T3 SCADA Modernization Project
City of Fresno
Client Background
The City of Fresno operates an extensive drinking water system that serves approximately 142,000 customers over 114 square miles. The system includes facilities for treating ground and surface water and utilizes a unique pressure maintenance setup that relies on pumping zones instead of elevated reservoirs. This comprehensive system caters to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, ensuring a dependable and crucial water supply for the city.
Project Background
The project’s main focus was to address significant challenges within the City of Fresno’s existing SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system for the 4-million-gallon T3 surface water treatment facility. The system consisted of four separate and non-standardized systems, resulting in a cumbersome and challenging operator experience. Operators needed help managing data, maintaining workflows, and providing training due to the fragmented nature of the system. Additionally, the operational technology (OT) hardware had become outdated and reached its end-of-life stage, no longer under support. This came with several problems for the City, including sourcing replacement parts, increased costs, and a need for new features, improved stability, and enhanced performance.
EA Solutions
Enterprise Automation (EA) took a comprehensive approach to modernizing and upgrading the City of Fresno’s SCADA system, focusing on efficiency, standardization, and future scalability. EA consolidated the four separate, unstandardized AVEVA Plant SCADA (formerly Citect SCADA) applications into a single, unified application: this streamlined operations and simplified user interfaces for operators. The upgrade also involved modernizing several plant PLCs to the latest version of EcoStruxure Control Expert (formerly Unity). This ensured compatibility with modern systems, improved stability, and incorporated new features. Additionally, EA converted the T3 Vijeo Historian to AVEVA Wonderware Historian, which enhanced data storage, retrieval, and analysis capabilities.
To enhance operational efficiency, EA implemented TopView alarm callout software. This software allowed for real-time monitoring and notification of critical system events. With these added alarm notifications and subsequent faster response times to potential issues, operators could address problems promptly. Moreover, a remote workstation was established at the City’s SE Surface Water Treatment Facility, giving operators the ability to centrally manage the SCADA system.
EA’s efforts in modernizing and upgrading the City of Fresno’s SCADA system have significantly improved efficiency and standardization. By consolidating the separate SCADA systems into one, the consistency allowed operators to more easily run operations, only having to navigate one system. The upgrade of plant PLCs ensured compatibility with modern systems and improved stability. The conversion to Wonderware Historian enhanced data storage and analysis capabilities. The implementation of TopView alarm notification software provided real-time monitoring and faster response times to critical events. Overall, these enhancements have greatly improved operations with the T3 SCADA system for the City of Fresno.
Throughout the project, EA strongly emphasized mitigating risks by submitting design and test documentation for review by the City of Fresno. EA was also actively involved in the operations, maintenance, and management teams to gather valuable user input. The team minimized the need for field rework by conducting comprehensive testing before deployment, ensuring a seamless transition to the upgraded system.
EA’s successful consolidation and modernization of the City’s SCADA system and the implementation of improved Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and alarm reporting software played a significant role in creating a more robust and reliable water management system. This project’s unwavering focus on quality, reliability, and adherence to the city’s SCADA asset standards has positioned the system for sustainable performance and future scalability.
Key Technology
- AVEVA PlantSCADA (formerly Citect SCADA)
- TopView Alarm software
- EcoStruxure Control Expert (formerly Unity)
- AVEVA Wonderware Historian