Practical implementation of robust condition based backwash initiation using SCADA

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems are widely used in industry. This paper examines the potential for using the procedural code available in a standard SCADA package to perform robust, condition based backwash initiation, in an industrial deep bed filtration plant. The approach developed offers potential efficiency benefits through effectively timed backwash initiation and early abnormal blockage detection. It is shown that SCADA systems have the underutilized potential to safely increase plant efficiency, by analyzing already available data streams, with the addition of no extra hardware