Colfax council approves integrated SCADA upgrade for lift stations to reduce spill risk
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Summary
After staff reported that lift‑station SCADA hardware and software could not integrate with the new plant system, the council approved an integrated SCADA replacement (staff cited a fiscal impact shown as $154,140 in one place and $157,000 in another) intended to restore alarms, pump control and monitoring to four lift stations.
Colfax City Council approved a contract direction to integrate the lift‑station SCADA systems with the recently installed plant SCADA to improve monitoring and reduce the risk of sanitary sewer overflows.
Matt Anderson, chief plant operator for the Colfax Wastewater Treatment Plant, told the council the lift‑station control systems could not be integrated with the new plant SCADA because the lift‑station hardware and software are many versions behind current technology. He said that with the existing configuration the city cannot enable alarms at Lift Station 1 without faulting the system and that Lift Station 2 can only operate two of four pumps due to programming and hardware limitations.
Anderson said the requested integrated lift‑station SCADA system would cost roughly in the mid‑hundreds of thousands; staff acknowledged a misprint in the packet where two slightly different amounts appeared but confirmed the intended figure and described annual savings, including eliminating an existing $5,000‑per‑year landline expense. Anderson added that better monitoring would allow the city to detect pump failures and other faults before they result in a spill that could carry steep penalty and cleanup costs.
After council questions and brief public comment supporting the staff recommendation, a councilmember moved to approve the item and the motion was seconded and adopted by the council. The city directed staff to proceed; the council did not award a construction contract at the meeting but approved moving forward with implementation steps.
What it means: Integration will allow alarmed, remote monitoring, and tighter pump control at four city lift stations; staff expects a combination of avoided violation costs and modest ongoing savings versus the current arrangement.