System Integration & Control Systems Design


Omniflex eases mine water compliance

October 2019 System Integration & Control Systems Design

Water licences carry a ‘Burden of Proof’ that the licence holder will not harm the environment or the water system through its activities. This covers the use of water from the system and the responsible discharge of water back into it. Water quality, as a part of environmental responsibility, is a key element to triple bottom line reporting, with responsible water licencee operators needing to provide data for licencing authorities and compliance data for reporting. Omniflex has tackled the challenges for this type of remote monitoring application head on and has dealt with a number of key issues:

• Remote and unmanned sites.

• Solar power.

• Vandal proofing.

• Automated operation 24/7/365.

• Enterprise aggregated data over large geographic areas.

• Maintained historical data.

• Early warning of accidental spillage/releases.

This type of project requires monitoring systems be installed at key sites to track mine water outflows, ensuring that the mine has a complete view of its discharge and treatment of wastewater over its entire operation. Data collected is shared internally across the enterprise to processing plants and to a GIS system for open reporting, also to the Department of Water Affairs for transparency. Analytical measurements that can be incorporated into the system include:

• Flow rate.

• Total flow.

• Dissolved oxygen.

• pH.

• Conductivity.

• Turbidity.

Management objectives

Omniflex provides a cost effective adaptable solution from single point small systems to large corporate enterprise monitoring, allowing the integration of existing equipment and legacy systems to provide the management tools for an aggregated view of the enterprise without the labour intensive capture and collation process. Real-time alerts for abnormal conditions and early warning of accidental spillages/releases are provided through SMS or email services, ensuring the right people are kept informed. The system also enables automated reporting via email or manual download for compliance management, driving environmental action plan reporting


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