Dry feet and clean water thanks to reliable and well-secured network technology

Water boards in the Netherlands are responsible for water management and play a crucial role in keeping our feet dry. For the remote management of, among other things, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants, water boards work with network technology and process automation. Kees van Rijswijk, who works at Waterschap Rivierenland, will be presenting the Industrial Ethernet event on March 24, will discuss how such technology can be used safely and reliably.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Van Rijswijk holds the position of lead engineer and process automation consultant at the Information and Digitalization department at Waterschap Rivierenland. He is fully engaged in the use of process and network technology. He says: “At this water board, I supervise the development of software, including for the SCADA systems that we have. I am also involved in all projects in the field of process automation.”

The challenge is great: the river area for which the Rivierenland Water Board is responsible is not only dependent on safe dikes, but the residents also have to keep their feet dry during heavy rainfall. And in times of drought, sufficient and clean water must be available. A large-scale infrastructure has been built to achieve these objectives. Van Rijswijk: “The water board is continuously monitoring these objectives from a central point. We also have a great many remote locations, controlled from a central control room at the head office. Think of water purification plants, sewage pumping stations, pumping stations and weirs. For the control, these contain PLC solutions, based on SCADA or HMI.”

Central control of these assets requires time and knowledge, says Van Rijswijk: “The way we process data is constantly changing. We are also working on the implementation of other types of data sources. Think of weather data, for example. We also get a lot of data from Rijkswaterstaat, but in general we are dealing with more and more data. That is a trend that you see everywhere.”

He gives a practical example of how the water board deals with new technology: “We are working on a purification plant where a third party has come up with the smart control. The question is how we are going to integrate that into our existing solutions. Because suppose they come up with a new standard, do I want that in my existing systems? What will it give me? And how am I going to implement that if necessary?”

Safety is top priority

In order for the water management by Waterschap Rivierenland to proceed safely, security of the remotely controlled systems is a top priority, says Van Rijswijk: “Security is a constant concern for us and always has the highest priority. This is an integral part of every project. How can we safely integrate external sources, for example? That can sometimes be quite a challenge. In addition, we are a government agency. We are not officially one yet, but as a water board, shouldn't we become a critical infrastructure? This is a question that also plays a role at the administrative level.”

When implementing a solid policy in the field of cybersecurity, it is not only about the applied technology. A system designer must continue to look further, believes Van Rijswijk: “The most challenging aspect is still the person behind the technology. I want to say something about that during my presentation. It is becoming increasingly easier to integrate systems, but it remains human work that requires you to keep thinking carefully. Because integration is so easy these days, everyone thinks that he can do it. Technically, they might also be able to get it working. But then you have the maintenance and management aspect, and security. That often receives little attention, but it is always the biggest challenge in my field.”

According to the lead engineer, there is another technological challenge in controlling the assets of his water board: the geographical spread and the precautions that are necessary for remote management. Van Rijswijk: “I also want to point out how we manage our locations remotely. We choose to always apply local intelligence. This can function independently of network connections. If the network connection is lost, the systems will simply continue to operate locally.”

“We also use telemetry protocols. If there is no connection, data is stored locally. The historical data is then forwarded to our central unit as soon as the connection is restored. At critical locations, we use a fall-back connection. If the ADSL line fails, we switch to a wireless connection.”

Innovation

During the various FHI events of the Industrial Automation sector, the subject of the Internet of Things regularly comes up. Can this technology play a role in the daily work of the Rivierenland Water Board? Van Rijswijk is somewhat reserved: “We are conducting some tests with the Internet of Things. But we try to keep primary process automation and all kinds of IoT applications separate. You can screw a sensor into your system, but how do you ensure that it is safe and secure? And that it will still work in a year? Our installations are remote assets, so they have to be very reliable and have added value.”

Nevertheless, the water board does enough in terms of innovation and knowledge sharing, says Van Rijswijk: “We work closely with Rijkswaterstaat and other water boards, for example via the Union of Water Boards and the Water Board House. They provide generic solutions and knowledge sharing. For example, we are working with a cybersecurity working group from the Water Board House and Rijkswaterstaat on uniform solutions for within the chain.”

Waterschap Rivierenland is also taking necessary steps to innovate in the area of climate change. Our goal is to be completely energy neutral by 2030. Van Rijswijk gives an example: “Precipitation extremes are increasing year after year. By measuring intelligently and combining more data sources, we could use the existing water system more efficiently. For example, by gradually guiding the water to a pumping station. And these pumping stations could also play a role in the energy transition, for example by using these pumping stations as a temporary energy buffer. For that, you need to make connections with energy companies.”

Would you like to attend Kees van Rijswijk's lecture? Register for free for the Industrial Ethernet event.