Quick as a WINC

An efficient web-based technology is enabling public works operators, including wastewater treatment plant personnel, to remotely monitor and control their facilities.

Conceptualized by Garver in the mid-1990s, WINC (pronounced wink) is the Wastewater Treatment Plant Instrumentation, Networking and Control system. It provides operators a way to analyze plant operations and gather real-time data from any computer in any location. Similar to a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, WINC's users include a major railroad franchise that links with 28 company wastewater treatment plants in 10 states.

"The WINC system is a very powerful tool," said Steve Jones, PE, Garver's director of water services. "Especially for companies that are spread out over a large area, the ability to automate and control the wastewater process is such an advantage."

WINC Up

"To WINC up a wastewater treatment plant, we install a programmable controller at the site, which gives the SCADA system an interface to the equipment control systems," said Paul Strickland, PE, Garver project manager. "Some new equipment and instrumentation may also need to be installed, such as equipment automation, flow control and water quality monitoring."

Once a central server is programmed to recognize the new WINC-controlled plant, officials can monitor and manage the plant from any computer. This technology helps collect data and generate reports required by regulatory agencies.

"WINC's benefits include the ability to maximize personnel resources and reduce operating costs because smaller plants can be run automatically through the programmable controller, often eliminating the need for travel and on-site intervention by an operator," said Mike Boyd, PE, Garver electrical engineer.

Alarm systems are typically programmed to notify officials if abnormal conditions are taking place, and wastewater effluent can remain in regulatory compliance if an operator initiates corrections or a shutdown process.

More than 20 years ago, Garver originally developed the networking concept to enable a private company to link with its wastewater treatment plants—although at the time automation had to be run by PLCs over telephone line modems.

"Whether with WINC or another SCADA system, networking sites to a central system and providing information and control capabilities is a valuable piece of technology," Boyd said.