Potential and limitations of modern equipment for real time control of urban wastewater systems

Abstract

Real Time Control (RTC) has become an accepted technique for improving the performance of Urban Drainage Systems (UDS) due to its flexibility and sustainability. Numerous implementations of RTC have been reported during the last decades. At the same time, guideline documents and state-of-the-art reports have been published. Whereas the general aspects and challenges of planning and installation of RTC systems are well covered, there is a lack of information about the adequate equipment for RTC of UDS. After identifying and briefly discussing the basic components of RTC systems for UDS, this paper describes the specific components in detail. This comprises the introduction of available technologies for sensors, actuators, controllers and telemetry systems in the context of RTC and the discussion of their potential and limitations. Lessons learned from the field operational experiences and future trends and challenges are identified.

Keywords:

• control
• fault detection
• instrumentation
• RTC
• SCADA
• storm water management
• telemetry
• wastewater systems

Acknowledgements

Peter Vanrolleghem holds the Canada Research Chair on Water Quality Modelling. Part of the work by Peter Vanrolleghem was funded through an Otto Mønsted guest professorship at the Technical University of Denmark.