Public utilities are in a sorry state in many U.S. cities, no more so than in the water and wastewater sectors. Due to restricted spending and the “invisible” nature of the problems related to the water industry, investment has been deferred for years and the infrastructure has been bereft of the care and attention it so desperately needs. One recent study revealed water loss as high as 46% between the water source and its destination – an alarming figure by any measure. If towns and cities in the United States are leaking almost as much water as they are supplying, what is is to be done to secure a more sustainable future for this precious resource? The savior of the water and wastewater industries? The light at then end of the tunnel is the  real-time data and analytics  provided by the Industrial Internet of Things (the IIoT). With a straightforward installation of sensors in key locations and connection of these sensors to the Cloud, real-time data can be analyzed to identify the infrastructure’s main leak points. Once identified, the municpiality’s limited resources can be focused to address the issue: budgets can be alloted, upgrades can be scheduled and maintenance teams deployed. More than preventing leaking wastewater But introducing the  IIoT into water and wastewater infrastructure   goes far beyond this “plugging the holes” remedial work. Additionally, sensors can gather data on water quality, flow rates and equipment performance. If problems arise, the near real-time data can be acted upon more swiftly, allowing engineering teams to respond faster to remedy leakage, loss of pressure or to mitigate the risk of catastrophic failure. How IIoT deployment becomes the industry’s crystal ball As well as a faster reactive model, the IIoT offers the additional and much greater benefit of predictive insights. Component parts all have a pre-determined working life and by monitoring the data on their working hours, spares inventory procurement and part replacement work can be scheduled in a far more efficient and cost effective manner. Read:  The completely overlooked but drastic cost savings municipal water departments can achieve with this simple IIoT application Moreover, the predictive advantage of IIoT pretty much guarantees indefinite continuation of service. Additionally, over time the data can be used for longer term improvements like more accurate usage forecasting or for system expansion planning. Easy of use by monitoring using existing devices Remote monitoring of the water/wastewater system using IIoT is simple because it requires no custom hardware or dedicated devices. Public works departments can monitored their system from every day devices such as tablets and smartphones. The IIoT is also flexible enough to provide different users with different levels of access to cater for the specific and varied needs of everyone from C-level executives to maintenance teams. The IIoT road ahead for water/wastewater departments Although many public works professionals are aware of the benefits of deploying the IIoT, there is some way to go before awareness of the enormous advantage of IIoT reaches the mainstream and the ears of the voting public. Full adoption requires bold decisions from city and municipal leaders to make IIoT a priority on their planning roadmap, commit to an overhaul of current infrastructure and to make the right investments to ensure an intelligent and robust water/wastewater system is in place for the future. Taking your first steps towards IIoT deployment? Check out the  Nimbus IoT Cloud Gateway  for a simple way to begin connecting your equipment to the Cloud.

Aug 31, 2012 is a day that one Arizona company will never forget. Events of that day are now clear but for many weeks following the incident, staff and investigators alike drew a blank. A Friday like any other… It was the Friday before Labor Day and business as usual for the 36 workers present. The morning passed uneventfully and during lunch their thoughts naturally turned to the long weekend ahead of them. “We talked about our plans for the weekend”, remembers Amber Brennan-Eisner, office manager at the time. “The weather was great and everyone was looking forward to it.” Some were heading off to the White Mountains for camping or fishing trips, others were staying closer to home to host family picnics or barbecues. All were making the most of the last long weekend before school started. After a scorching summer (July had been the hottest month in U.S. history), the company’s air- conditioning had been worked hard. Earlier in the week the strain had caused several units to fail. That Friday, HVAC engineers were working frantically to remedy the stifling temperatures in some parts of the building. Unfortunately, due to the long weekend, the data breach wasn’t discovered until late on the following Tuesday A devastating security breach In the last hours before this business closed to enjoy all that the 3 day weekend would offer, it suffered one of the most devastating and embarrassing events in the company’s 42 year history. It fell victim to a massive breach of security: the company was hacked and the credit card details of all their recent customers were stolen. Unfortunately due to the long weekend, the data breach wasn’t discovered until late on the following Tuesday. Initial suspicions were of high tech and complex cyber attack from off-shore – perhaps China or Eastern Europe – but the reality turned out to be something far more grass roots. An overseas cyber attack? Like many similar businesses in the area, the company had a Genset (generator) in the basement of their building. To comply with regulations, the emissions from this generator had to be monitored and logged to a data logger computer a short distance away. When the Genset was installed it was just out of range of the company’s wi-fi network router, so a high gain router with a 12db aerial was used to bridge the distance. The installation engineer wired the Ethernet ports: one Modbus TCP at the Genset and the other in the control room which was connected the company network. At the time of installation the IT team ensured the solution complied with the tight security on the company’s wi-fi network, so when the breach happened many were left scratching their heads. They investigated whether network security could have breached by an individual from that basement location Investigators pored over hours of security camera footage, server logs and other technical data attempting to pinpoint the breach. A simple oversight causes havoc Eventually, CCTV footage revealed an individual dressed in a similar fashion to the HVAC engineers making a detour towards the basement. His destination could not be confirmed as unfortunately no security cameras existed in the basement. They then investigated whether network security could have breached by an individual from that basement location. IT pointed out that this made no sense as the company’s network data was encrypted and a high level of security was maintained on the network at all times. However, it turned out that down in the basement this individual had simply plugged a laptop into the extra Ethernet port on the router by the Genset. Of course, data is encrypted while traveling through the air but is decrypted in the router itself and its Ethernet ports were open and transparent. This hacker had hit the jackpot. He was straight in to the company-wide network and accessed the secure customer database. Nowadays the company is connected to the Cloud and has employed robust IoT technology to plug this vulnerability. Security and Industrial IoT Gateways They use the  Zen IoT gateway  which has its own wi-fi port and connects to the Cloud with an extra layer of security: Transport Layer Security (TLS) Additionally it has an ethernet port which uses only Modbus TCP, so the port cannot be hijacked for any other communication uses. The company chose the Zen IoT for its size and simplicity. It offers 3 options to connect their previously discrete hardware to the Cloud, only requires the skills of a local electrician for installation and measures just 4” x 1.4” x 4.7”. As a  Cloud Edge Processing device  the Zen performs calculations on the collated data prior to transmitting to the Cloud. It also features a flexible logic engine which can programmed with a powerful scripting language for custom applications. With the Zen IoT and its built-in security measures in place, if a cyber attack did occur today, the only thing it might achieve would be to corrupt the generator data to the Cloud by simulating a Genset controller. This would be unlikely (as the hacker would have nothing to gain) and the impact would be small compared to the magnitude of a credit data theft. Privacy and security surrounding the IoT is of primary concern to all planning the connection of their legacy equipment and a transition to the Cloud. The Zen IoT addresses these concerns and simplifies the connection process.