OSMART® Dashboard

Ever more sewage treatment plants are equipped with field devices to acquire data and make it available to remote monitoring, supervision and automation systems. Such systems have evolved over the years to allow users to operate remotely, thanks to several features such as data logging, graphing and reporting. However, this approach turns out to be limited: the interpretation of the considerable amount of data is actually very complex and, in most cases, it is not known whether the acquired measurements are consistent and representative of the effective operation of the plant.

OSMART® DASHBOARD is the Decision Support System (DSS) developed to take up the challenge of verifying the reliability of data and processing it in support of the decision-making process, providing services of crucial importance for the operation of sewage treatment plants, such as:

• assessment of the consistency and reliability of data acquired in the field, with analysis of their mutual interactions;
• clear and unambiguous interpretation of the time evolution of monitored parameters and provision of process indications as a result that are useful to plant operations;
• timely identification of anomalies sewage treatment efficiency and energy performance of the plant;
• identification of the underlying causes of said anomalies and suggestions of potential adoptable solutions;
• support in the decision-making process to evaluate the best investments.

Our strong experience in supporting sewage treatment plant operations and the in-depth technical training and knowledge of sewage treatment processes of our team has allowed ETC to create and develop key performance indicators (KPIs) that are specifically designed for an effective assessment of the functionality of biological treatment compartments.

The analysis of these indicators allows one to identify in a timely manner any situation that may lead to operational anomalies and, as a consequence, to exceeding discharge limits or to increased energy consumption. Thanks to the collaboration with prof.

Andrea Guerrini (founder of the WaMaTeRC group, president of ASA Livorno and member of the board at ARERA), DSS OSMAR® DASHBOARD also integrates DRIVERS in support of plant management to keep OpEx under control, prioritize the interventions necessary to make plants more efficient, and assess the effects of such interventions.

The approach is in line with the requirements of resolution 917/2017, with which ARERA introduced an “output based” regulation model to periodically measure the technical performance indicators of water service providers.

To comply with the objectives related to “exceeding the limits”, as defined by ARERA, plant operators need to make appropriate, strategic choices as regards the plant and its management, and then monitor the consequences on the operating costs.

Although Resolution 918/2017 allows for tariffs to include an additional component to cover the extra costs incurred by the operators to achieve its objectives, it is essential to implement a management control model for sewage treatment plants that will allow for a possible introduction of standardized costs by ARERA.

The Dashboard can be accessed through a dedicated web page and can be completely customized based on the client’s needs. It introduces customized functions, such as sending alerts, monitoring specific sections of the plant and developing new indicators that are useful in the analysis of specific situations.

The platform is suitable for any process chain, regardless of the presence of a SCADA system, and can integrate and visualize data coming from several sewage treatment plants and provide an overview thanks to synoptic pages containing global performance indicators. Therefore, using the DSS OSMART® Dashboard helps the operator in making prompt decisions to ensure compliance with discharge limits, in monitoring operations costs, and in providing a useful basis for planning investments.