Monitoring

As a leading dewatering subcontractor, monitoring is at the heart of everything

we do, whether it be for the control of a dewatering system, the
instrumentation of a high quality pumping test or for compliance with
Environment Agency abstraction licence and discharge consent conditions.

Our monitoring and control systems typically consist of:

 A central data logger or PLC unit with remote GPRS/GSM modem

connection
 Water level monitoring by transducers (wired or wireless)
 Flow meters, including electromagnetic, mechanical (with pulse output)
and ultrasonic types
 In-line water quality sensors, such as pH, electrical conductivity and
turbidity
 Pump function alarms and a remote or automated facility to switch-
on/off
 Solenoid valve controls for automated process control

More challenging and ambitious construction projects can require a greater

level of care in terms of control and monitoring to ensure that performance
criteria are met, water levels and flows are regulated, and abstraction,
discharge rates and quality is kept within permissible limits. One of the biggest
advancements in this area is the use of automated remote monitoring
systems, often referred to as SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition). In addition to allowing continuous reporting of the current status
of dewatering systems, certain plants and equipment can be controlled
remotely via SCADA; either automatically in response to input measurements
or manually by personnel located off-site. This may include ramping up and
down of pump speeds to maintain a certain drawdown level, opening and
closing of motorised valves to direct water to different wells during a
reinfiltration scheme, or activation of certain water treatment processes in
response to the changing water quality received at a treatment plant.
The SCADA Monitoring System in Action

Designing and operating a SCADA system requires specialist knowledge in

the wiring and programming of a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), an
appreciation of both the mechanical and electrical aspects of the plant, and in-
depth experience in the particular groundwater management processes
involved. In addition to requiring extensive specialised experience to design
and operate, SCADA systems face many other challenges, such as the
practicalities of collating data from a wide variety of different locations across
a wide site area, or even across multiple related sites. This can, however, be
overcome via use of wireless technology, or a network of individual telemetry
elements. An example of this can be seen in Hölscher Wasserbau’s high
technology groundwater management project for the Copehnagen Metro,
where a single data centre set up at the Denmark office can communicate,
control and review data for each of the more than 40 systems that are being
operated around the city.