A spokesperson explains that the utility installs around 20 of these kiosks every year to pump water to, and sewage away from, roads on new housing estates adopted by local authorities.
He says Welsh Water wanted a standard package that would be simpler than its existing system – which comprised Form 4 motor control centres (MCCs) with large panels, their own PLCs and HMIs (human-machine interface).
They were costly; needed to be customised for each scheme; and had to be sourced from three specialised manufacturers.
ABB worked on the project with its system integrator APDS, and Welsh Water accepted the recommended water industry-specific ABB drive (ACQ810, which has pressure and flow parameters under software control) for each kiosk's pumps, specified for operation up to up to 22 kW and running in duty/standby mode.
The new kiosks, which are housed in IP54 enclosures. come complete with generator changeover panels – with an external generator brought to site for emergencies only.
The new drives now offer customised control panel displays with error messages familiar to the company's plant engineers.
They also provide data over their Modbus links diret to the Welsh Water's telemetry system.