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Alco is utilizing active tags to control access to its pump stations, as well as track assets, enabling it to locate equipment quickly in the event of an emergency.
By Mary Catherine O'Connor
Feb. 10, 2010—Alco Water Service, an investor-owned water utility based in Salinas, Calif., has rolled out an RFID-based system for both security and asset-management applications. The company, which maintains a number of unmanned pump stations throughout the town, is employing the system to gain better visibility into the use of its stations, both for operational efficiency and in compliance with the Bioterrorism Act, federal legislation passed in 2002.
The counterterrorism law requires that a water utility
serving a population of 3,300 or more must assess its
system's vulnerability to acts of terrorism or other intentional
harm. Alco assessed the security of its unmanned well
sites, each of which consists of a small building housing
a pump, and secured with barbed-wire fencing. Based on
that analysis, the firm decided that by issuing RFID tags
to personnel then and linking those tags to an access-control
system so that only authorized workers could enter the
pumps stations, it would appreciably lower the stations'
vulnerability to terrorist attack. The use of RFID would
also allow Alco to maintain a detailed and accurate history
of employee activity at each well.
In addition, the company determined that if it attached
RFID tags to vital assets, its personnel would be better
able to locate those assets quickly in the event of an
emergency, which should also lower the vulnerability of
the water system.
"Employees enter and leave our pump stations [throughout
the day], and we have a lot of equipment, such as flow
meters, that we need to track," says Adnen Chaabane,
Alco Water's operations engineer. "We wanted to track
what goes in and out of the stations, and at what times."
Alco worked with AssetPulse,
an RFID systems integrator specializing in asset-tracking
applications, to develop and launch the RFID system. The
system consists of active RFID tags and readers from RF
Code, which operate at 433 MHz and communicate via a proprietary
air-interface protocol. The hardware is controlled using
AssetGather, a software platform developed by AssetPulse.
AssetGather is used to maintain a database that links
each tag to a particular asset or employee, and also records
a history of the times and locations of each tag read.
RFID interrogators are currently installed at five of
Alco's nine pump stations, as well as at its administrative
office and a maintenance shop. (Over the next two years,
Chaabane says, the company plans to install readers at
its four remaining pump stations.) Because of the system's
long read range, detecting the tags poses no problems—in
fact, he says, the readers at each pump station were tuned
down so that they would detect tags only when located
within the stations, in order to ensure that the tags
of assets and employees located outside of the stations
were not read.
Chaabane says he was initially concerned that variable
frequency drives inside the stations, which control the
speed of the water pumps' electric motors, would generate
RF interference with the RFID system. Upon testing, however,
this proved not to be an issue, because these devices
do not operate in the 433 MHz band.
The software is currently operating in a standalone status,
but will soon be integrated into Alco's time-and-attendance
software. While the company has no plans to use the RFID
reads to determine each worker's pay, employees can use
the tag-read history log to check times, such as how late
they worked on a specific day, or when they arrived at
a pump station or the maintenance shop.
Water systems are particularly vulnerable during power
outages, so if electricity is lost at any facility or
pump station, the interrogators deployed will switch to
a battery-based, uninterruptible power supply for up to
30 minutes. Then, if the power is still out, a fuel-powered
generator will kick in.
The system has been in place for 18 months, Chaabane says,
having been rolled out permanently after being tested
on a small scale for a few months. To date, he adds, Alco
has spent approximately $100,000 for the entire system,
though he estimates that the company has already seen
a return on its investment through improved asset utilization,
as well as by avoiding having to replace lost assets.
When searching for a particular asset, an employee can
reference the AssetGather
Software to determine where and when that item was
last detected by an RFID reader. This can save considerable
time in hunting for the asset—especially when it
eliminates the need to drive out to a remote pump station
to search for it, or one like it. Because personnel spend
less time looking for equipment, Chaabane notes, productivity
has improved without any increase in labor spending. What's
more, he says, Alco has saved money by virtue of no longer
misplacing high-value assets and subsequently having to
replace them.
About
Alco Water Service
Alisal Water Corporation, dba Alco Water Service is an investor owned water utility located in Salinas, CA. Alco was established in 1932 and incorporated in California.
About
AssetPulse
AssetPulse is a San Jose, California based company focused exclusively on providing complete customizable RFID asset tracking solutions for various industries and use-cases. AssetPulse's solutions integrate seamlessly with fixed and mobile RFID readers using Passive, Semi-Passive and Active RFID, RTLS Technologies or bar-codes. For more information, please call (408) 872-3104 or visit www.assetpulse.com.
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| AssetPulse and AssetGather are trademarks or registered trademarks of AssetPulse, LLC. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. |
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