Mission Communications, LLC articles

Museum artifacts protected by real-time monitoring

The Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Wash., preserves and houses art and other historical artifacts that include more than 80 works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The facility was founded by railroad executive and lawyer Sam Hill after an attempt to develop a Quaker farming community and town on his remote 5,300-acre estate in 1907. The Hill mansion eventually was converted into a museum that officially ope

Springfield, Mo., makes critical decisions using rainfall data

The city of Springfield, Mo., has a service area of 82 sq miles with a population of about 160,000. City officials have used Mission Communications remote terminal units (RTUs) to monitor rainfall since 2007. Carrie Lamb, water quality compliance officer for the city of Springfield, said the Department of Public Works (DPW) needed a network of rainfall gauges interspersed across the city to collect cons

Treatment agency sees results from new monitoring system

Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) is a wastewater treatment agency in Greenville, S.C., that serves Greenville and parts of Laurens, Anderson, Pickens and Spartanburg counties in the upstate area. The utility infrastructure includes eight water resource recovery facilities that are serviced by 343 miles of interceptor lines and 60 pump stations. Effectively managing such a large network is challenging at best.

San Juan Island is a popular resort destination whose population fluctuates with the season and the arrival of Orca whales and salmon runs. To get to the island, you must first drive an hour north of Seattle to the city of Anacortes. From there you take a two-hour ferry ride through a 130 island group to arrive at the 20 mile San Juan Island, which is at the waterway entrance to Puget Sound.

Bob Charters is the President of the Cape San Juan Water District, which serves a small com

RTUs make life easier for utility responsible for 707 separate drainage districts

Since adding Mission M110 RTUs to 40 lift stations, Lenawee County, Mich., has saved time, manpower and money. As county drain commissioner, Stephen May runs a utility responsible for maintaining 707 separate drainage districts encompassing more than 1,500 miles of drains.

Mission has helped him reduce site inspections, find holes in riser pumps more quickly, and resolve a

Connecticut town employs managed SCADA to maintain accuracy

The town of Darien is home to 21,000 people on the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Residents pride themselves on being good environmental stewards who work to preserve their pristine waterways and natural habitat. Prior to 2012, the Darien collection system was monitored by programmable logic controllers (PLC) and phone lines. Darien collection system personnel were overwhelmed with false alarms, inaccurate dat

Remote terminal units eliminate need to regularly read master meters

For the better part of nine years, Vivian Shaw has been the operator of Chautauqua County Rural Water District #4 (RWD4) in Kansas. The utility distributes potable water to customers of Chautauqua and Montgomery counties, as well as the city of Longton, using approximately 275 miles of pipeline.

Depending on the season, RWD4 provides 50,000 to 80,000 gal of water per year. Shaw carries

Remote terminal units help an Oregon utility monitor 40 major pump and lift stations.

Clean Water Services (CWS), a water reuse provider in Oregon that serves more than 500,000 residents, has partnered with local organizations to educate the public about the importance of wastewater reuse.

CWS Government and Public Affairs Manager Mark Jockers says they intend to increase public understanding and acceptance of water reuse as well as the importance of rec

As the water and wastewater industry faces a shrinking labor source, remote monitoring can fill the experience gap.

About one third of water and wastewater utility workers will retire by 2018, according to the 2008 Water Environment Federation report. More than 79 million baby boomers will reach retirement age during the next 10 years. According to a study authored by Jones and Henry Engineers, funding deficits, heightened federal security and mounting regulations und

Florida city improves its control structures with SCADA

Florida has been directly struck by 110 hurricanes since 1851, making it the No. 1 state for hurricane hits. Some of the most damaging hurricanes in U.S. history have developed in the Gulf of Mexico because its warm ocean water makes it a prime area for hurricane formation. Like many cities in Florida, Palm Coast is no stranger to hurricanes and tropical storms. These storms endanger the water supply and the c