Siemens equips Voerde-Löhnen waterworks with electrical systems

Siemens Water Technologies has received an order from Wasserwerke Dinslaken GmbH worth around 3.1 million euros to equip the company’s waterworks in Voerde-Löhnen, Germany, with electrical and automation systems and instrumentation for a nanofiltration plant. The project of the Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) will be concluded in August 2008.

Wasserwerke Dinslaken GmbH and its waterworks in Voerde-Löhnen belongs to the municipal utilities group of Dinslaken. The company extracts and processes drinking water from its own wells. In the supply area of the waterworks, there will be considerable lowering of the ground level in the next few years and, as a result, a change in the groundwater table as well. This is why filtrate with various organic trace substances is increasingly getting from the Rhine into the raw water of the water catchment area. These substances are now to be removed from the water with the help of a nanofiltration plant.

For the new filtration plant, which is being built in close proximity to the existing installation, Siemens I&S is installing the electrical equipment and instrumentation. The order includes installation of the power supply and distribution systems as well as erection of a stand-by generating unit for maximum fail-safety. For this purpose, medium-voltage switchgear and a low-voltage main-distribution and sub-distribution system are being installed. Expansion and modification of the existing process control system based on Version 7 of the Simatic PCS7 from Siemens, together with expansion of the existing telecontrol link, will increase process safety. The redundantly designed process control system will enable operator control and visualization of the entire plant, including all remote installations, even in the event of faults. The active mosaic circuit diagram, which is also being modified, can be used to monitor all the parts of the plant as well as the remote installations. Individual items of remote equipment such as the pressure boosting and reduction facilities, water storage tanks and clear-water pumps can be controlled by an operator from the control center of the Dinskalen waterworks using the telecontrol system.

The extensive modification and expansion work is being carried out without any interruption of the water supply, which has to be maintained at all costs. In addition, a comprehensive servicing contract for a period of four years is part of the scope of supply.

Siemens Water Technologies delivers cost-effective, reliable water and wastewater treatment systems and services to municipal, industrial, commercial and institutional customers worldwide. The division “Water Technologies” is part of Siemens’ Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) which is the integrator of innovative systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. In fiscal 2006 (to September 30), I&S employed a total of 36,200 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 8.819 billion, according to U.S. GAAP.