Berlin, Germany – May 2029 – Veolia, a global leader in water management solutions, has achieved a 90% reduction in water quality incidents and 35% lower maintenance costs at its Spandau water treatment plant in Berlin after deploying the ABB CP651-WEB control panel. The upgrade, completed in Q1 2029, replaced the plant’s aging control systems, which struggled with real-time monitoring of water treatment processes and inefficient remote maintenance—posing risks to the plant’s ability to supply clean water to 150,000 Berlin residents.

The Challenge: Aging Systems Threaten Water Treatment Reliability

Veolia’s Spandau water treatment plant processes 50,000 cubic meters of water daily, treating raw water from the Havel River to meet Germany’s Drinking Water Ordinance (Trinkwasserverordnung). The plant’s legacy control systems presented critical operational challenges:

• Delayed Water Quality Monitoring: The legacy systems relied on manual sampling and laboratory testing to monitor key water parameters (e.g., turbidity, pH, chlorine levels), with results available 2-3 hours after sampling. This delay meant contamination events or treatment process deviations were detected too late, leading to 4-5 water quality incidents annually.
• Inefficient Remote Maintenance: Treatment equipment such as pumps, filters, and disinfection units required on-site technician visits for adjustments and troubleshooting. The plant’s remote location (15km from central Berlin) meant response times to equipment faults exceeded 2 hours, risking treatment process disruptions.
• High Maintenance Costs: The aging control systems’ mechanical components were prone to failure, requiring 12-15 maintenance visits monthly. Annual maintenance costs exceeded €220,000, with 60% attributed to unplanned repairs.
• Compliance Reporting Burden: Meeting Germany’s Trinkwasserverordnung and EU Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) required detailed documentation of water quality data and treatment processes. Manual data compilation and report generation took 10 hours daily, with a high risk of errors.

“Reliable water treatment is essential to public health, and our legacy control systems were putting that at risk,” said Thomas Becker, Veolia’s Spandau Plant Manager. “Delayed quality monitoring and slow fault response could lead to service disruptions or compromised water safety. We needed a modern control solution that could provide real-time process visibility, enable remote maintenance, and streamline compliance.”

ABB CP651-WEB: Smart Control for Water Treatment Plants

After evaluating solutions from Siemens and Endress+Hauser, Veolia selected the ABB CP651-WEB control panel for its seamless integration with water treatment equipment, real-time data logging, and secure remote access. Key features driving the upgrade’s success include:

• Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring: The CP651-WEB connects to 20 online sensors monitoring turbidity, pH, chlorine, and other critical parameters, providing real-time data with 0.1 NTU turbidity accuracy and ±0.1 pH precision. It sends instant alerts if parameters exceed regulatory limits, cutting detection time from 180 minutes to 5 minutes.
• Secure Remote Maintenance & Control: Authorized technicians access the panel via HTTPS with IEC 62351-6 encryption to monitor treatment processes, adjust equipment parameters (e.g., chlorine dosage, filter backwash cycles), and troubleshoot faults remotely. This eliminated 75% of on-site maintenance visits and reduced fault response time by 80%.
• Automated Compliance Reporting: The panel automatically logs water quality data and treatment process parameters, storing it for up to 10 years (meeting regulatory requirements). It generates pre-built reports aligned with Trinkwasserverordnung and EU 98/83/EC, reducing daily documentation time from 10 hours to 1 hour and eliminating data entry errors.
• Rugged Design for Water Treatment Environments: With an IP66-rated enclosure, the CP651-WEB resists water splashes, dust, and corrosion common in water treatment plants. It operates reliably in temperatures ranging from -10°C to 55°C, adapting to Berlin’s seasonal temperature changes.
• Seamless Integration & Scalability: The panel integrates with the plant’s existing ABB AC500 PLCs and SCADA system via Modbus TCP/IP, requiring no major infrastructure changes. Its modular design allows Veolia to add monitoring points as the plant expands, supporting future process upgrades.

Results: Improved Reliability and Operational Efficiency

Six months after deploying the ABB CP651-WEB, Veolia’s Spandau water treatment plant achieved significant improvements:

Metric	Before ABB CP651-WEB	After ABB CP651-WEB	Improvement
Annual Water Quality Incidents	4-5	0-1	90% Reduction
Monthly Maintenance Visits	14	3.5	75% Reduction
Daily Compliance Documentation Time	10 Hours	1 Hour	90% Reduction
Annual Maintenance Costs	€220,000	€143,000	35% Reduction
Fault Response Time	120 Minutes	24 Minutes	80% Reduction

“The CP651-WEB has transformed our water treatment operations,” Becker said. “During a recent period of high turbidity in the Havel River, the panel detected the change in real time, automatically adjusted the coagulation process, and prevented a water quality incident. Remote maintenance has also saved our team countless hours of travel time to the plant.”
Stefan Müller, ABB’s German Product Manager for Water & Wastewater Solutions, noted the CP651-WEB’s alignment with water industry goals: “Water treatment plants need control systems that prioritize reliability, compliance, and operational efficiency. The CP651-WEB delivers on all three, helping utilities ensure safe, consistent water supply while reducing costs.”
Veolia plans to deploy the ABB CP651-WEB across 8 additional water treatment plants in Germany by 2032, targeting a 90% reduction in water quality incidents and 30% lower maintenance costs group-wide.