Tablet computer new tool to ensure Huntingburg water quality

Bill Arvin, the Water Treatment Specialist at the Huntingburg Water Treatment Plant, demonstrates how he can check the water levels at the city water towers through the tablet. He is looking at the water level at the east water tank. The tablet also provides constant readings about the water quality leaving the plant with the swipe of a finger.

The functionality of tablet computers in the workplace has been somewhat limited to administrative tasks, but the Huntingburg Water Utility saw a way to put the devices into a more utilitarian role at the city’s water treatment plant.

A new Fujitsu 10-inch tablet has been loaded with the operating software for the treatment plant. This is part of several technological updates being done to ensure the best quality of water is being produced at the plant.

These updates have led to the recent joke that, once completed, the water treatment plant could be operated from the bank of the nearby Huntingburg Lake.

The updates were sought out after Water Superintendent Todd Williams began to examine some issues with the operation of the plant. One being that the computer running the SCADA water treatment plant operating system is located in the office on the second floor of the plant, while all the equipment and pumps are located on the first floor.

“The guys perform walkthroughs of the plant every 15 or 30 minutes depending on what they are checking,” Williams explained. “If they are down there and they realize they need to run backwash, they have to come all the way back up here to turn it on.”

The SCADA also monitors the water from stem to stern as it travels through the plant and into the water towers in town. It displays and controls the chemicals being used to clean the water and even displays the turbidity of the water as it leaves the plant. “If he’s down there working on something and then realizes he needs to check how the plant is operating,” Williams said. “He has to run all the way back up here to check the computer again.”

Arvin uses the tablet to monitor and operate the plant while on his rounds through the water plant.

To continue to monitor the water quality, Williams worked with Eck-Mundy and Associates of Jasper to install the SCADA system on a 10-inch Fujitsu tablet running Windows 7. The tablet mirrors the computer in the second floor office. It allows the operators to control and monitor every aspect of the city’s water supply while walking around the plant.

“Say I have to clean the sludge the basin and while I am back there I may need to look at what the treatment plant is doing,” Water Treatment Specialist Bill Arvin explained. “and maybe I need to flush some water in the sludge basin to stir it up. I can do that all from this tablet.”

According to Williams, there were times when the plant operators are doing their checks and can’t monitor the water quality. “They are doing their jobs,” Williams explained, “but in regards to water quality, we came into it with a new or fresh set of eyes and came up with this idea to ensure the water quality.”

Williams had considered adding another computer station to the first floor area, but it was going to be costly to add the system. “Me and him (Williams) and the chief operator (Greg Miller) worked together to come up with different ideas to fix the problem,” Arvin explained.

The addition of the tablet and the installation of the extended WiFi network in the plant were handled by Eck-Mundy and Associates for under $1,500.

According to Joe Cozza, the sales associate who worked with the Water Utility to come up with the solution, the success of the installation of the software on the tablet and the additional functionality it has created could open up some new markets for Eck-Mundy and Associates.

“I don’t know of any water utility that has this system,” Williams explained. “They have the SCADA system but I don’t know of any that are using a tablet to run their plant.”

Williams, who is the current president of the American Water Works Association, said he plans on letting the other association members know about Huntingburg’s update.

The Water Utility has five full time employees licensed to operate the plant including Williams. They work two shifts a day to operate the plant unless a third shift is necessary to increase the plant’s output. The water treatment plant makes about 800,000 gallons of water and purchases about 400,000 gallons from Patoka Regional Water and Sewer District daily for the city.

The operators are waiting for a protective case to be delivered so they can start to use the tablet to its full potential.

“To give them a tool like this is really important and it’s great to see them as happy as they are with this new tool,” Williams said. “It’s important to remember who is drinking our water. I always tell them that somewhere there is a momma making formula right now for a baby that was born last week or maybe there’s that old man that you really respect. That’s who we are making water for.”