Visualization Make Anomalies in Water Supply Visible

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Bachmann Electronic GmbH, Office Bochum Frank Fladerer

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To ensure reliable operation in the long term, the Northern Burgenland (Austria) Water Supply Association required a flexible SCADA system that also meets the continuously increasing security demands. For operational data monitoring, the WLV has relied on Atvise from Bachmann for years. As part of the further development, the existing SCADA component, including automation, had to be integrated.

With an annual system input of around 4 billion gallons of water and a total pipeline length of around 1,900 miles, the Northern Burgenland Water Supply Association (WLV NB) is one of the largest drinking water suppliers in Austria. It supplies drinking water to a total of 66 municipalities. Due to population growth and, not least, as a result of climate change, the pipeline network has also been expanded to meet the increasing water demand.

The company RHC Automation, based in Leibnitz, Austria, introduced a new long-term database solution in 2018 to manage the associated complexity. As an interface, the system integrator relied on Atvise from Bachmann: "The visualization with this web-based solution enables the responsible employees to view the relevant operational data on any web-enabled device in any browser," explains Roland Hirschmann, owner of RHC Automation. Since the introduction of Atvise, pipe bursts and other anomalies can now be detected with just a few clicks for the WLV NB.

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Gradual SCADA Transition

Although this provided a future-proof monitoring solution and a long-term data archive, the aging SCADA system of the WLV NB could no longer ensure reliable and NIS-compliant operation in the future, especially since the manufacturer was no longer present in the market. The WLV NB was looking for a replacement. Atvise was already being used for operational data monitoring—therefore, it seemed obvious to consider the software as the new SCADA system, Hirschmann describes the considerations at the time. He had also had good experiences with Atvise as a SCADA solution in connection with long-term database systems with other customers.

To give the WLV NB an initial impression, Hirschmann connected a station linked to the existing control system via the IEC 104 protocol in parallel to Atvise. "After that, several other stations of the house and barrier control followed. Then it became quite clear: Atvise will be the new SCADA system at WLV NB," recalls the owner of RHC Automation.

Until mid-2025, the entire project is needed to integrate the approximately 100 stations with several thousand data points, which are physically collected in the field, into the new SCADA system. In the final stage, the components are connected to Atvise via IEC 104, OPC UA, and Modbus.

Special Feature: Radio Connection

90 percent of the external stations of the WLV NB are connected to the SCADA system via radio. "The flat topology in Burgenland allows elevated radio systems to cover large radii," Hirschmann describes a particular feature of communication at the WLV NB. In most cases, there are also no cable connections between reservoir tanks and pumping stations. Therefore, higher-level automation functions at the WLV NB must be almost exclusively carried out via the SCADA system.

During the transition phase, however, scenarios were unavoidable where, for example, a reservoir was still connected to the old system while the associated pumping station was already implemented in the new system. To ensure seamless automation in these cases, the current reservoir level of the tank is read into Atvise via OPC UA from the long-term database. This, in turn, enables the automatic control of the pumps via the SCADA system.

This parallel operation is a great advantage because we don't have to switch everything at once. Even when hardware of an external station is renewed, it is delivered pre-configured, so only a very short operational interruption is necessary during commissioning.

Roland Hirschmann, Owner of RHC Automation

Full Overview

With Atvise, the WLV NB receives a highly flexible monitoring and SCADA solution: thanks to the web technology, camera images and other external data sources, as well as internet services, can be depicted in the Atvise operational data monitoring—such as maps from Google Maps or weather data. "All nitrate measurement points in the supply area are mapped in embedded Google Maps. By selecting the station points on the map, the associated trend curves can be directly accessed while simultaneously capturing geographical contexts," the engineer is convinced. The web-based solution offers significantly more functionalities for trend displays than most desktop installations.

Key Factor Security

In addition to usability, the new SCADA system has a strong focus on security—not least because of the NIS-2 directive, which defines strict requirements for the cybersecurity of critical infrastructures. In this area, successfully completed penetration and vulnerability tests confirm the implementation of comprehensive security measures in Atvise.

Due to security requirements, the WLV NB uses two separate systems: one is an IT-focused monitoring system for statistical analysis of data from long-term archiving, and the other is a strictly separated environment for operational technology processes, which serves as SCADA and is also connected to the long-term database.

Controls

Redundant control solution with standard components

The system for operational data monitoring is available to a larger number of users in the IT network, with user authentication taking place via an Active Directory-based single sign-on. The permissions are therefore automatically group-based, inherited from Windows authentication. In contrast, the SCADA system in the OT network is only accessible via the maintenance workstation or through strictly limited VPN access with two-factor authentication.

In both systems, access permissions within the visualization could be further restricted on a user-specific basis thanks to Atvise's fine-grained access control. Communication between the central unit and external stations also takes place via VPN connections, which overlay the radio transmission. Firewalls and intrusion detection systems provide additional operational security. Furthermore, clear password policies were introduced and documented for the SCADA system. For increased failover security, the Atvise instances are redundantly installed on two physical servers.

This way, we have established a solution with which the WLV NB can calmly look forward to future expansions.

Roland Hirschmann, Owner of RHC Automation