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The Top 4 Applications for Remote Water Tank Monitoring

remote water tank

Many industries depend on their remote water tanks. Ensuring that they remain full and free from leaks requires continual visits. But visits to these distant locations cost money related to employees, fuel, and vehicle wear and tear.

If visits are scheduled around average estimates of water use, they can fail to respond to actual conditions. This results in wasted drive time, without eliminating the chance of tanks going dry or springing leaks. Without eyes on the site, leaks can worsen, and tanks can end up dry for long periods. The solution is remote water tank monitoring.

By installing remote terminal units (RTUs) on-site, companies can monitor water levels from their central offices.

This allows them to respond to problems as soon as they arise, instead of waiting for the next scheduled visit. When they do respond, they'll know what they're dealing with ahead of time, enabling technicians to travel equipped with the right tools for the job.

Top Industry Uses of Remote Water Tank Monitoring

Water is heavy and difficult to transport. Often, water needs for populations or various industries require more water than is available from the local ecosystem. In other cases, water tanks are necessary to hold contaminated water until it can be treated and safely returned to circulation. As such, water tanks are essential equipment for several critical industries in the U.S. and abroad, including:

1. Utilities

Both drinking water and wastewater systems rely on water tanks to fulfill their duties. Public water systems use water tanks to hold water in reserve before it is used or to preposition water for easy use - such as on the top of skyscrapers.

Wastewater systems rely on holding tanks and ponds to treat large amounts of water before releasing it or returning it to circulation.

2. Agriculture

Agriculture, particularly open-range ranching, often occurs in remote areas. Some, such as the deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas, have limited access to water and rely on water tanks to keep livestock adequately hydrated.

Water tanks are also used to irrigate crops in dry seasons. Advanced monitoring functions can be used for digital farming, controlling irrigation at the touch of a button.

3. Oil and Gas

Among other uses, gas companies rely on holding tanks and ponds to store fracking fluid before and after use. Keeping a close on holding tanks and ponds prevents environmental contamination, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance.

4. Mining

Mining operations can use large amounts of water to unearth or process minerals. As in oil and gas operations, this water must be kept in holding tanks or ponds before and after it has been used operationally.

Monitoring water prevents leaks and contamination while demonstrating compliance.

Remote monitoring solutions for each industry follow similar patterns, helping protect valuable assets and the environment while preventing fines from regulators. The tools employed are often the same as well: remote terminal units and master stations.

Remote Terminal Units Enable Water Tank Monitoring

RTUs are multi-capable devices, able to monitor several conditions at once. In addition to watching water levels, RTU sensors can detect:

  • Temperature and ambient humidity, helping to predict evolving conditions
  • Flow rate or PSI, for remote water tanks attached to plumbing or irrigation systems
  • Pump conditions, such as oil pressure, oil temperature, fuel levels, or generator battery levels

Monitoring these conditions provides tank owners with substantial insight into the minute-to-minute conditions of their expensive equipment far in the field.

Companies and utilities with more than ten tanks to monitor will find that individual alerts coming from RTUs for each condition at each tank will become more of a nuisance than a benefit.

Master Stations Provide Systems Cohesion for Large Operations

To monitor large numbers of tanks, companies employ master stations, otherwise known as alarm masters. Master stations provide several benefits, including:
Displaying all tank, environmental, and equipment conditions on a central computer screen

  • Communicating with monitoring devices from different manufacturers or generations, which may use separate protocols and be otherwise mutually unintelligible
  • Collecting all data in a central, timestamped database, where it can be used to analyze trends or demonstrate compliance

Master stations enable operations to go from single-instance monitoring to monitoring entire networks. On top of aiding water tank monitoring, they can also receive reports from other important equipment and assets used by utilities, agriculture, oil and gas, and mining companies. This cohesive, encompassing network coverage provides significant benefits, preventing breakdowns and improving maintenance results.

Remote water tank monitoring is an indispensable ability for any industry which requires large amounts of water. Combined with remote monitoring of other large assets and infrastructure, it is a critical ability for companies seeking to minimize their maintenance costs and maximize their reliability.

DPS Telecom provides reliable remote monitoring equipment for water tanks and other important assets. Our experts can help you develop your remote monitoring system, and provide important installation insights. Reach out and get a quote today!

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