The Importance of Monitoring Wastewater Collection Systems

In the United States, we take our running water for granted, knowing that every time we turn on our faucets, we will find plenty of fresh water that magically disappears down the drain, never to be seen again. Although this process seems seamless and simple to the average homeowner, it actually requires quite a bit of thought and work to maintain this surprisingly intricate system.

What Is a Wastewater Collection System?

Wastewater collection systems maintain the intricate balance between dirty, used water and the clean, drinkable water available in almost every home and business today. This system collects water from homes and transports it to a centralized wastewater treatment facility where the water is cleaned and recycled.

What is a waste collection system, and how does it work? The water you use has to go through an intricate system before it ever reaches a water treatment facility. Once it disappears down the drain, it passes through a P-trap to ensure that unwanted odors do not float back into your home. 

Next, it flows into the private sewer lateral line for the home or business before it is connected to the main sewer line, which is often owned by the municipality. These sewer lines have many connecting pieces, which gradually become larger the closer they get to the water treatment facility. Some of the water flows to the treatment facility via gravity while other water requires a series of special lift stations to pump the water uphill.

How Do Wastewater Collection Systems Work?

The primary purpose of the wastewater collection system is to transport used water to treatment facilities where the water is recycled or cleansed for household use. Initially, the system removes solid waste from the water and uses safe bacteria to eliminate some organic material. The water is then reclaimed for future uses.

Many wastewater collection facilities are significantly underfunded these days and often do not have the modern resources that they need at their disposal. For this reason, many facilities continue to operate just as they have for decades with managers and technicians using antiquated monitoring techniques to ensure safety. However, these older methods are far from efficient and are not nearly as safe as modern SCADA systems are.

How Can SCADA Monitoring Help with Wastewater Collection?

SCADA, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, can help the wastewater monitoring process in many ways. Cloud-based systems provide close monitoring even when technicians are not nearby. Wastewater treatment managers can easily access important records wherever and whenever they need them.

These SCADA systems are quite intricate and include central processing units, remote terminal units in several key locations, video monitors, field sensors, and all of the software necessary to back up the system. In addition, modern SCADA systems also include cloud-based applications for ease of use and efficiency.

SCADA monitoring provides a network of information throughout the wastewater treatment plant. All important areas are continually monitored, allowing technicians to find out immediately when the system is not working appropriately. Thanks to the incredible security of these systems, the wastewater treatment plant becomes less vulnerable than it once was.

The Many Benefits of Wastewater Monitoring with SCADA

SCADA systems are incredibly helpful in the wastewater management sector. They provide many unique benefits, including the following:

• Money savings because you do not have to pay technicians to travel throughout your system to check on problems
• Time savings because you can access data anywhere you have an Internet connection
• Improved security with encryption, user authentication and immediate notification of security breaches
• Real-time notification of problems for immediate resolution
• Constant monitoring of chemical levels to ensure water safety for your customers along with decreased chemical runoff

Comprehensive and Affordable Wastewater Monitoring Solutions

While SCADA monitoring has existed in some format for quite some time, it was not until recently that cloud-based options came onto the scene. Thanks to cloud-based technology, information that once was available only at one terminal or central processing unit can now be accessed anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. 

With this powerful monitoring technology from High Tide Technologies, you can be alerted to problems instantly and can manage many aspects of your SCADA system anywhere, letting you come up with solutions as soon as problems arise and saving your facility money and time as well.

If you are ready to improve the efficiency of your wastewater monitoring system, find out how High Tide Technologies can help you today. We use cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art security features to give you complete control of your system along with total peace of mind. Our monitoring system offers comprehensive, efficient, and affordable solutions for municipalities of all sizes.