Falkenbergs Vatten och Renhållning AB, FAVRAB, on the Swedish West Coast, has chosen Radius PDR to collect values and control their facilities. FAVRAB has chosen Radius radio communication system PDR for both their water and wastewater systems. They control their facilities, collect measured values and control the system by using radio communication.

In Falkenberg, there are two larger water plants. From a control panel in one of the two water plants, Kenth Karlsson, electrician at FAVRAB, can survey what happens in the system and also change different values. FAVRAB communicates with all the pump stations through cable or radio.

From the pump to the tap 
Pure ground water is pumped by 11 pumps from ground water pump stations within a radius of 6.2 miles. The level in the elevated tank in Falkenberg controls how many pumps should be operating. There is a level sensor that through cable reports the water level to the operational control center at the water plant. High contents of nitrate in one of the pump stations has lead to that the water has to pass a fi lter facility with a filter composed of membrane. The water is gathered in two low level tanks in the water plant. There, the pH value is measured and, if needed, adjusted in a chemical way with lye. The water then flows on to the consumers through a mains network that is several miles long.

Total control via the control panel
Through the control panel at the water plant, Karlsson can supervise and tune the system. He can see if the pumps are working, check the present flow and receive alarms, if for example a motor protection has redeemed. To be able to protect the pumps, it is important that the water level in the wells don’t get too low. There is a sensor where an alarm goes off if the level goes below five percent. Sometimes, someone is sent out to control an alarm, but most things are supervised from the control room. Karlsson is just a press of a button away from cutting or raising the engine speed of the pump. “It feels safer with the radio. There haven’t been any problems whatsoever. There are much  more problems with communication cables. When using long cables, overvoltage often occurs and sometimes a cable accidentally is cut off” Karlsson says, and at the same time he displays the current values of one of the pump stations. The radio system is polled and the values are continuously updated.