Community Services engineering and Public Works maintenance staff operate a multitude of pumping stations to provide service within the sanitary sewer, storm drain, and effluent utilities. These pumping stations generally operate autonomously, with little human intervention required during day-to-day operations. However, when a stoppage or motor failure does occur, it is important that the problem be rectified promptly to ensure an overflow or interruption of service does not occur.

Currently, our sanitary sewer and storm drain lift stations are equipped with indicator lights at each site to serve as an alert if a problem occurs. While this is an easy to observe visual warning, it requires either an alert, concerned citizen to report the flashing light or a “drive-by” inspection by maintenance staff. In order to improve customer service and reduce time spent driving by each station on a daily basis, staff has determined that upgrading the various pump stations with remote telemetry and implementation of a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) monitoring system is the best course of action.

In order to determine an appropriate project scope, Axion Engineering was contracted to prepare preliminary project data and City requirements. Based on the data obtained, three (3) firms providing SCADA design services were contacted and asked to prepare a scope of services. Of the firms contacted, it was determined that George T. Hall was best suited to provide the engineering, programming, hardware, and software needs this project will require. A scope of services with George T. Hall has been negotiated to provide engineering for the eighteen (18) sites identified, implement software update, installation, and programming, and provide radio and telemetry for an initial five (5) sites. Installation and construction at each site will be under separate contract with a properly licensed contractor selected under typical City purchasing requirements. Once the five (5) initial sites are operational, additional sites can be added at an anticipated cost of $9,300.

The services requested are commonly provided by George T. Hall Company. Implementation of a SCADA monitoring system will allow staff to observe pumping facilities within the Sparks’ utility system and react to problems in an expedient, efficient manner.