Barcelona, Spain – November 2025 – Aigües de Barcelona, the leading water utility company serving the Barcelona metropolitan area, has successfully deployed ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 PCB Card Modules to upgrade the control systems of 8 water treatment plants (WTPs) and 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The deployment, part of the company’s strategy to modernize its water infrastructure, addressed critical issues with legacy PCB components, including corrosion-related failures, inaccurate sensor data processing, and poor integration with SCADA systems. Six months post-upgrade, the plants have achieved 99.99% control system reliability, a 60% reduction in maintenance incidents, and a 12% improvement in energy efficiency—key milestones in ensuring reliable water supply and environmental sustainability.
The Challenge: Corrosion and Inaccurate Control Threaten Water Treatment Operations
Aigües de Barcelona’s water treatment facilities process over 500,000 cubic meters of water daily, supplying clean drinking water to 3.2 million residents and treating wastewater from 2.8 million people. The plants rely on complex control systems to manage filtration, disinfection, and pumping processes, with accurate sensor data processing critical for maintaining water quality and complying with EU drinking water standards. Prior to the upgrade, the plants used legacy PCB cards installed in 2015, which suffered from severe corrosion due to high humidity and chemical exposure in treatment facilities.
These corrosion issues led to 30-35 maintenance incidents annually, causing unplanned downtime of 80+ hours per year and risking non-compliance with water quality regulations. The legacy PCB cards also had inaccurate data processing capabilities, with a measurement error margin of 2-3% for critical parameters such as chlorine levels and pH values. This required manual adjustments to treatment processes, increasing operational costs and reducing efficiency. Additionally, the outdated components were incompatible with the company’s new SCADA system, forcing manual data entry and delaying decision-making for process optimization.
“Reliable control systems are essential for ensuring consistent water quality and efficient treatment operations,” said Carlos Ruiz, Technical Director at Aigües de Barcelona. “Our legacy PCB cards were unable to withstand the harsh environment of water treatment plants, leading to frequent failures and inaccurate control. We needed a corrosion-resistant, high-precision PCB solution that could seamlessly integrate with our SCADA system, ensure reliable data processing, and support our goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.”
The Solution: ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001’s Corrosion Resistance and Precision
After a thorough 8-week evaluation of PCB solutions from ABB, Endress+Hauser, and Emerson, Aigües de Barcelona selected the ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 PCB Card Module for its exceptional corrosion resistance, high-precision data processing, and broad SCADA compatibility. The deployment was carried out in phases to ensure continuous water supply: first, upgrading 2 WTPs and 3 WWTPs during low-demand periods; second, training 60 plant operators and maintenance technicians on the new module’s features; and finally, rolling out the upgrade to the remaining 6 WTPs and 9 WWTPs over a five-month period with ABB’s technical team providing on-site support.
Key features of the ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 that addressed Aigües de Barcelona’s challenges include:
- Corrosion-Resistant Design: The PCB card module uses a specialized conformal coating and stainless-steel components, providing superior resistance to humidity, chlorine, and other chemicals common in water treatment plants. It is rated to IP67 protection class, ensuring dust-tight and waterproof operation, even in wet environments.
- High-Precision Data Processing: Equipped with a 16-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), the module delivers measurement accuracy of ±0.1% for critical treatment parameters such as chlorine levels, pH, and turbidity. This ensures precise control of treatment processes and compliance with EU water quality standards.
- Seamless SCADA Integration: The module supports MODBUS TCP/IP and IEC 61850 protocols, enabling direct integration with Aigües de Barcelona’s SCADA system. Real-time data synchronization eliminates manual data entry, reducing reporting errors to less than 1% and enabling timely process optimization.
- Energy-Efficient Operation: The module is designed with low-power components, reducing energy consumption by 15% compared to legacy PCB cards. This supports the company’s sustainability goals by lowering the carbon footprint of its treatment facilities.
The Results: Reliable Operations, Reduced Costs, and Improved Sustainability
Six months after full deployment, the ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 PCB Card Modules have delivered significant improvements for Aigües de Barcelona’s water treatment facilities:
| Metric |
Before O4LE Deployment |
After O4LE Deployment |
Improvement |
| Control System Reliability |
99.2% |
99.99% |
0.79% Increase (95% Reduction in Failures) |
| Annual Maintenance Incidents |
30-35 |
12-14 |
60% Reduction |
| Annual Unplanned Downtime |
80+ Hours |
32 Hours |
60% Reduction (€480,000 in Saved Costs) |
| Measurement Error Margin |
2-3% |
±0.1% |
97% Reduction |
| Energy Consumption per Plant |
120,000 kWh/Year |
102,000 kWh/Year |
15% Reduction (18,000 kWh Saved Annually) |
“The ABB O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 has transformed the reliability and efficiency of our water treatment operations,” said Carlos Ruiz. “The corrosion-resistant design has eliminated most maintenance issues, while the high-precision data processing ensures consistent water quality. The energy savings and seamless SCADA integration have also advanced our sustainability and digital transformation goals. We plan to deploy this PCB card module across all 25 of our water treatment facilities in Catalonia by 2029.”
Elena Petrova, ABB’s Global Product Manager for Water and Wastewater Solutions, commented: “Water utilities face unique challenges, including harsh operating environments, strict regulatory requirements, and growing pressure to improve sustainability. The O4LE 1KHL015545R0001 PCB Card Module is engineered to address these challenges, with its corrosion resistance, high precision, and energy efficiency. Aigües de Barcelona’s success demonstrates how this module can help water utilities ensure reliable operations, reduce costs, and achieve their sustainability objectives.”
