Industrial Power Systems, Inc. (IPS) of Jacksonville, Florida, recently completed the design, build, and start-up of automatic emergency power system and generator paralleling controls for Bonita Springs Utilities’ (BSU) new $58 million East Water Reclamation Facility. BSU is a water and wastewater utility serving the potable water, irrigation water and wastewater treatment needs of Bonita Springs, FL.
IPS designs and builds electrical controls, switchgear and automation systems for marine and industrial applications and specializes in custom design and fabrication.
Bonita Springs is one of the fastest-growing coastal communities in Southwest Florida and BSU’s territory incorporates a 60-square-mile area with nearly 38,000 homes and businesses served. The most recent addition to BSU’s state-of-the-art infrastructure is the East Water Reclamation Facility brought online in the spring. The most technologically advanced plant in Florida, the new facility can handle 4 million gallons of domestic wastewater a day and can be expanded to 8 million gallons. The site is expected to handle long-term expansion to 16 mgd.
The IPS-built automatic emergency switchgear not only provides controls and protection to supply power for selected critical loads during short-term power interruptions, but also offers the ability to totally avoid power outages during major weather events.
The system of switchgear and generator controls enables plant operators to intervene and manage anticipated bad weather emergencies by seamlessly transferring all critical operations from the utility grid to emergency generators with no loss of power (closed transition transfer), and later to automatically transfer plant loads back to the utility.
The nerve center of the integrated IPS switchgear is composed of redundant programmable logic controllers, a touch screen multi-graphic display and interface, and integration of control logic operations between the PLCs, graphic display, and emergency generator system’s electronic controller, using SCADA automation software adapted for this application. The system uses the latest versions of Allen-Bradley Rockwell’s ControlLogix and PanelView hardware, and their RS-Logix and RS-View software.
The IPS-built paralleling switchgear was sold to BSU in coordination with Caterpillar engine-driven generator sets supplied by Ring Power Systems, the Northern Florida Caterpillar distributor. The generator sets are sized at 2000KW, 4160V. Installation of the switchgear and generator sets was completed by Cogburn Brothers Electrical Contractors. Consulting Engineering for overall system design for this project was provided by CH2M-Hill, headquartered in Gainesville, FL.
IPS has been designing and building electrical power control systems for the industrial and marine industries for over 25 years and is a major supplier of electrical industrial control panels and generator set paralleling switchgear for the municipal and private water and wastewater markets. For more information, visit www.ipsswitchgear.com.
EPA fines Island Water Authority
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined the Guam Waterworks Authority $40,000 for failing to fully comply with a 2003 court order to repair and improve its wastewater system. Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States and must comply with rules set forth in the Clean Water Act.
GWA failed to meet April and June 2007 deadlines for the Agana sewage treatment plant and a May 2007 deadline for the Northern District plant to ensure compliance with federal permit limits from these two facilities.
“GWA needs to comply with the order to determine the proper level of wastewater treatment it needs to meet its federal permits,” said Alexis Strauss, the EPA’s director for water programs in the Pacific Southwest region. “This step and renovating the pump stations will go a long way to ensuring properly treated wastewater for Guam.”
In May, GWA informed the EPA the compliance determination for Agana would be completed in February 2008 and the Northern District in July 2008, over a year after the court ordered deadlines requiring GWA to demonstrate that these renovated facilities can comply with their federal permit limits. GWA recently completed a full renovation of its Agana STP and a partial renovation of its Northern District STP.
GWA also needed to complete renovations at the Agana Main Sewer Pump Station by June 2007, but informed the EPA that work was delayed and the scheduled completion date would be over a year past the deadline in September 2008.
The stipulated order requires penalties to be assessed for the missed deadlines and provides for additional penalties until the work is complete.
Guam’s wastewater treatment system is being upgraded to ensure proper disposal of treated wastewater and to prevent any spills and overflows.
