Telemetry Reliability Upgrade

Hazen's work for the City of Boca Raton improved the reliability, functionality, security, and performance of their water and wastewater telemetry systems, to include 288 remote sites. The project also minimized data transmission and improved operator ease by streamlining reporting and messaging.

The City of Boca Raton, FL needed a replacement for the obsolete remote telemetry units (RTU) and radios that control its wastewater collection and raw water transmission/potable water distribution systems.

Hazen completed a preliminary design report evaluating the City’s existing systems, reviewed the status of current system technology, and recommended upgrades to enhance the reliability and performance of the City’s systems. After a detailed evaluation of the studied options, the City determined that utilizing cellular services with redundant 928/952 MHz licensed radios links at select sites was the best option to move forward. This approach allowed the City to remove radio masts and antennas at most remote sites and replace them with low profile cellular antennas.

This project will improve the reliability and functionality of the City’s water and wastewater telemetry systems through the replacement and upgrade of core system hardware and software components. Key improvements associated with this project include the replacement of RTUs with newer technology, installation of cellular communications equipment, and installation of new 928/952 MHz radios and antennas for redundant communication at select sites. Additionally, the existing system software will be replaced with the more secure and feature-rich DNP3 Ethernet communications protocol. This protocol allows the RTUs to log all events locally and transmit them to the SCADA servers periodically. In addition, it minimizes data transmissions using report-by-exception and unsolicited messaging techniques.

Evan Curtis is Hazen's Control and Information Systems Group Leader, and expert in SCADA system design and PCL and HMI programming.

Project Outcomes and Benefits

Redundant backup communication methods installed at select strategic sites critical to the system's overall operation.
Improved reliability and functionality of the City’s water and wastewater telemetry systems through the replacement and upgrade of core system hardware and software components.
Implementation of more secure and feature-rich DNP3 Ethernet communications protocol.