or command is monitored and
generate and alarm to the dispatching unit. The main function
implemented by the RTU application
program
are
included and structured in the following modules:
- Digital signals processing block,
- Analog signals processing block,
- Data storage and retrieving module,
- Data communication/ transmission driver,
- Local and remote command module,
- Menu driven configuration module.

Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE Students' Technology Symposium

14-16 January, 2011, IIT Kharagpur

V. PUMPING STATION AUTOMATION SYSTEM

The technological
equipment
installed
in
the
pumping stations are controlled by a PLC based
equipment
which acquires all the hydraulic parameters
(pressure, flow, reservoirs water level, temperature, free and
residual chlorine [7], pH) and the electrical parameters for all
the electric drives (current, voltage, active/reactive power,
power factor, frequency).
The pumping functioning module implemented in the PLC
includes a schedule optimization tool based on the following
criteria:
- The hourly electrical energy tariffs,
- The water demand dynamic and constraints, inflows,
- Statistical records regarding the water demand,
- Maintenance planning related to the market demand.
The optimization module facilitates the move to the
preventive or predictive exploitation of the water resources and
storage capacities based on intelligent control algorithms. They
represent the support for electrical energy cost optimization by
real time monitoring the pumping schedule and the on/off
electric drive transient load reducing, maintenance planning
based on the functional wear and loading.
The main software application modules implemented in the
pumping station PLC equipment are:
- Digital and analogue signals processing block,
- Configuration and value limits validation,
- Electrical parameters acquisition and processing,
- Data storage and retrieving module,
- Data communication management module,
- Command driver,
- Sequences and pump and valves control algorithms,
- Process control algorithm based on reservoirs level
or water pressure set point according to the
distribution demand,
- Self control and technological process diagnosis
module,
- Operator console - HMI - operator fully
integrated customized operation procedures.

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VI. CONCLUSIONS
The automated system implemented into the water
distribution network insures the update of the refurbished
water supply urban utilities; it offers new ways of monitoring
and optimized exploitation of the water resources and
technological equipments. The informatics SCADA system
by its wide geographical area distributed intelligent
components allows:
- The overall supervision and remote control of all
the water network equipment and the management of
the water flow according to the users demand, the
available water volume related with the reservoirs level
and capacities including correction determined by
the pressure in the key points of the network,
- Measurement data reliability by the global monitoring
of the network in the central dispatching unit,
- Continuity of the water distribution and protection of
the water quality; decrease of the water resources
leakages detection
done by
losses; water
the
online consumption monitoring or
pressure drop,
- The real time operator alarm information triggered
by any equipment failure in the distribution system,
- Optimization of the exploitation and maintenance
costs,
- Water distribution technological process tractability,
- Automated database elaboration as a first step for
the future specific data driven decision support system.
VII.REFERENCES
[1] Stancil, Stoian,and kovacs Urban water supply distributed
system,Vol.3,pp.316-321,May.2008.
[2] G. Badea, Instalatii sanitare, Editura RISOPRINT, Cluj
Napoca,vol.5,pp-38-56, 2005.
[3] G. Badea, Instalatii de alimentare cu apa, canalizare,
sanitare si de gaze, Litografia Universitatii Tehnice, Cluj
Napoca, pp-62-104,1982.
[4]Westermo
Handbook
5.0,
Industrial
Data
Communication; Industrial Ethernet,pp.118-146, 2007.
[5] Siemens AG, Automation and Drives Wireless Data
Communication based on GPRS,vol.1,pp-107-114,2008.
[6] Algodue Elletronica, UPM 304 Manuals, Italy, 2007,
[7] Siemens AG, SIRIUS Soft starters 3 RW 44
manual,pp.86-92, 2007.
[8] ProMinent Group, Process Overview Water
Supply,vol.1,pp.26-43,2007.

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