AWWA CSC94043

In 1987, the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City completed a Master Plan of System Improvements that evaluated the implementation of a computerized instrumentation and control system. The District realized from the Master Plan that water regulations were changing and that new regulations would require improved performance from the District's treatment facilities. CH2M Hill was selected as the District's consultant in 1990 to help the District undertake replacement of its existing instrumentation and control system with a new state-of-the-art system. Manual functions could be automated to improve the plant's operational performance. Manual record-keeping would be replaced by computer-generated reports for District and other entities' uses. Manual backwashing of filters would be replaced with automatic backwashing to provide more uniformity and control over the backwashing of each filter. Chemical feed systems would be monitored and controlled by the computer with the goal of optimizing the addition of chemicals in the treatment process. Design and implementation criteria were presented in interactive workshops between the District and CH2M Hill. Once these criteria were accepted, the design matched specifications and plans to the established operating, technical, and budgetary criteria. The upgraded instrumentation and control system provides operational personnel with the ability to respond much more quickly to changing operational conditions. Implementation of the control system has resulted in achievement of the benefits foreseen when the project was first conceived. These include the ability to meet existing operational needs as well as the capability to respond to future requirements.