Client
- Water Corporation
Locations
- Gwelup, Western Australia
Core Capabilities
- Automation and Control systems
- Electrical engineering
- Detailed design of hardware and software
- Factory acceptance testing
- Site commissioning
- Site management
- Occupational health and safety management
Technologies
- Remote Telemetry Systems (RTU) with DNP3 communications
- Siemens ET200SP programmable logic controls
- Operator Interface Panel Upgrades
- Control Cabinet/Switchboard Design
- Instrumentation and field equipment
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Project Summary
Upgrades to a set of existing KOYO PLCs to comply with Water Corporation standards. The Clearwater Pump Station comprises of five (5) clearwater pumps and two backwash pumps. The upgrade required the design, fabrication, testing, installation and commissioning of a new Main Control Cabinet and decommissioning of existing equipment.
The plant SCADA system required upgrades to facilitate communication with the new controllers.
The Challenge
The site could not tolerate more than one pump outage at any given time. In addition to this, there was limited space for new equipment and difficulties with the integration into the existing Ethernet network.
Synertec’s Solution
Synertec resolved the operational constraint of only one allowable pump outage by implementing a staged, parallel-run migration strategy. A new master PLC was installed and commissioned alongside the existing master controller, allowing full testing of control logic and communications while the plant remained live.
Pumps were then cut over sequentially, with each pump taken out of service individually, migrated to the new control system, functionally tested, and returned to operation before progressing to the next, ensuring continuous plant availability.
To address space limitations, Synertec adopted a remote I/O architecture, removing the legacy Pumpset PLCs from the pump starter cubicles
Integration with the existing Ethernet and fibre network was achieved through staged commissioning and parallel communications. New network switches were integrated into the SCADA and Control fibre rings. Legacy communications were only decommissioned once the new system had been fully proven, ensuring uninterrupted SCADA visibility and control throughout the upgrade.
