Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Thu, February 5, 2009 Lincolnshire Drainage Board Deploys Sarian Mobile Technology to Protect Residents from Flooding
MINNETONKA, Minn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Advanced routing company Sarian Systems, a Digi International Inc (NASDAQ:DGII) company, today announced that South Holland Internal Drainage Board (SHIDB), one of the UK's key flood-management organizations, is deploying Sarian's mobile routing technology to assist with water-level management activities across some of the most fertile arable land in the world.
Sarian's DR6410 routers are being used by SHIDB to monitor 16 pumping stations and three gravity controlled tidal sluices across 38,443 hectares of land in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire. South Holland, named so because it is an area of low-lying land akin to Holland, is one of the UK's principle agricultural zones. However, due to its flat landscape the district is at constant risk of flooding, making SHIDB's work vitally important to the local community and its 60,000 residents.
Phase one of the deployment, which is being carried out by systems integrator Cougar Automation, sees the DR6410 routers being used for both fixed line and mobile communications, enabling SHIDB to monitor and control its 16 unmanned remote pumping stations entirely from the central office at Holbeach. Where possible, BT broadband connections have been deployed, however in some of the more isolated locations mobile networks are being used in the form of dual Vodafone and T-Mobile SIM cards to provide failover in the event of downtime. Industrial wireless access points (APs) are also present at selected sites to ensure that engineers can still access the pumping stations in the event of bad weather.
Transmitting data every 10-15 seconds, Sarian's routers not only enable SHIDB to monitor the district's water levels and status of each site's equipment in real-time, but also permit the engineers to remotely switch pumps on and off, as well as adjust the target water levels and pump sequences. Such remote capabilities mean that the Board can easily scan and assess a site from the central office first, before making the decision whether to dispatch a team to deal with any issues.
"The routers are literally our eyes and ears across the South Holland district – with almost 40,000 hectares of land, including large residential and industrial areas, the local community depends on us to manage water-levels effectively to prevent permanent flooding and water-logging," said Karl Vines, SHIDB district engineer. "Central to our telemetry system, Sarian's technology allows us to prioritize situations and deal with potential issues before they arise, while giving us the foresight to allocate manpower accordingly and guarantee that our engineers are in the right place at the right time."
Cougar Automation has configured SHIDB's telemetry system to allow the Sarian routers to establish a secure virtual private network (VPN) tunnel back to the master router from each remote location. There is also a PLC control for acquiring data, and at some sites there is even an IP camera which feeds images back to the central office via the Sarian device. This function gives SHIDB real-time visual images of water levels, as well as acting as a valuable intruder detection system and safety monitoring device when engineers need to remotely control pumps on an automatic basis.
"CCTV gives SHIDB much needed visibility as well as control over South Holland's drainage network, permitting engineers to monitor each site closely without impacting on manpower," said Stuart Gaunt, principal project engineer at Cougar Automation. "Sarian's flexible and robust cellular technology, teamed with Cougar Automation's advanced telecommunications system, means that the Board can uphold its exceptional level of service to a community reliant on its work for survival."
Looking to the future, phase two of the Sarian deployment will involve installing additional specialized features to allow SHIDB to record and archive water levels and pump run hours, as well as any action taken by the engineers for hydrological modelling purposes. Such functionality will allow SHIDB, and other internal drainage boards, to compare and contrast rainfall in the district with the amount of water discharged from the catchment area, among other details.
"Real-time technology proves vital for organizations like SHIDB as the consequences of their actions have a direct – and quite possibly devastating – impact on masses of people, not to mention the effect on the local agricultural economy," said Duncan Ellison, business development director at Sarian. "With so many extreme conditions associated with the nature of telemetry, a reliable mobile solution is needed to ensure that data is transferred safely and securely between sites. Firms are increasingly realizing that a cellular wireless solution can now provide much more stability than the usual wired connections – add to this the versatility of the core technology itself and organizations will find they have a valuable asset built for the long haul."
About Sarian Systems
Sarian Systems, aDigi International Inc company, manufactures advanced wired and wireless IP routers designed for mission critical communications. The company's products are designed in the UK and are primarily targeted at businesses in the retail, lottery, finance, telemetry and remote access markets. Its routers are used for a wide variety of purposes including broadband backup, network performance monitoring and EPOS transactions.
Sarian sells products in more than 40 countries, to blue chip companies including American Express, Travelex and BP Oil, as well as to major telecommunications operators such as BT and T-Mobile.
For more information visit [ www.sarian.co.uk ].
About Digi International
Digi International Inc, the leader in device networking for business, develops reliable products and technologies to connect and securely manage local or remote electronic devices over the network or via the web, and offers the highest levels of performance, flexibility and quality. Digi markets its products through a global network of distributors and resellers, systems integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
For more information visit [ www.digi.com ].
All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
