The Challenge
Centered in a rapidly urbanized Tennessee watershed, this award winning municipal wastewater plant had a mission of continuous improvement for their customers and environment. With flows leading into the Tennessee river, managing all facets of water quality is crucial to maintaining the local ecosystem.
Erratic storms and unexpected wet weather in the region led to excessive inflows, causing the plant to endure repeated overflows and violations. The original plant, built in 1963, underwent a renovation and expansion in 2006 to prevent further sewer overflows. Following the plant’s renovation, the number of overflows dramatically decreased, but weather patterns worsened.
The utility initiated several programs to alleviate chronic sanitary sewer overflows and improve water quality in the creek downstream. Yet, operating a system of 22,000 customers, covering over 100 square miles in a region of unpredictable weather remained a constant challenge.
The rate of influent flow impacts many aspects of managing and treating wastewater. Energy consumption is a critical parameter for the operators. If they don’t have the right information, the energy consumption will spike.
The Solution
- Plutoshift monitored the key metrics of the plant in combination with wet weather patterns. Leveraging the existing SCADA system, Plutoshift built a model to forecast influent flow based on weather patterns and previous plant behavior. Requiring no installation or integration, the team was able to access actionable insights into their operation immediately upon deployment.
- Delivered directly to operators through a web-based dashboard, the Plutoshift platform provided operators with information they needed to prepare for the work ahead of them. Plutoshift was able to forecast influent flow by leveraging plant data as well as weather data, predict operational metrics for aeration blowers, predict pump data patterns, and analyze related processes. Plant managers and operators could view the unified performance metrics and set a preferred risk level of notification to manage various anomalies.
Results
The Plutoshift platform provided a new operational perspective by automating internal functions and changing the way work gets done at the plant. Instead of reacting to events, the operations team could now plan to address the challenges.
Maintain treatment process stability
Avoid overflow violations
Improved operator work scheduling
