The automation systems for water supply processes are often scattered from different service providers. Someone supplies the automation, another the control room, and a third is responsible for the telecommunication connections. The entity, implemented by different suppliers, can be unnecessarily complicated for the end user, and in the event of a failure, you don’t really know who to contact. Making quick changes and troubleshooting slows down if the work requires the input of all different operators. If the cooperation between different actors does not go smoothly, it appears to the end users that “the system does not work” – perhaps making all parties look at fault at the same time. One fix or change results in invoices from many different directions, making it difficult to assess the customer’s total costs.
Mipro aims to tackle these challenges with the so-called “one-stop shop principle“, where the customer gets all the previously mentioned solutions under the same roof. In a problem situation, the customer always knows where to call – Mipro. The core of our solution is Mipro’s MISONET automation system: it has been developed to control and monitor large-scale water and energy supply processes. The system is based on commonly used software and hardware technology in the industry and carefully considered operating features. Their operational reliability and high performance meet the requirements of safe water supply and meet the ever-tightening environmental requirements. The extensive automation system, combined with the support service offered to the customer, guarantees the customer to have a comprehensive functionality of the system.
The all-inclusive solution for Laukaan Vesihuolto
The cooperation between Laukaan Vesihuolto Oy and Mipro has lasted almost a quarter of a century – since 1998. Laukaan Vesihuolto supplies domestic water to the water network of the Municipality of Laukaa, which has approximately 19,000 residents, and takes care of wastewater drainage. In total, about 135 clean and wastewater sites have been connected to the MISONET automation system delivered to Laukaa over the years.
The increase in cyber-attacks in water supply processes that have become more common in recent years has caused attention to also be focused on the cyber security of water supply; after all, water supply is part of society’s critical infrastructure, the safety of which is extremely important to each of us. In Laukaa, we have tried to offer the customer, not only as effortless and comprehensive a solution as possible, but make it safer and efficient. In Mipro’s “process network as a service” implementation, all the necessary telecommunications services were built for the customer for secure information management and monitoring of the water supply. The MISONET server implemented in the control room is duplicated, which guarantees uninterrupted and fail-safe use even in problem situations; in the event of a failure of the optical fiber interface installed in the control room, the connection is automatically switched to a backup connection. Security and usability are also increased by the possibility of remote access to the control room, which can be done easily and securely – both from laptops and mobile devices.
The implementation of the comprehensive control room project started in Laukaa in June 2021. In this case, the already existing clean water facilities were connected to the MISONET control room. The commissioning was done as quickly as possible, so that there would be no interruptions in the water supply, which would therefore be visible to the municipality’s residents. Starting in August, the wastewater pumping stations were connected to the control room as well, after which the control room had a comprehensive view of both the municipality’s clean and wastewater facilities. Years of cooperation does not end with the control room project, and the development of the water supply processes is continued with life-cycle works and other improvements that make the operations of Laukaan Vesilaitos even more reliable and efficient – without compromising on safety.
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Author
Olli Norola
System Specialist
Olli has been at Mipro for almost 12 years working with water and energy supply systems. His main areas of responsibility are designing safe control room solutions, control room programming, commissionings and customer trainings.
