Toronto, Canada – July 2024 – The City of Toronto’s largest water treatment plant has successfully deployed ABB’s PP845A 3BSE042235R2 HMI panels to streamline operations, improve regulatory compliance, and reduce maintenance costs. The upgrade, part of the plant’s $12M smart infrastructure project, has already cut compliance reporting time by 50% and reduced technician visits by 28%.
A Plant Stretched Thin: Compliance and Visibility Challenges
The R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant supplies clean drinking water to 1.2 million Toronto residents, processing 350 million liters daily. Prior to 2024, the plant used a mix of outdated HMIs and manual paper logs to track critical processes—including chemical dosing, filtration pressure, and water pH levels.
These legacy systems created two major pain points:
- Compliance Delays: Preparing monthly reports for Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment (MOE) required technicians to spend 40+ hours compiling data from 12 different systems. “We’d have three people working overtime just to meet the MOE’s 10th-of-the-month deadline,” said Sarah Johnson, the plant’s operations supervisor.
- Blind Spots in Maintenance: Without real-time data access, technicians often responded to equipment issues (like clogged filters) only after they caused performance drops. In 2023, this led to 9 unplanned maintenance events, each disrupting water flow for 2–4 hours.
With Ontario’s new water quality regulations set to take effect in 2025—requiring more frequent data logging and stricter audit trails—the plant needed a modern HMI solution.
After a 6-month evaluation, the plant selected the ABB PP845A 3BSE042235R2 for its ability to address both compliance and maintenance challenges:
- Built-In Compliance Tools: The PP845A automatically logs data at 1-minute intervals (per MOE requirements) and generates pre-formatted reports with a single click. Operators can also flag “out-of-range” events (e.g., pH >8.5) and attach notes directly in the HMI, simplifying audits.
- Remote Monitoring Capability: The panel connects to the plant’s SCADA system, letting technicians access real-time data and troubleshoot issues from a central office—no need to visit remote filter stations.
- Durable, Low-Maintenance Design: With a 50,000-hour backlight life (equivalent to 5.7 years of continuous use) and sealed touchscreen, the PP845A reduces the need for frequent repairs. Its operating temperature range (-10°C to 60°C) also handles the plant’s unheated outdoor pump houses.
- Integration with Existing Systems: The PP845A works seamlessly with the plant’s ABB Symphony Plus control system, avoiding the cost of replacing legacy hardware.
“The ABB team took the time to understand our compliance needs,” Johnson said. “They even customized the report templates to match the MOE’s exact format—something no other vendor offered.”
Results: Faster Reporting, Fewer Repairs
Since the first 12 PP845A panels were installed in March 2024:
- Compliance time cut by 50%: Monthly MOE reports now take 20 hours instead of 40, freeing technicians to focus on maintenance.
- Unplanned maintenance down by 28%: Real-time alerts from the PP845A have let the team address 6 potential filter clogs and 3 chemical dosing issues before they caused disruptions.
- Data accuracy improved: Manual logging errors (e.g., typos in pH readings) have dropped from 8% to 0.5%, reducing the risk of non-compliance fines.
“Last month, the MOE auditor said our data was ‘the most organized and accurate’ they’d seen all year,” Johnson noted. “That’s a direct result of the PP845A.”
Looking ahead, the plant plans to install 8 more PP845A panels by the end of 2024, extending coverage to its raw water intake and disinfection systems. “We’re not just upgrading hardware—we’re building a smarter, more reliable water system for Toronto,” Johnson added.
ABB’s water infrastructure specialist, Raj Patel, emphasized the PP845A’s relevance to municipal utilities. “Water plants need HMIs that balance compliance, durability, and ease of use,” he said. “The PP845A 3BSE042235R2 delivers on all three, helping cities meet growing demand while staying within regulatory limits.”
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