STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 24, 2009 -- From 2010 onwards, the European Union (EU) will be electing a different city as its "European Green Capital of the Year." The Swedish capital has already been chosen as the 2010 winner. Stockholm uses technology from the Siemens Division Industry Automation to safeguard the quality of its water.
Ten percent of Stockholm's surface area consists of water: The many lakes dotted around the surrounding area are enjoyed as a recreational escape by the approximately 800,000 strong population of the city. This extensive use moved the City of Stockholm to launch a water quality improvement program in 2006, a scheme which encompassed the modernization and extension of the two sewage treatment plants Henriksdal and Bromma.
As well as water treatment plants, pumping stations and water reservoirs, Stockholm's water utility company Stockholm Vatten is responsible for running the Bromma, Henriksdal and Loudden sewage treatment plants with a total capacity of 400,000 cubic meters per day. Henriksdal and Loudden are up for modernization and extension as part of the improvement program by 2012, with the existing systems (ABB, SATT and Mitsubishi) due to be changed over to the Simatic PCS 7 system by system integrator and certified Siemens Solution Partner ÅFEngineering. This will include the use of 43 S7-400 controllers.
As no replacement plant can be constructed while the conversion is under way, the modernization work will have to be performed while the plant is up and running without interruption to the purification process. The Simatic Water Library, an efficient modular system tailored specifically to the demands of the water industry, provides support for engineering, for instance by providing a multi control concept for extremely simple, speedy and efficient integration of locally positioned panels and partial systems into the overall PCS 7 configuration.
The Simatic Water Library comes with the services of qualified system integrators free of charge provided through the regional Siemens sales organization. Throughout the concept engineering stage, Business Development Water & Wastewater provided support both in resolving any technical questions and also by providing advice and training and delivering presentations.
The annual "European Green Capital" award is a new initiative designed to be conferred on cities which have played a pioneering role in environmental conservation. Ten environmental indicators are taken into account in picking the winner, including such factors such as a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards, commitment to ongoing and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and capacity to act as a role model and promote best practices in other European cities.
Thirty-five cities entered the arena to be chosen as Green Capital in 2010 and 2011. The shortlist of eight included Amsterdam, Bristol, Copenhagen, Freiburg im Breisgau, Hamburg, Münster, Oslo and Stockholm. Cities may enter more than once.
The evaluation panel, which picks the winner, is made up of representatives of several organizations: The European Commission, European Environment Agency, International Council for Local Environmental initiatives (ICLEI), European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), Union of Capitals of the European Union and the Committee of the Regions.
>> Visit the Siemens Water Library
>> More information on the European Green Capital program
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