The computer technology employed in the new water plant is truly amazing to see. Since I came from an era when IBM was just getting started in the computer business and Billy Gates was a young high school nerd I was very impressed with what BWD is doing.
The whole system is run on PLCs - that's Programmable Logic Computers. To the layman the PLCs just look like a metal cabinet lined up against a wall. However, the program written to run the water system instructs and monitors the operation through the PLCs. That program also records various data to keep the operators informed. For instance when we were out there it was brought up the water level in the reservoir was a little low. Plant Supervisor Todd Brown punched up the records for the night before and discovered no water was pumped up to the reservoir in that time frame. With the reservoir capacity and the demand for treated water it is not necessary to pump raw water everyday. That's a cost saving measure in the program.
From the office of the Treatment Plant they can monitor the whole system on a desk top computer. The first picture is what the computer screen looks like for the whole system. From that screen they can pull up specific information such as the water level in the holding tanks as shown in the second picture. At just a glance they can see the amount of water in each tank.
The computer system also monitors water usuage and can alert BWD personnel if there is an unusual amount of water being use. It's an early warning system of leaks. The computer tells them this part or that part of the system is using more water than usual. Then the grunt part goes into action to physically go out and locate the cause.
The mixing and filtering part of the operation can all be controlled with a touch screen monitor actually located out in the plant. At a touch they can switch from one filtering bed to another if the situation calls for it. That's the screen in the third picture shown above. They can also check the history of what has been going on. To save wear & tear on the system they don't operate at full capacity and normally switch from one side to the other.
The last picture is the back-up generator for the treatment plant. It's enormous, about the size of, or bigger than a big UPS delivery truck. Maybe a little bigger... If the power goes out we'll still have water. That big sucker kicks in automatically if AEP is knocked out of business for some reason.
From the river to your faucet that's the story of how we get our water. BWD was created back in the days when the EPA threatened to shut Wellsville's water off because of antiquated systems. Updating with a new plant was cost prohibitive for this small river village. Al DeAngelis was quoted in the Mourning Journal as saying "we're the new kids on the block" for this type of water district. It's a model plant built to comply with ever tightening regulations in the industry and with an eye to the future. It is a sight to see.
As Jo Bob mentioned in her feature a few weeks ago there is going to be an open house so everyone can get a chance to see this "baby". As soon as we hear when we'll pass it on.
Once again I want to thank the BWD folks for their kindness and time to allow me a chance to see it all.
ole nib
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