Schneider Electric showcases water-sector solutions at OzWater

Today’s water professionals need to manage, measure and control energy across multiple activities to achieve maximum performance. At the OzWater conference and exhibition in Perth this week, Schneider Electric is demonstrating customised solutions designed to help Australian water and utility organisations better manage their operating and energy costs.

Damien McDade, National Segment Manager, Water, Wastewater at Schneider Electric, said: “We understand the challenges our customers in the water sector are facing. As energy costs continue to increase, water utilities need to adopt more effective ways to optimise costs and minimise consumption. Organisations have a commercial incentive to save energy through efficient installations, optimised processes, monitoring and rigorous maintenance programs. Schneider Electric’s specialist approach to the water segment has allowed us to develop innovative, micro-segmented solutions to help maximise process efficiencies, reduce consumption and produce significant savings.

“Energy management represents 5% of investment in water infrastructure but makes up 30% or more of the operating cost for most water utilities. In addition, water networks and treatment plants have an extensive life cycle, during which 70% of the carbon footprint will result from the energy consumed during operations,” McDade said.

At OzWater, Schneider Electric is demonstrating EcoStruxure solutions that seamlessly integrate the five key domains of power, process, IT room, building and security management. EcoStruxure’s integrated architectures makes water and wastewater management efficient, productive, safe and green, and can optimise the entire water cycle from to field to enterprise, resulting in up to 30% savings in operating and design costs.

EcoStruxure architecture also incorporates StruxureWare software applications and suites, collaboratively unifying the above five domains so that users can see, measure and manage efficiency across entire facilities, at the enterprise, operations and control levels.

The solutions on display at OzWater in Perth, from 7-9 May, include:

• Aquis - the hydraulic modelling tool delivering operational and energy savings within a water distribution network. By using live SCADA data, Aquis is transformed from a planning tool to a decision-making tool integrated in day-to-day operations - with real-time, ‘what if’ simulations and economic advantages.
• Altivar 1200 - a medium-voltage drive providing high-power motor control solutions that can significantly reduce energy consumption in water and wastewater applications.
• DNP Secure - the latest telemetry methodologies and protocols providing best-in-class telemetry systems.