Improving communication and control

The Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection (WEP) maintains and operates eight wastewater treatment plants, 100 pump stations and lift stations, and 3000 miles of piping. The largest facility in this system is the Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant (Metro). Metro treats an average of 84 million gallons per day. Full secondary and tertiary treatment can be provided for up to 126 million gallons per day. Metro has a total hydraulic capacity of 240 million gallons per day during wet-weather events such as rain storms.

The treatment plant is not a stand-alone entity. It relies on many pump stations and a collection system to operate properly. A computer system monitors and controls these facilities.

The new digital system enhances the efficiency of the collection system and treatment processes, saving money by automating some previously manual systems and by better identifying the nature of problems for repair technicians before they are dispatched.

The system was designed with back-up capabilities. In normal mode, the system runs from two locations: North Area (Oak Orchard Wastewater Treat-ment Plant) and South Area (Metro). If either the North or South Area computers goes down, the entire system can be monitored from one location.

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