Schneider Electric Romania announces that it is carrying out a project to automate the Roșu drinking water treatment plant owned by Apa Nova București (part of the Veolia group) as part of a vast programme to modernise and automate the electrical installations of the pumping and water treatment plants. In a press release, Schneider Electric says that the programmable logic controllers installed two decades ago are still operating normally, but a new, redundant system is now being created to ensure the continuity of drinking water supply and to allow the pumping and treatment stations to operate normally for decades to come. This system capitalises on state-of-the-art technologies, including cyber-attack protection solutions that are built directly into the system, according to customer specifications.
Schneider Electric Romania’s collaboration with the capital’s water and sewerage service provider started back in 1997, with a first project to modernise the main pumping stations in Bucharest. However, the modernisation did not include the automatic operation of the pumping stations, a necessary step to ensure the continuity of drinking water supply for a city as large as Bucharest.
“After the concession of Bucharest’s water and sewerage services, Schneider Electric Romania’s partnership with Apa Nova Bucharest was extended, for the automation of pumping stations and water treatment plants and their integration with Apa Nova’s dispatching, between 2003-2005, in a centralised monitoring and management system,” explains Mihnea Tihan, Projects Execution Manager Schneider Electric Romania, who has been overseeing the smooth running of projects for Apa Nova for 20 years.
A key challenge in partnering with a major utility such as Apa Nova București is the ability to carry out replacement, modernisation or maintenance works without interrupting the supply of drinking water to end consumers.
“For such projects, […] the interruption of the drinking water supply [should] be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes, preferably during the hours of minimum use, i.e. usually at night,” explains Mihnea Tihan. “Automation to the greatest extent possible is extremely important to detect and prevent potential incidents before they occur. So is ongoing maintenance. In both directions we have worked very well with our customer Apa Nova București and we are glad that this collaboration continues 20 years later with a new phase.”
Two decades ago, the partnership with Apa Nova was Schneider Electric Romania’s most extensive co-operation. Today, this collaboration remains of particular importance and the water supplier for the inhabitants of Bucharest is considered a strategic partner. This is due not only to the size and duration of the collaboration, but also to the critical importance of the services it provides to the Bucharest community.
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