Navionics Research Inc. is pleased to introduce the PowerFlex 753-Series VFD to our Water and Wastewater Utility Clients.  This Architecture-Class, Made in the USA drive from Allen Bradley offers a modular design and can be flexibly configured for most any potable water or wastewater pumping application. We recently had the privilege of commissioning a 150 HP PowerFlex Read More →

Water Utility Pumping Stations and Filtration Plants are heavily reliant upon the electric power grid, and therefore it is often desirable to closely monitor the quality of the incoming power.  As a general rule, NRI has always offered basic power fault tracking at all Telemetry-monitored stations.  However, at certain critical stations, it is desirable to Read More →

When NRI’s VFD & Energy Analytics is implemented in a water plant or pumping station, VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) fault alarms are passed as numerical codes to the SCADA system via an industrial communication protocol (e.g. Modbus, DF1, EtherNet/IP, etc.) and then to the operator. A code of ‘0’ (zero) signifies no fault condition, whereas a non-zero code signifies that a fault Read More →

In rural areas — due to a combination of long power transmission line lengths and the relative isolation of the remote pumping facilities — it is not uncommon for stations to suffer from power quality problems.  Therefore, it is always recommended that a station’s power status be monitored, trended, and alarmed for outages. In the most basic sense, Read More →

I am very appreciative of all the positive feedback that I’ve received over the past few days as a result of this 3-part series of articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  I am glad that I was able to convey how the latest VFD technology — when leveraged to its full capability and coupled tightly with our new VFD & Energy Analytics Telemetry Software — is Read More →

Yesterday, in Part 1 of this series, we reported that a recent pump station upgrade resulted in a staggering energy cost reduction — reducing the average electricity charges from $345/month to less than $114/month!  Since you have kindly returned today for Part 2, your consideration will be repaid with the details of how this feat was accomplished — and how Read More →

A topic of continual concern for today’s water utility is Pumping Station Energy Efficiency. And to put this subject in laymen’s terms, how better than to relate it to fuel efficiency for the familiar automobile?    First, let’s look at the work that each produces — With a car, the unit of work is expressed as a driven “Mile”; whereas in Read More →