Chicago waste water project awards control platform contract to Emerson

Ovation control system deployment included in phase two and three of multi-year upgrade project.

By Peter Welander August 3, 2009

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC) has awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to install its Ovation control system to monitor and control remote pumping stations from a central location.

The award covers the second and third phases of a four-phase, multi-year project to modernize the automation and controls at the MWRDGC Stickney Water Reclamation Plant (WRP), Mainstream Pumping Station, and associated remote pumping stations and reservoirs that are part of the wastewater collection system. Hardware, software, programming, factory testing, training, on-site startup, and testing, as well as extended maintenance and service are all included in the contract.

The Stickney WRP is the largest secondary treatment wastewater facility in the world, with a capacity to process 1.44 billion gpd. The facility serves 2.4 million people in a 260 square-mile area including downtown Chicago and 43 suburban communities. The Mainstream Pumping Station, the largest underground sewage pumping station in the world, lifts sewage from a deep tunnel system approximately 300 feet below grade to the Stickney WRP.

Emerson says the Ovation solution will collect and integrate information about surrounding pumping stations and storm water retention reservoirs. This will provide WRP operators at a central location with vital information about influent and other variables from these remote facilities. In all, the Ovation systems will monitor and control approximately 24,000 I/O points.

The first phase of the comprehensive project called for Emerson’s Ovation solution to monitor and control a number of processes at the Stickney WRP, including the Southwest Pumping Station. This first phase, which began in August 2006, is expected to be completed in the fall of 2009. The most recent contract, for phases two and three, is scheduled for completion in May 2011.

Prior to this multi-phase project, Emerson says it worked with the MWRDGC on a number of other projects including the Lockport sluice gate and hydro turbine controls with remote monitoring at the MWRDGC Waterways Control Room, and control systems for the Hanover, Kirie, and Egan WRPs.

"Whether replacing aging infrastructure or taking steps to manage additional capacity requirements, our comprehensive automation and control solution has helped municipalities of all sizes achieve operational, environmental and economic benefits," said Bob Yeager, president of the Power & Water Solutions division of Emerson. "Based on our significant experience, integrating information about critical processes throughout the District, then enabling operators to access that information from a central location, will translate into enhanced operational efficiency and flexibility for MWRDGC, as well."

-Edited by Peter Welander, process industries editor, PWelander@cfemedia.com
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