Electrical Department

The Electrical/Instrumentation (E&I) Department is responsible for installation, programming, operation, and maintenance of the following District electrical and automation equipment in the treatment plant and 80+ field stations:

• Switchgear up to 14.4 KV
• Motor & breaker protection relays
• Electric Motors up to 1000 HP
• Standalone & networked programmable logic controllers (PLC’s)
• Wonderware InTouch HMI software for plant and field automation
• Wireless telemetry system (SCADA) that includes 80+ field station remote terminal units (RTU’s)and a central field interface unit (FIU)
• Variable frequency drives (VFD’s)
• Reduced voltage starters (Soft Starts)
•  Process transmitters for flow, pressure, temperature, level, vibration, speed, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, explosive gas, and air flow

The E&I crew works closely with other departments on the design and improvement of new and existing District equipment and facilities including the treatment plant, Luther Pass Pump Station, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Diamond Valley Ranch.

The Electrical/Instrumentation Department goals for 2019/2020 are:

1. Continue to install, maintain, and troubleshoot District electrical, instrumentation, and SCADA equipment
2. Continue using a computerized maintenance program for equipment repair and preventative maintenance
3. Test and maintain District standby power generation systems
4. Continue to program and replace older remote Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) equipment at water tanks, pump stations, and wells with the newest version of Motorola RTU
5. Complete remote telemetry upgrades to Fallen Leaf Lake stations and bring all the field data through a central hub at Angora Tank then to the Treatment Plant over wireless Ethernet to help with communication reliability
6. Assist with the improvement of the District’s remote telemetry communication upgrade using information collected from the communication study report
7. Continue to upgrade plant and field station lighting to high efficiency LED
8. Assist engineering project managers with current and future district projects including Heavenly/Keller water system improvements, Pine Valley PRV upgrade, Secondary Treatment energy study, well pump efficiency testing, and Mt. Rainer PRV controller
9. Assist with the commissioning and testing of the new Plant Standby Generator and utility switch gear