Most large facilities such as water treatment sites need a decent communications system in order to keep in touch with their workers at all times. This is because problems need to be reported quickly in order to prevent serious incidents from occurring and oftentimes, detailed information will have to be relayed between technical and managerial staff in a timely fashion. Additionally, the sheer size of such sites means that it can be especially dangerous for lone workers, who will need to be able to quickly report accidents in order to prevent themselves from being injured or worse. It is not uncommon for water treatments sites to simply have a telephone hotline that links to the main office and a series of panic buttons situated around the workplace in order to quickly raise the alarm. Whilst decades ago, this may have been considered a state of the art setup, nowadays we can use modern technology to not just prevent undesirable downtime of equipment, but also keep our workers safe and sound whilst they go about their jobs.

Whilst no utilities are immune to technical faults, water treatment sites can be especially sensitive to mechanical problems. This is down to several reasons. Firstly, the interdependent nature of a lot of the systems in place mean that one key fault can cause the entire facility to grind to a halt as water can no longer be filtered through the site, whereas a traditional manufacturing plant could still at least continue producing some limited components of their product. Secondly, the sheer size of some water treatment sites and the complexity of the equipment can make it hard to identify or locate a specific fault, especially when considering the small number of staff that will typically be assigned to an individual plant. Furthermore, clean water is vital not just for human consumption but also for the continued function of many businesses, meaning that prolonged downtime can have far-ranging impacts on a treatment plant’s stakeholders.

There are also plenty of physical hazards to workers as well. These range from the large bodies of water stored at the facility (which present a clear risk of drowning), to the actual holding tanks which can present a fall hazard to a worker trying to clean or inspect them. Additionally, large amounts of moving machinery will typically be present on site, along with an electrical system to keep everything moving. On top of this, there are the risks posed by the worker’s own tools and any minor hazards that can still result in injury. Whilst the vast majority of staff will carry radios or mobile phones with them as they work, these cannot always be used to call for help if an accident occurs. This is because the facility itself can block the signals from these devices owing to the presence of underground tunnels and large buildings, coupled with the fact that water treatment sites are typically constructed in remote areas with poor mobile phone signal coverage.

However, whether the problem is an accident that threatens the safety of a worker or a technical fault that could prevent the plant from functioning properly, a robust alarm system is needed in order to minimise the dangers. Whilst a regular alarm system will typically rely on alarms being directly raised and handled by staff themselves, this is not necessarily the best solution. Alarms will typically need to be processed by control room staff, who may make errors when assigning tasks , which can in turn lead to mistakes being made by the responding technicians. Instead, the process can be automated to produce better results.