Challenges in Automating water and wastewater systems
These plants handle variable influent from industrial discharges, agricultural runoff, flash floods after drought periods, and strict regulatory requirements from the EPA and New Mexico Environment Department. Automation through PLC programming, HMI interfaces, SCADA systems, sensors, and variable frequency drives (VFDs) offers major improvements in efficiency, compliance, and cost control. However, implementing reliable automation in these environments comes with distinct hurdles.