The Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) recently completed development of a state-of-the-
art Facility Automation and Information Management (FAIM) system, which integrates real-
time Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) with control and information
management systems, interconnecting the entire water system. The FAIM system, which
recently won the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers Grand Award for Engineering
Excellence, allows a single operator to monitor and control water production for the entire
system. The system wide automation and control provided by FAIM afforded OUC the
opportunity to investigate and implement real time distribution pump and treatment
scheduling by linking the FAIM SCADA to a hydraulic optimizing model running in near real
time.
OUC desired to investigate real time decision support tools to allow operators to select the
most economical combination of equipment, amongst OUC's water treatment and
distribution facilities, to meet system pressure and flow demand requirements at any given
point in time. It was desired that the decision support tool should account for the cost to
operate equipment and the cost of power, which, at some facilities may vary now, or in the
future, depending upon peak demand or penalty charges.
OUC's FAIM consultant, CH2M HILL, assisted OUC in evaluating approaches for providing
ongoing energy optimization of OUC's water system operations with considerations for
maintaining reliability and quality of service, forecasting treatment and pumping costs, and
providing tools to assist operators in selecting cost effective treatment and high service
pumping strategies. Based upon the results of the study, detailed criteria for an energy
optimization system were established.
After reviewing various options including Artificial Neural Networks, Rule Based
Optimization, Genetic Algorithm Optimization and Adaptive Demand Predictive Systems,
OUC determined that enhancing their existing water distribution hydraulic model with a
pump scheduling module that could be dynamically linked to the SCADA system provided
an economical and effective means to assisting operators in determining the most effective
operating scenarios under a variety of conditions (wet weather, dry weather, unusual
demand, line breaks, etc.)
This paper describes OUC's experience in evaluating and implementing real time
modeling for water distribution system optimization including planning and evaluation, pilot
testing and implementation. Includes tables, figures.