FILTER HOUSE REFURBISHMENT AUTOMATION OF 40 FILTERS

This Rand Water №2 Station Vereeniging 360 Mgℓ/day comprising forty filters was originally built in the fifties in three separate stages as a manually operated plant. PCI AFRICA was awarded the turnkey project to fully automate the works, and including all new filter underdrain systems and filter media. Major civil work forming part of this project includes the interior being extensively gutted and refurbished. Further civil work included the construction of a concrete roof over the filters and enlarging the capacity of the wastewater disposal channels local to the filter block. In addition, the lighting and small power has been completely renewed.

A standby generator was installed to maintain all the plc, scada, instrumentation and emergency lighting. The generator has the capabilities of providing the power for emergency shut down of the plant if necessary.

The auto system included for the complete replacement of all the filter valves and sluice gates with new units, controlled by electrical actuators, some two hundred and six in total.

The filter control system is fully automatic, washing on a rotational time basis. All components of a filter wash are interlocked and monitored on a scada system in the central control room.

In order to streamline, and bring up to date the control system, ‘Profibus’ communication and control of all valve and sluice gate actuators was installed, together with ‘v bus’ communication between all flow and level measuring equipment. The plc panels, (two off) communicate Profibus to both disciplines.

A HMI (Human machine interface) is installed at each filter gallery for manual standby filter washing capability, as well as for initial commissioning.
The work was carried out in two stages of twenty filters each in order that fifty per cent of the plant remains in operation throughout.

This Rand Water №2 Station Vereeniging  plant is one of the few plants that incorporate individual turbidity measuring on every filter.