33

Batam’s water supply will run

out by 2020 and ATB is now on
FROM THE GROUND
a mission to secure it

How Lacroix
Sofrel helps
Batam to secure Lacroix Sofrel’s smart water
management technology

its water supply

helps ATB to monitor and
control leakage across
Batam’s water network.

T
he sunny island of Batam is a A map of Batam
popular destination among tourists
to Indonesia. Official statistics from
the country’s Ministry of Tourism show
that Batam welcomed approximately
45% of Indonesia’s total visitors to its
shores last year, and the Ministry is
reportedly seeking to double national
tourist numbers by 2019.
Batam also boasts one of the fastest
growing populations in Indonesia,
standing at an average of 8% to 10% per
annum (or 100,000 people every year).
In 10 years, the population is expected
to reach a total of 2.2 million people. “This will only lasts until 2020.” of 61,300 m 3 scattered across the
With the island’s burgeoning tourism And so, ATB is now on a mission to 415 km2 island. The company serves
market and booming population growth, secure Batam’s water supply. 99.5% of Batam’s entire population,
it has become more important than which translates to more than 260,000
ever to secure Batam’s water supply. Problems connections.
However, Batam’s water management ATB is a private water management “With so many customers to provide
company PT Adhya Tirta Batam (ATB) company under the concession of the for, it is a challenging task for us to
recently expressed worries over Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority deliver optimum service to every single
expectations of a water crisis by 2020. (BP Batam) to manage Batam’s water person without the aid of devices
“The current availability of our raw services for 25 years (from 1995 to 2020). that can provide accurate, real-time
water supply is 3,820 litres per second,” It manages transmission and distribution information on flow and pressure
said Benny Andrianto, president director networks that span more than 3,500 km, for the entire water network,” said
of ATB. with 16 reservoirs with total capacity Mr Andrianto.

Water & Wastewater Asia March April 2017


ATB installed Lacroix Sofrel’s LS range
of data loggers, and the AS range of
remote terminal units (RTUs)
“This data will allow us to carry out
accurate monitoring of regulations and
water supply to customers,” he added.
With no rivers, wells and springs,
Batam depends solely on rainfall
collected in dams for water. This makes
production, distribution and water
conservation a huge challenge, said
Mr Andrianto. Hence, it is necessary to
seek out alternative sources of water.
For this reason, ATB prioritised reducing
non-revenue water (NRW) levels, and
pursues various measures that can
monitor and minimise it.
As with most other companies, ATB
also wants to minimise operating costs
and to run the company cost-efficiently.
Sofrel to the rescue
Having laid out its objectives, ATB
approached French company Lacroix
Sofrel through its Indonesian distributor,
PT Protech Automation Solution (PT
PAS), for a comprehensive solution.
Lacroix Sofrel (pronounced lah-cros
so-fri-el) is a French company that
designs and manufactures telemetry
and SCADA products for technical
installations. In Indonesia, the company
has its products distributed by PT PAS,
a provider of control, telemetry and
automation solutions.
For the purpose of this project and to
meet its objectives, ATB adopted Lacroix
Sofrel’s telemetry and district metering
area (DMA) systems.
March April 2017
34
FROM THE GROUND
Benny Andrianto,
President Director of ATB
Specifically, the water management
company installed Lacroix Sofrel’s
LS range of data loggers, and the AS
range of remote terminal units (RTUs).
More than 150 of these products were
installed at different strategic points
along the water network.
“ We i nt ro d u c e d a p re s s u re
management system where we employ
various devices in the field to enable
better leakage monitoring and control,”
explained Mr Andrianto.
“Pressure management is a
programme for optimising supply and
reducing NRW along the water network,
and this is greatly facilitated by data
loggers,” he continued.
The tech
The data monitored by these installations
is permanently controlled and saved by
the data loggers and RTUs so it can
be transmitted periodically via GPRS
communication to Lacroix Sofrel’s
PCWin central SCADA software. Lacroix
Sofrel’s SG 1000 front-end ensures that
the communication and the dynamic IP
addresses are securely managed.
“As they operate via the Internet and
are accessible on Android devices, data
loggers make it easy for us to monitor
flow and pressure remotely in real time.
We can hence implement appropriate
actions immediately when we spot a
problem along the network in different
service areas,” said Mr Andrianto.
“In addition to the data loggers,
RTUs are a great help in ensuring that
our water network transfers municipal
water among reservoirs effectively,” he
added. “The RTUs from Lacroix Sofrel
assist the automation system in the
interaction process between flows in
the field and the use of pumps on site.
“a nWith no rivers, wells
d s p r i n g s , B at a m
depends solely on
rainfall collected in dams
for water. ”
Hence, they also help us to save energy
on pumping, and control reservoir levels
to prevent overflow.”
Achievements
Mr Andrianto said he is happy that
his objectives have been met since
adopting solutions from Lacroix Sofrel,
which he mentioned have also played
an important role in helping ATB to
achieve its goals of reducing NRW
levels. In fact, ATB has been touted as
Water & Wastewater Asia
 35
FROM THE GROUND

a model in Indonesia for its exemplary the advancement of municipal

performance in reducing NRW levels water companies in Indonesia.
– Batam’s NRW level was recorded at “We expect that we will
approximately 13% in July last year! continue to require support
In 2009 and 2013, ATB was from Lacroix Sofrel and PT PAS
recognised as the Best Water Company in the process of implementing
at the quadrennial PERPAMSI Award. the SCADA system, because
And at the 2015 PREPAMSI Award, the it requires support from field
company went on to deliver Batam City infrastructure that involves
in achieving the Best Water Service the installation of data loggers
& Sanitation and Learning Center for and RTUs,” said Mr Andrianto,
the PDAM category City Over 100,000 acknowledging the importance
PDAM Customers Area I Sumatera. of telemetry solutions for a
This is part of ATB’s efforts to achieve Sofrel AS 30 successful smart water
ambitions of becoming a benchmark for management system.

“ ...his objectives have been

met since adopting solutions
from Lacroix Sofrel, which he
mentioned have also played an
important role in helping ATB
to achieve its goals of reducing
NRW levels. ”
“We have been grateful for the
support, training and transfer of
technology required for colleagues in
the field to help them perform their
duties well. We are also impressed
with the ease of getting spare parts
and the technology needed for our
integration process, and we know that
the implementation of our smart water
management and SCADA systems
will run smoothly with the continued
Sofrel LS 42 +data support of Lacroix Sofrel and PT PAS,”
he added. WWA

Results: a quick glance

With solutions from Lacroix Sofrel, ATB managed to achieve the • GSM/GPRS modem integrated
following results:
• Better customer service Robustness
• Reduction in NRW levels • IP 68 rated waterproof;
• Optimised water resource • High electromagnetic protection;
• Energy savings • Highly secure communication
• Reduction in operating costs
Ease of installation and operation
ATB also noted the following benefits of its installations from • Local Bluetooth interface;
Lacroix Sofrel: • Access to SIM card and battery
• Web data interface
Reliability
• Battery life up to 10 years;

Water & Wastewater Asia March April 2017