Spokane Water Department
The Spokane Water Department grows with a new AVEVA SCADA solution while also enjoying ease of use, improved data collection and evaluation and scalability for the future.
Goals
- Transition from a limited-capacity system to a new, more scalable water management solution
- The new solution needed to enable operators to make changes and additions without outside technical assistance
Challenges
- The former SCADA system was limited to 48 sites and was not adaptable to Spokane’s growing needs
- Obsolete telemetry caused slow communications between the central control site and remote stations
Results
- The Upriver Dam generates over 70 million kilowatts of electricity annually, which is enough to power the water plant, contributing to the department’s sustainability efforts
- Lost water rates, measuring water wasted due to leaks, inaccurate metering or slow repairs are at 6%, among the lowest in the nation
- The AVEVA system enables remote monitoring and control which has cut the frequency of travel to stations by about two-thirds while saving on vehicle and fuel costs
- The redundant SCADA system guarantees 24/7 uninterrupted operations for the City of Spokane
- The solution’s scalable architecture and object-based implementation empower in-house staff to deploy applications and perform changes without outside help
“The real value to us is that we have continuous monitoring and can identify problems more quickly. You have confidence that what the system is telling you is correct.”
– Mark Cleveland,
Operations Supervisor
