EMAC Instruments
Base Platform
Water Quality:
TSS & Turbidity
Ultrasonic Flow Sensors
Pressure Transducers
Piezoresistive Pressure Transmitters
Dashboard & Alarms
CHALLENGE
Construction dewatering for a new condominium project in the City of Toronto was discharging into the city storm sewer under a strict discharge agreement. Water quality testing showed concentrations of TSS, Manganese and Zinc above the discharge criteria.
Site conditions and the geochemistry made managing the concentrations of Manganese and Zinc in the groundwater very difficult and challenging to maintain consistent treatment results.
EMAC’s client needed to understand how the geochemical and flow conditions were changing as water was pumped through the individual components of their treatment equipment to operate their treatment system as efficiently as possible.
The client’s treatment equipment included a weir tank and multiple filter bag units and multi-media vessels. In order to maintain a functional treatment system, the client needed to replace filter bag media regularly prior to getting clogged to avoid both system blockage resulting in overflowing the tank as well as contaminant break through.
SOLUTION
EMAC designed and installed a real-time monitoring network of 2 flow meters, 9 piezoresistive pressure transmitters, 3 pressure transducers and 2 water quality sensors allowing the client to understand the performance of individual components and the overall treatment system.
EMAC also built in communications, so the client could monitor the performance of the system remotely in real-time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Collaborating with the client’s engineering team, EMAC developed a custom remote monitoring dashboard with alarms and automatic call-out protocols allowing the client to monitor and operate the system remotely.
Alarms were set for multiple water quality and tank levels as well as pressure differentials across treatment vessels so the system operators would be notified before system maintenance, treatment media or filters were needed.
RESULT
Using EMAC’s data, our client was able to make process control adjustments and optimize operating efficiency. This saved money by reducing consumables (chemicals, treatment media and filter bags) and avoided system upsets and unplanned releases.