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Issues around water and wastewater represent the greatest challenges the industry has ever faced. From supply risk to environmental change, not to mention ensuring infrastructure that’s fit for purpose, the sector has a responsibility to effectively plan today for the decades ahead.

When it comes to physical assets, a major concern is effective operating conditions. Monitoring and control systems that utilise the latest technology are a relatively new tool in the fight against water waste.

The following looks at a recent entry to the market that’s already proving its worth in many situations; Chesterton Connect™ – an easy-to-use data acquisition tool that allows simplified monitoring of pumps, sealing systems and other critical equipment.

Multiple challenges addressed with a step-by-step approach

It would be foolish to consider water industry challenges in isolation. Indeed, the most recent Australian Industry Standards Water Industry Key Findings (2018) states that “delivering a stable and reliable water supply into the future will require new technologies and systems that are capable of monitoring water resources in real time”.

With five key issues identified, it’s essential that every solution implemented links into the rest. These are as follows:

  1. The combination of replacing aging infrastructure and asset maintenance
  2. Cost management in the light of rising power prices
  3. Population growth and the improvement of water supply to remote areas
  4. Environmental and sustainability issues
  5. Aging workforce and skills shortage

The answer to effectively addressing each of these issues lies in technology. Embracing this and taking full advantage is what will allow the water and wastewater industries to evolve.

The knowledge of pump and seal effectiveness within assets provides the foundation for all solutions for these five critical aspects. After all, if you can’t identify operational issues and plan effective maintenance (challenge 1) then not only will a plant have to absorb unnecessary costs (challenge 2), but they’ll struggle to meet the growing demands of the population (challenge 3) and fail in their environmental and sustainability efforts (challenge 4).

Challenge 5 is slightly different, but the use of digital tech and the demand for specialist skills must be addressed by tempting talent into the industry and upskilling the existing workforce as we move forward.

The role of Chesterton Connect™ technology

Chesterton Connect™ is a unique product designed to simplify and provide definitive data capture to monitor the efficiency and process of pumps and sealing systems. Within the fields of water and wastewater, such information is hugely advantageous and allows providers to monitor:

  • Equipment vibration
  • Surface temperature
  • Process temperature
  • Process pressure

Chesterton Connect™ utilises Bluetooth technology and is a simple tool that withstands harsh environments. Data is controlled through a user-friendly app with the ability to export data for analysis. Combined with the in-unit LED display, users can effectively understand equipment operation and plan preventative maintenance to extend longevity. There’s also a safeguarding element that can immediately alert you to any failure in pressures and any resulting undesirable events.

Chesterton Connect™ can be used on a variety of assets, including:

  • Pumps
  • Mixers
  • Agitators
  • Various rotating and stationary equipment

Successful examples of the Chesterton Connect™ application include the monitoring of a potable water pumping station in Italy. Here, hundreds of centrifugal pumps provide the necessary flow of drinking water to the municipalities. One of these stations runs six double-ended multistage pumps, each of which are sealed with mechanical packing. The site is remote, without a cabled monitoring system or the benefit of technicians constantly in situ.

Fitting the Chesterton Connect™ with a Power-Up Cap allowed recording of the vibrations, accelerations and surface temperature data. Analysis of this data allowed easy access to trends and the knowledge that the equipment was running within its limits with some night time peaks.

A second example is a Swedish municipality running large split case centrifugal pumps to process potable water. The Chesterton Connect™ was fitted (along with retrofitting a Chesterton 442 split seal). This allowed the customer to actively monitor conditions in real time, providing the peace of mind that they would identify any significant changes indicative of developing faults. Also, the ability to schedule in wholly necessary maintenance (as opposed to estimated or unplanned) led to significant cost reductions.

Chesterton’s commitment to world-beating sealing solutions

The Chesterton Connect™ technology is just one example of the company’s innovative production of high-end sealing solutions. A global company with Australian local service, Chesterton provides factory-made and bespoke resources specifically created to provide technical excellence and ease of use to various industries.

This partner content was brought to you by Chesterton Customseal. For more information, visit www.chestertoncustomseal.com.au/partners-chesterton-products/chesterton-connect/

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