Water and waste utilities need to monitor sewer levels and flows. If there are equipment breakdowns within the sewer system, overflows may occur. There are large fines and other penalties levied on water and waste utilities when there is a sewer overflow and the cost of cleanups is substantial.
Sewer overflow conditions can be detected with simple level limit switches, which may be installed within the sewer pipe at different levels, to trip a level limit alarm. Sewer flows can also be measured with the Unidata Starflow Ultrasonic Doppler flow meter installed on the bottom of the sewer pipe.
The overflow application is relatively simple. There could be a set of mechanical limit switches installed inside the sewer pipe, perhaps 3 switches at low, medium and high positions within the pipe, usually mounted on an angle bracket which is then inserted into the sewer pipe.
Each limit switch is wired back to the Neon Metering Logger which is set up to detect when the limit level is exceeded. The Neon Metering Logger alarm is activated and this alarm condition is sent to the Neon server via cellular, LoRa or satellite networks. The Neon Server processes the alarm and sends emails and / or text messages to alert operators of that out of limit and potential overflow condition.
Water and Waste utilities often need more sophisticated alarm handling, with multiple levels of escalation, such that if the first alarm was not acknowledged and attended to by the first person, within a pre-determined time, further alarms are be sent to different escalation contacts, to make sure the potential overflow condition is being attended to.
The M series Neon Metering Loggers are powered by a single lithium battery, and can operate for more than two years on that one lithium battery, so they are simple to install without the need for any power infrastructure. The industrial 3016 & 3008 models require a sealed lead acid battery and a solar panel.
A Neon Remote Logger can be wired up to a 6527 QSD Unidata Starflow ultrasonic Doppler flow meter to measure the velocity and the depth, and then calculate the flow reading based on the size and the shape of the pipe, which can be rectangular, circular or ovoid. There may be a need to log routine levels and flows over a period, say over 24 hours, and then upload that routine data once per day at a predetermined time, e.g. at midnight to the Neon Server.
You should decide on an appropriate sensor reading interval, typically this would be to read the sensors every minute, and store the sensor data in memory every 5 minutes and send the sensor data to the Neon Server every few hours. To conserve battery life, equipment is set to sleep between sensor readings, however limit switch changes are detected immediately, even when the equipment is asleep. These limit switch changes trigger an immediate alarm transmission to the Neon Server and a text message can be sent to the relevant personnel to alert them of this alarm condition.
Another consideration is how to power the Neon Remote Logger. Unidata engineers should perform a power budget to decide the best power method, either solar panels and sealed lead acid battery system or lithium batteries. In regard to mounting, the Starflow instrument should be mounted inside the pipe using a pipe band or a mounting bracket. Care should be taken to make sure the installation is mechanically smooth, so any debris in the sewer flow is not caught on any sharp edges of the instrument, the mounting plate or the cable.
