Warrington Township in Pennsylvania, US, is home to 25,000 residents and over 375 businesses. The township’s water comes from seven wells and five interconnections from another water supply district.
Due to a contaminant entering the groundwater from a military base in a neighboring municipality, Warrington was required to discontinue the use of its wells. This placed more demand on the supplemental interconnections to now fully feed those areas previously supplied by the well system. Two new interconnections were needed.
The change in the water supply to the township’s system resulted in fluctuating pressure that the mechanical control valves were designed to respond to in order to maintain constant pressure in the DMA.
With so many fluctuations, when one control valve changed, it would cause other control valves to react or close – effectively fighting themselves to maintain constant pressure throughout the system.
The system operators chose to outfit the two new interconnects with Singer Control Valves to match the existing valves in the system. The new valves came with an electrical pilot system and control panels, giving operators the ability to be controlled by a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system in the central control room.
The two new valves operated in the portion of the system originally serviced by the wells and elevated tank. Pleased with the result, Warrington operators then modified the original five Singer mechanical fixed pressure valves to mirror the new valves and operate through the SCADA system.
There is often a tendency to view things as disposable and simply replace the old with something new. Sometimes a simple upgrade can bring on a whole new world of possibilities.
Image credit: Singer Control Valves