Water suppliers

The supply of drinking water for the population is becoming increasingly important, worldwide.

What FlowChief can do for you

FlowChief offers the technologically leading process control system for all processes of modern water applications from water extraction and treatment to storage and distribution.

For high operational safety
User-friendly – from visualization to recording
For all plant and network sizes
Coverage of legal framework conditions (e.g. ITSiG)
For the energetic optimisation of all plants and processes

What FlowChief can do for you

FlowChief offers the technologically leading process control system for all processes of modern water applications from water extraction and treatment to storage and distribution.

For high operational safety
User-friendly – from visualization to recording
For all plant and network sizes
Coverage of legal framework conditions (e.g. ITSiG)
For the energetic optimisation of all plants and processes

Water works

After being extracted from groundwater, debris, surface water or dams, the raw water undergoes various chemical or physical treatment processes. Depending on the quality of the raw water, germs are killed, particles filtered or the water hardness reduced. The result is high-quality drinking water, which is supplied to the drinking water network via pure water storage tanks and pressure boosting stations.

Manual laboratory value entry on desktop or smartphone app (also offline)
Operating logbook for complete recording of all characteristic data
Powerful, recording and aggregation of all process data – accurate to the millisecond
Integrated energy management to increase plant efficiency
High operational reliability due to hot/cold standby redundancy

Infrastructure

Water is extracted and distributed via a network of wells, elevated tanks and pumping stations. State-of-the-art measurement and control technology is safely connected to the central control technology. The supply of the population is often ensured by emergency and cross-connection systems between different networks.

Manufacturer-neutral remote control technology based on standard PLC components
Integrated alerting platform for targeted alerts in the event of an error
Portal solution for connecting small systems – “SCADA-as-a-Service”
Integrated maintenance and repair management
Cross communication between different stations

Meter shafts

Meter shafts are used to record current consumption data. This data is used for direct offsetting or requirement analysis. Furthermore, leakage losses can be determined from the consumption data.

Integrated leakage detection for monitoring the nightly minimum values
Independent data logger for recording consumption values even without power supply
Hierarchical accounting of water meter data
Geo localization on the basis of online map services
Display of pipelines or supply areas (e.g. on the basis of KML files)

Technologies 100 % web technology

HTML5 web technology is changing the world of control technology. Gone are the days of high-maintenance workplace installations with limited ease of use and ongoing incompatibilities between products or operating systems.

FlowChief is completely designed in pure web technology and, from the very beginning, developed to be applied in the web browser. No matter if control desk, office workstation, mobile notebook, tablet or smartphone, you connect without further installation with your application in the intranet, via the private cloud or securely via the internet. Your FlowChief system is accessible from anywhere in the world and is not limited to pure visualization. To us, 100 per cent web means full functionality in visualization, graphs, protocols, alerting or maintenance management.

Technologies 100 % web technology

Location-independent

on-site or via world wide web
Secure and simple integration

into the system infrastructure (firewalls, DMZ, proxies etc.)
High definition

Lossless zoom with perfect performance through W3C standardized SVG
No client installation

No more plugins or browser extensions necessary!
Platform and device independent

Web browsers are available everywhere!
Future-proof and long-term investment security

Profit from the fast development of web technologies!

IT security

FlowChief is developed for operation in critical infrastructures. We rely on 20 years of experience in the development of secure web applications and remote control technology.

Grafik mit Server Monitor und SPS

5 software features that make FlowChief perfect for use within critical infrastructures:

Certificate-based end-to-end encryption between PLC and control centre, without using a root/switch server; alternatively implementation via a master station
2-factor authentication using SMS or mobile apps
SSL/TLS-encrypted access from all operating devices
Fine-grained assignment of rights for the plant and functionalities
Password policies

Secure Web Technology

No remote dial-in software required for a connection to the control technology LAN
No client updates unlike proprietary software
Easy integration into the IT security infrastructure (firewall, DMZ, IDS, UTM)
Free choice of browser
State-of-the-art encryption (SSL/TLS, X.509 certificate-based)
Integrated security features such as 2-factor authentication and password policies

One system – all solutions

Visualization

Powerful visualization based on standardized vector graphics (svg)
Lossless zooming – no pixelation
Easy integration of trends, report lists, chart elements, webcams, maps
Zoom level related show and hide of elements
Simple object-oriented process image creation without programming knowledge
Branch-specific graphics library for the water industry

Archiving / Aggregation

Powerful archiving based on Microsoft SQL Server
Archiving of analog and digital data with millisecond accuracy
Aggregation and compression to 15-minute, hourly, daily, monthly and annual values
Status marking of raw values and compactions - replacement value, faulty, good
Individual configuration of the storage duration for messages, raw values and compression
Optional outsourcing of archive data to external databases/SQL servers

Alerting Management

Intelligent alerting platform to ensure maximum system availability
Long-term archiving of events and faults
Targeted alerting via voice call (also VoIP), SMS, smartphone app or e-mail
Stand-by duty schedules including calendar function, dropping, parallel alerting and escalation via alert types
Text-to-Speech

Dashboards

Simple and compact display of the most important system data
Free arrangement of widgets to display current parameters and archive data
Widget elements (e.g. speedometer, bar graph, aggregates, pie charts, pillar charts, column charts, X-Y charts, cumulative frequency)
Integration of visualization elements, text messages, maps or webcams

Reporting

Unlimited possibilities for creating reports with FlowChief
Integrated designer for creating reports (operational log)
Industry-specific analyses and characteristic values (weather keys, freight rates, etc.)
Integration of graphical elements such as pie charts, bars, columns, lines, X-Y diagrams or cumulative frequency
Flexible export options and fully automated dispatch via e-mail

Maintenance

Concise operational management tool for the administration of machines and plants and their accompanying documentation
Care of maintenance measures, repairs and precautionary measures to avoid plant downtimes
Generation of routing slips and machine life cycles
Entering maintenance data via mobile devices
Permanent storage of all events – easy-to-read machine life cycles

Hydrograph

Parallel display of up to 100 data points
Auto scaling, X-Y zoom function, export, interactive operation
Analysis functions: Display of limit values, min/max values, mouse pointer
Graphical analysis of digital and analog process data
Online archive, time comparison, frequency and scatter diagram
Virtual calculation of process values within the hydrograph
Extensive formatting: color, diagram type (line, bar graph, area, etc.)
Storage of plotter combinations

Energy data management

Recording of all water quantities, consumption data and substance quantities (electricity, water, chlorine, etc.)
Accounting of substance quantity flows within the plant (Sankey diagram and balancing group)
Peak load monitoring
Formation of energy key figures for the evaluation of plant efficiency (kWh/m³TW, kWh/m³RW)

Redundancy

FlowChief systems can be upgraded at any time to a highly available and fail-safe redundancy solution. This maximization of availability prevents blind flights or data gaps, which can always occur due to network, communication or server hardware failures. FlowChief redundancy is based on Microsoft's failover clustering. All system functions such as browser visualization, communication, archiving, charts, reports or alarm management are still available even in case of failure.

Microsoft Failover Cluster (2-X parallel server instances)
Redundant communication (OPC, OPC UA, remote control)
Cold and hot standby (manual switching or automatic failover)
Switching without data loss
Automatic comparison of configuration and archive data

Remote control technology

With the FlowChief remote control technology, buildings such as pumping stations or rain spill basins are monitored and controlled safely, high performing and cost-efficiently from a central location. Programmable logic controllers serve directly as remote control stations. The PLC is responsible for the safe establishment of connections, time stamping and buffering of process values in the event of failures. The connection is established directly in the PLC to the control station - without a switching server, without master control and without a process server. Communication is therefore truly end-to-end encrypted. The FlowChief remote control technology is open in the choice of the devices, the transmission path and the superior application.

FLOWCHIEF TELECONTROL LIBRARIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR NUMEROUS SPS MANUFACTURERS:

Manufacturer-independent (all PLC manufacturers – all control systems)
Use of standard components (PLC, modem, router) – no commitment to one manufacturer)
Compliance with legal requirements – e.g. IT security law and standard of the water sector
Cross communication between external structures
X.509 certificate-based end-to-end encryption between PLC and central office
Economy through low investment costs and minimal running costs
Full cost control (volume optimized – adapted to mobile communications)
Use of all transmission paths (mobile data, DSL, leased line, radio, WLAN, dial-up connections, time-slot transmission)
Loss-free and high-resolution buffering
Sustainable and future proof (independent of operating systems and version updates in the head office)
Communication redundancy (DSL/radio/mobile communications)
Parameterisation of the remote control technology directly from the process control system

FlowChief highlights for the water sector

Operating log for water suppliers

With the FlowChief operating log for water suppliers you fulfil your obligation to provide evidence comfortably and effortlessly. A complete recording, easy maintenance and extensive evaluation possibilities set new standards. The FlowChief operating log is concise and easy to use and is a program from the practice for the practice.

Rule-compliant reportst are created automatically
Monitoring of all plant components: wells, springs, waterworks, elevated tanks, pumping stations or pressure boosting systems
Insert comments
Comprehensive reports for the simple comparison of different buildings (also cross-system)
Formation of parameters (kWh/m³)
Simple correction of values including automatic recalculation
Clear and simple to operate
Automatic generation of daily, monthly and annual reports

Leakage detection and pipe break monitoring

Integrated monitoring functions enable fast and reliable detection of pipe bursts and leaks in the supply network. Deviations are quickly monitored by fixed or dynamic limit values (min/max). The monitoring refers to a longer period of time, which is necessary for a correct recording of consumption values.

Acquisition of flow measurements via remote control or self-sufficient data logger
Leakage detection by means of moving average value
Monitoring of night flow rate
Gradient monitoring (too fast rising)
Stagnation monitoring (monitoring for changes within a period)
Complete archiving of all measured values and events
Alarm in case of failure

Independent data logger

A great variety of Data loggers can be found on the market, but here the wheat separates from the chaff very quickly.

Battery lifespan up to 10 years (replaceable)
Integrated high-performance antenna (shaft installation, reception even with weak mobile network)
Guaranteed waterproof (100 days – IP 68 – 1 meter)
Free SIM card selection
Up to 7 simultaneous external sensors (also from other manufacturers)
Communication via HSPA/GPRS, Bluetooth and SMS

What our customers say

For almost 15 years, we have been using FlowChief process control and remote control technology. FlowChief has always relied on cutting-edge technologies such as pure web technology. These technologies enabled us to develop our ‘waldwasser’ web-visualization – an economical cloud solution for small water utilities. In the past, these were often simply overwhelmed by their own IT infrastructure. We are absolutely convinced of FlowChief, which is why we are fully relying on FlowChief in our new waterworks including the administration building: in the process control, in
energy management and in the building automation system.

Dipl.-Ing. Hermann Gruber

Government architect and Plant Manager of the Joint Water Supply Bayerischer Wald

To control and monitor our water supply, we depend on reliable process control technology. FlowChief offers all functionalities of modern control technology such as visualization, alarming and meaningful protocols excellently solved in one product. In addition, the software also comes with maintenance management, an ideal solution for recording all maintenance, processes and repairs.

Udo Dehne

Plant Manager Waterworks Schwabmünchen

Already in my former function as technical manager at another association I got to know and appreciate FlowChief. FlowChief is intuitive and easy to use. Furthermore you don’t need any programming knowledge for parameterization because of the easy to understand and comprehensive documentation. In addition to creating process screens, our employees also take care of connecting all PLC controls. If we still don’t know what to do, we use the reliable manufacturer support of FlowChief.

Stefan Hamann

Managing Director Drinking Water Association Verden

FlowChief monitors all plant components in our association area. Very important for our daily work is the complete archiving of all plant data. With the functions integrated in FlowChief for trending and reporting we can monitor the plant function, detect leaks or uncover energy saving potentials. The functions display all data very clearly and the simple operation makes it possible for all our employees to work with them. We receive the data from various PLC controls in the waterworks or via telecontrol technology. The connection to FlowChief worked right away.

Gerhard Wittmann

Technical manager of the water supply association of the Jachenhausen group

We support municipal utilities and smaller utility companies in setting up their own individual control technology. We have been using FlowChief for more than ten years. Why? Because our customers are very satisfied with it and FlowChief suits them perfectly. In addition to the very wide range of functions and the simple operation, the licensing policy in terms of economy and sustainability is absolutely fair for our customers.

Andreas Krauß

Product Manager Automation Technology Süwag Grüne Energien und Wasser AG & Co. KG

Satisfied customers

The municipality of Mühlhausen operates a municipal waterworks, one main and two secondary sewage treatment plants. SPANGLER combined the systems with FlowChief technology into one central control system. This allows the operators to switch to the different plant components from any location without an employee having to be on site.

Waldwasser invested 35 million euros in Europe’s most modern waterworks and administration building in the district of Deggendorf (Bavaria, Germany). Solutions from FlowChief are used in the waterworks, in energy management and in the building management system.

See case report

Get in touch now

We are looking forward to your inquiries and comments.

Service & Support

Support from the manufacturer

You are unique as a customer and so is your project. We know this from 2,000 projects that have been implemented by our system integrators and ourselves.

Our services include:

User and partner support by phone and e-mail
24/7 Support
Coordinated training program (image processing, reporting, project training)
Consulting of engineers and planners
Detailed multilingual documentation

Drinking water production

Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to obtain drinking water globally. The safeguarding of quality standards is also becoming more and more complex, not least due to the industrialization of agriculture. Overall, the infrastructure needed to ensure a high-quality water supply is growing continuously.

As a water supplier and plant constructor, you are challenged every day to get a grip on the scarcity of water resources and increasing pollution. For this purpose FlowChief offers the technologically leading process control system for all processes of modern water applications from water extraction to treatment, storage and distribution.

Water suppliers

What FlowChief can do for you