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Westermo technology enables cost-effective upgrade of water pumping station’s control system

05Jan

Westermo technology has enabled a cost-effective upgrade of the data communications network supporting new PLCs at the water pumping stations in Bedford Park, Illinois, USA. Westermo Wolverine Line Extenders have enabled the existing cabling to be reused for a new resilient Ethernet network, helping to reduce installation time and costs considerably.

The ageing PLCs that controlled equipment at three pumping stations were becoming obsolete, with maintenance requirements increasing and sourcing spare parts challenging. It was therefore decided that the PLCs would be replaced, along with the supporting data network, which was based on a proprietary protocol and did not offer the necessary reliability or functionality.

Concentric Integration, a company specialising in utility technology for governments and municipalities, was tasked with upgrading the system to increase its reliability and ensure it could be supported in the future. A new Ethernet network was required, but the cost of replacing existing cabling with fibre was not only very expensive, but also extremely time consuming.

Concentric Integration turned to Westermo for support and the company’s Wolverine range of Ethernet line extenders provided the ideal solution to this issue.

Read the full article in PBSI's January issue