News from Mission Communications for Water and Wastewater Professionals
2021 Upgrade Program Aims to Get Ahead of Cellular Sunsets

Mission engineers have been hard at work developing our newest radio, the RMDT1, which supports multiple carriers with a single SIM card. While previous Mission radios offered multi-carrier support, they required a truck roll to change the SIM card for each respective carrier. This radio is now standard on all new MyDro remote terminal units. The MyDro RTU offers numerous additional features compared to legacy RTUs as described in our Upgrade to MyDro pamphlet.

Mission offers a generous trade-in value for units less than five years old as part of our technology obsolescence guarantee. For a limited time, Mission is offering enhanced upgrade incentives to facilitate the replacement of legacy units with state-of-the art MyDro RTUs.

AT&T will discontinue 3G cellular service as of 2/22/2022 an upgrade to MyDro will ensure that there are no service interruptions and improve communications.

Any legacy or MyDro units with non-LTE radios will need upgraded radios in order to connect to cellular networks after this sunsets occurs.

For more information on our upgrade program, contact sales@123mc.com.
 
Since events are still in flux due to COVID restrictions, please make sure to confirm schedules with individual trade shows. We will update our website as new information is made available.


Mission Provides Peace of Mind
for Bertrem Rental Units
When problems arise, often temporary solutions help fill the gap until a permanent fix can be put in place. By providing additional pumps during construction, repairs, or heavy-use periods, Bertrem Products, a Mission distributor in Arkansas, fills this need with their rental pumps. However, when the main equipment is down, utilities still need data about their systems. Bertrem also wants to keep an eye on their rental pumps to ensure proper functioning. This led them to install Mission remote terminal units (RTUs) on their rental pumps.
Bertrem uses portable pump and telemetry setups for their rentals. Photo by Justin Riedmueller.
“I suggested it to the customer as a way to monitor the pumps and alleviate needing someone sitting there 24/7. That’s a common thing with rental pumps on sewer bypasses to have someone on site doing pump watch around the clock. The Mission System has helped eliminate that because you’re able to monitor the pumps, runtimes, starts and stops, and the overall condition of station at any given time.” Justin Riedmueller with Bertrem proposed the idea and helped set up Mission RTUs on the rental units. “It was something that Josh (Christiansen, also with Bertrem) and I had discussed whenever I first came on to take over the rental department. They had actually put one [Mission RTU] on a pump because they kept having so many issues with it before I started, and after that we saw that there could be a potential market for it.”

The length of each rental can be as short as a week to more than a year depending on the needs of the job. Bertrem currently has three bypass stations with Mission RTUs. One station has three pumps, and the other stations have two pumps each.

Mission RTUs collect and send data to the servers where it can be viewed via the 123SCADA web portal or mobile app. This accessibility helps streamline service calls for both the customer and Bertrem.

“When a problem occurs, the contractors are not always around those stations. They may only work on that site one day out of the week depending on what their job status is there. If a fault occurs or we have an issue with one of the pumps, then we’re able to go out there and get it repaired before they have any kind of backups. And the customer is notified as well with alarm notifications,” explains Riedmueller. “If there’s an issue, we can see what we’re dealing with before we get there. With Mission we’re able to see whether it’s an electrical fault or something with itself and if we need to grab parts from the shop. We can look at the system and get a better idea before we actually head out to the job site.”

“We’re using Mission to let us know high level, which pumps are running, if there are any pump failures, what the rainfall is, temperature outside.” Christiansen helps with the rental units as well. “We all monitor the lift stations. We’ll notify the contractor of any changes. Every day, we send them a report with the pump runtime hours on it and pump starts and stops of the rental pumps.”

Examining data trends helps Riedmueller predict any issues with the rental pumps in hopes of adjusting or repairing pumps before problems surface. “I have reports set up to email me daily about runtimes. I use that report to compare to the rental pump average. If the pump is running longer and we’ve gotten rain, I know there can be infiltration, but I can usually tell by the report if there’s a problem or not. I also get a monthly runtime report that I send to the customer as a courtesy so they can see all runtimes in one spreadsheet.”

Utilizing Mission RTUs at these bypass stations helps not only prevent problems, it also helps the customer reduce man hours on site and monitoring.

“I use the mobile app daily. If we haven’t had any issues, I check it two or three times each day. The customer looks at it about the same amount.” Riedmueller explained that one customer uses the mobile app regularly now. “At first, he only wanted to be notified if there was an issue, but we gave him a log in for the web portal. Now he loves watching the system through the app. It helps him out with his daily reports on his end. He can report back that everything is going well, and if he’s not able to be on site due to meetings then he can see that everything is working right and not have to guess or drive two hours to his job site.”

“One of the cool things we’re doing with Mission is on the pump station that has three pumps. There are two lift stations that share the same force main, and it’s undersized to carry the full capacity of the stations. We installed some relays along with the Mission RTU to give the customer information. It actually goes into their SCADA system and shows when multiple pumps are running. If it’s a heavy rainfall, we may have two pumps running at the same time. And since that particular station has almost doubled its flow, it’s able to slow the other station down without the customer having to do anything. It all runs automatically like that.”

The reliability has increased interest for Bertrem customers in Mission outside of the rental units as well since the customer can see what the Mission system can do for them by providing proactive information on their pumps and accessories such as pressure transducers and flow monitoring.

Mission offers dependable and cost-effective options for telemetry along with a unique obsolescence guarantee and convenient training options. For more information about the Mission system, contact sales@123mc.com.














Justin Riedmueller (pictured with his wife, Ashley) oversees the rental units department for Bertrem Products.

March 3
Week 1: Survey of Features

March 10
Week 2: Hardware and Instrumentation

March 17
Week 3: Web Portal I-Unit Setup Options, Notification Setup Options, Alarm Groups, Website Tools

March 24
Week 4: Web Portal II-Advanced Features, Reporting, Supergraph, Volumetric Flow

March 31
Week 5: Special Topics

April 7
Week 1: Survey of Features

April 14
Week 2: Hardware and Instrumentation

April 21
Week 3: Web Portal I-Unit Setup Options, Notification Setup Options, Alarm Groups, Website Tools

April 28
Week 4: Web Portal II-Advanced Features, Reporting, Supergraph, Volumetric Flow

May 5
Week 1: Survey of Features

May 12
Week 2: Hardware and Instrumentation

May 19
Week 3: Web Portal I-Unit Setup Options, Notification Setup Options, Alarm Groups, Website Tools

May 26
Week 4: Web Portal II-Advanced Features, Reporting, Supergraph, Volumetric Flow

June 9
Week 2: Hardware and Instrumentation

June 23
Week 4: Web Portal II-Advanced Features, Reporting, Supergraph, Volumetric Flow

June 30
Week 5: Special Topics
Tank and Well Scheduler Helps Customers Save Energy and Money
A recent survey of Mission distributors revealed many utilities have budget concerns. The Mission engineering team is constantly working on new products and options to help utilities operate more efficiently so hopefully this feature may help a little with the budget.

Mission engineers added a new function to 123SCADA.com to help tank and well customers reduce utility costs. Off-Peak Schedules and Off-Peak Profiles allow utilities to fill their tanks to different levels to optimize pump runs based on time-of-day utility rates. By maintaining high levels during the off-peak period, the tank will be nearly full at the start of the peak period where energy costs are higher. Depending on the size of the tank and demand for water the pumps may not need to run at all during the peak period. Likewise, by keeping the tank low(er) when electric rates are high, a good portion of the refill cycle is deferred until cheaper electric rates are in effect.
 
“Though this feature has been available for several years, there hasn't been a user interface for it because each setup was customized. The new UI and setup wizard now gives the customer the ability to set it up and make changes when appropriate. This function lets the customer set the schedule based on their needs and see the results immediately thereafter,” states Joseph Jones, Assistant Technical Support Manager for Mission.
Since many electric utilities offer off peak rates by season the new option can be customized by time of year as well as time of day. The configuration interface is user friendly; it will not allow schedules to overlap, which ensures that users correctly enter dates and set points. If no schedules or profiles are set up, the Mission system will default to normal set points. Set points are the designated levels at which pumps will either turn on or off.

“In California, for example, there are many water utilities that are subject to a time-of-day rate. The power companies charge more during the summer and on business days because the combined load of air conditioning and industry stresses their systems. Not only do they have to have the generating capacity available, but the less efficient power plants must be added to the grid during the peak times.,” explains Jones. “By using Mission’s tank and well scheduler the utility saves money while helping the electric utilities.”

Even though off-peak periods vary widely throughout the country, these savings can often add up quickly. For example, one power provider in California lowers off-peak rates from 47¢ to 17¢ per kilowatt hour (kWh). Georgia Power reduces their rates from 20¢ to 5¢ per kWh for off-peak times, and utilities in Colorado show similar savings. Consult your local provider for specific rates.

A helpful part of the tank and well setup is a chart that graphically represents the level of a tank, runtimes, and set points. It displays information for both peak and off-peak hours. This trending data helps determine pump functionality and potential failure.
When getting started, a setup wizard will guide users through a series of settings to fill in necessary information. Configure off-peak schedules from 123SCADA.com using the following navigation path: Start Menu > Applications > Tank and Well > Tank and Well Setup (Wrench Icon) > Off-Peak Schedules.

Off-Peak Schedules are available only to tank and well customers. For more information about tank and well options, email sales@123mc.com.

Contact Mission technical support at 877-993-1911, option 2 or email TechSupport@123mc.com for help setting up Off-Peak Schedules.
Underwater Italian ‘Ghost Town’ Set to Resurface for the First Time in Decades
An ancient Tuscan village emerging from the depths of an Italian lake sounds like a Roman version of the myth of Atlantis, but the medieval town of Fabbriche di Careggine may soon rise again and host tourists for the first time in decades.

Founded in the 12th century in the Lucca region of Tuscany, Fabbriche di Careggine, once bustled with more than 150 villagers and workers. Marble mining was a boon to the economy despite the town’s small size, and blacksmiths gravitated to the area to practice their trade.

In 1947, an Italian energy company, Enel, constructed a dam on the Edron river to create a man-made lake, Lago di Vagli, in the area to use as a water reserve in case of fire in the area. The dam is also used for hydroelectric purposes. Lago di Vagli is filled with 34 million cubic feet of water. Those residents remaining in the village were relocated to nearby Vagli di Sotto, a small village designed to emulate Fabbriche di Careggine. To this day, if the lake level drops, the top of the Roman church is visible.

Beneath the lake sit the remains of stone houses, the Church of San Teodoro, a cemetery, a bridge, and other miscellaneous buildings. Lago di Vagil has only been drained four times – in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994 – since the dam was completed; this has helped preserve the buildings. Each time the village emerges, tourists flock to the area to view a piece of history. The most recent event allowed more than a million people to wander the same paths used for centuries before the manmade lake rendered them inaccessible.

According to Mario Puglia, former mayor of Vagli di Sotto, Enel and residents of Fabbriche di Careggine agreed that the lake would be drained every 10 years to allow former residents to visit their village. Puglia informed La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, that keeping the lake full has stalled tourism in the area and contributed to economic loss.

Enel issued a corporate statement indicating that “a memorandum of understanding addressing this project among other local enhancement initiatives is currently being formalized between our group and the municipality of Vagli di Sotto to support the Progetto Essere 2020 - Vagli. A work group will be started to determine the feasibility of the project."

A 2020 Facebook post from Lorenza Giorgi, daughter of Illio Domenico Giorgi – former mayor of the municipality – states that the lake will be drained this year according to reliable sources. She says, “I hope that next year, strengthened by the past experience of which everyone has a wonderful memory and with the help of social networks, we will be able to repeat and overcome the great success, with equal caution.”

Along with emptying the lake, Enel intends to promote responsible tourism. Part of the project includes raising awareness about clean and renewable energy as well as opening museums where local residents and tourists can learn about the history of the area. Enel also plans to clean the basin through a number of activities, which include draining, hydraulic maintenance, and other environmental interventions.

Events like these aim to increase tourism in the area in hopes of creating jobs and boosting the local economy. Though there has been no official announcement, local tourism officials update their website as new information is available. As worldwide travel begins to rebound, who would pass up an historic opportunity to take a walk through the past?
The secret to walkin' on water is knowin' where the rocks are.
- Bootsy Collins
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3170 Reps Miller Rd NW,
Suite 190, Norcross, GA 30071
1-877-993-1911