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No day without water

Reliable water supply depends on maximum availability. Modernizing its redundant systems and four control centers with SIMATIC WinCC Open Architecture ensures Fernwasser Elbaue-Ostharz (FEO) maximum availability, upholding their motto: "No day without water."

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Modern long-distance water supply for 2.5 million people

The long-distance water utility FEO supplies water to three German states: Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. In these states, three waterworks – Elbaue, Torgau and Wienrode – with a network of pipelines that’s around 800 km long are managed via three control centers, making it possible to supply some 2.5 million inhabitants with 80 to 82 cubic meters of water from one dispatcher control center. This is a major achievement that requires modernization. The three utility control centers will be equipped with WinCC Open Architecture (WinCC OA) as the new control system.

Marco Matthes, Head of the Works Division, Fernwasserversorgung Elbaue-Ostharz GmbH

Durability is a must

The FEO waterworks are designed to last 50 to 80 years. "That is why the company needs control systems with a product lifecycle of over 20 years", says Marco Matthes, Head of the Works Division at FEO. Continuous renovations, decommissioning activities, expansions, capacity adjustments and other structural modifications are expected throughout this period. The control system deployed must be able to model all these changes and, during ongoing operation, replace all existing PLCs with a new model that has an IEC 6087-5-104 interface and new data points in the SCADA system. It must also be possible to extensively test function modules and communication.

We invest in waterworks that have to operate for up to 80 years. This consistency must be reflected in our process control system.
Marco Matthes, Head of the Works Division, Fernwasserversorgung Elbaue-Ostharz GmbH

Maximum availability and IT security

An autonomous, redundant SIMATIC WinCC OA waterworks SCADA system with online engineering is being installed and integrated into a networked control system application for each of the control centers in Elbaue, Torgau and Wienrode. The open concept of WinCC Open Architecture allows FEO to access all the data from the three waterworks simultaneously via the plant management control centers and the dispatcher control center. Thanks to this networked architecture and certification according to IEC 62443-4-2, availability and IT security are maximized – top priorities for FEO as a Critical Infrastructure (CI) operator.

Aerial view of the Rappbodetalsperre dam and reservoir near the Elbe, surrounded by forested hills, with a river in a valley
Wienrode waterworks / primary site control system

Efficient integration opportunities

Instead of the former SINAUT LSX systems, each of the three waterworks is being provided with a redundant WinCC Open Architecture control system. The SINAUT ST7 telecontrol systems are being replaced by up-to-date SIMATIC S7-1500 controllers with IEC 60870-5-104 telecontrol communication. The openness of WinCC OA in terms of engineering allows SPIE OSMO to efficiently incorporate the 75,000 I/O interfaces from the systems via automated import. WinCC OA makes MS Excel-based mass engineering available for this purpose, along with other open interfaces for efficient, customer-specific engineering.

Conversion without readjustment

Thanks to the flexibility of WinCC OA, the transition for operators is as smooth as possible. The user interface of the existing system is almost exactly recreated, a customer-specific engineering experience is implemented in the control system library and mass engineering is adapted. All this enables the different teams to maintain the system themselves and to overcome new challenges with the aid of optimally adapted solutions, with evident success. After converting, FEO achieved a failure rate close to 0 percent, a value that is unequaled in the industry.

FEO Referenz
With WinCC OA, we have a data acquisition layer, a data processing layer and a visualization layer. Other systems don’t offer that.
Stefan Baer, System Administrator PLS, Fernwasserversorgung Elbaue-Ostharz GmbH

The solutions at a glance

Efficient monitoring and control with long-term availability are required in the control centers of various industries. With SCADA systems like SIMATIC WinCC Open Architecture from the Siemens portfolio, employees can meet constantly growing demands for cost-effectiveness and flexibility over an extremely long plant lifecycle, despite the conversion and renovation measures necessary on the plant level.

H₂O | 24/7

Each year, the 220 employees of Fernwasserversorgung Elbaue-Ostharz (FEO) supply around 80 million cubic meters of drinking water to 2.5 million people. The utility serves local water providers and industrial customers across the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia through an extensive pipeline network. To ensure a reliable, high-quality water supply around the clock, FEO replaced its legacy SIMATIC LSX control system with SIMATIC WinCC Open Architecture.

FEO Fernwasser building with the slogan
Safety consulting, Safety consulting solution partner

Custom plants

SPIE OSMO offers the entire range of services, from project development and implementation to the operation and maintenance of entire plants and systems for industry, business and the public sector. The company covers areas like electrical plant manufacturing, automation and control systems. Its focus is on developing the best solution for its customers, both economically and technologically. For 20 years, SPIE OSMO has been one of the most experienced Siemens Solution Partners. As a SCADA expert certified in SIMATIC WinCC OA, the company has extensive experience in distributed, networked control centers like those used by FEO.

SIMATIC WinCC Open Architecture

The customized solution that was implemented for the water utility FEO demonstrates the extreme versatility of SIMATIC WinCC OA. The system is ideal for implementing manufacturer- and platform-neutral control systems, particularly applications that require extensive and complex adaptations. The high degree of flexibility permits almost unlimited adaptability over a longer period of time. Access via fully compatible web clients or mobile devices that have an Android or iOS user interface means that mobile employees and on-call services can also access control centers remotely.

Wind turbines and solar panels in green fields with a city skyline and mountains at sunrise.
Siemens SIMATIC S7 1500 controller with display screen and status indicators on a dark blue background.

SIMATIC S7-1500

SIMATIC WinCC Open Architecture excels with its many interfaces, such as DNP3, IEC 60870-5-101, IEC 61850, OPC UA, Modbus, BacNet, S7 TCP and MQTT. Thanks to these interfaces, even systems from third-party providers can be connected to a control center. A key factor for the implementation at FEO is the new SIMATIC S7-1500 controllers with an IEC-60870-5-104 interface. Thanks to their modular design and extreme reliability, they make it possible to perform the most sophisticated monitoring and control tasks from the control center while maintaining the highest possible data security.