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East Orange County Water District (EOCWD)

Oct. 2024 - Jan 2025

SCADA & Field Site RTU Programming

Project Team:

AIC, Big Bear Electric

AIC Role:

System Integrator

Project Type:

Bid, Direct to Owner

Project Team:

David Youngblood, P.E.

General Manager
714.538.5815
dyoungblood@eocwd.com
185 N. McPherson Rd. Orange, CA 92869

Key Project Elements:

  • Inductive Automation, Ignition SCADA
  • Inductive Automation, Edge OITs
  • Modicon M340 PLCs
  • VMWare, virtualization
  • MDS Orbit Radios
  • Cisco Cellular Radios
  • Collaborative Workshops
  • Active Project Management
  • Task based scheduling and coordination

AIC Team:

– Zach Meitz – Field Activities Engineer

– Jesus Lopez – Field Services Technician

– Josh Choe – Networking Architect

– Kevin Ford – Project Manager

– David Estelle – Automation Engineer

– Nathan Vasquez – Automation Engineer

– Quinn LaPoint – Field Activities Engineer

Summary:

Established in 1961, East Orange County Water District (EOCWD) serves the East Orange and North Tustin areas. With all five board members residing locally, the District is deeply rooted in the community it serves. EOCWD is committed to providing high-quality, reliable water service at a fair and reasonable price.

EOCWD’s aging controls system has been going through a recent overhaul and the next phase was to upgrade the control panels & radio network. Faced with a hard deadline due to the scheduled shutdown of its aging analog phonelines, EOCWD needed to replace nine (9) remote site control panels and upgrade its communication infrastructure. The scope included wireless communications, PLCs, and full integration into the District’s SCADA system— presenting a significant scheduling challenge.

AIC successfully developed, deployed, and commissioned all nine (9) sites— completing the project within just four (4) months of receiving the purchase order. This included full SCADA integration and establishing a new radio communication network. The timely cutover avoided any disruptions to EOCWD’s ability to monitor and control its remote sites during the phoneline shutdown.

Key Project Elements:

  • Telemetry and Field Survey: Conducted telemetry modeling and field surveys to design a robust wireless communication architecture, incorporating both RF and cellular technologies to accommodate the area’s complex terrain.
  • Cybersecurity Assessment: Performed a cybersecurity evaluation to ensure compliance with AWIA guidelines and provided actionable recommendations.
  • Workshops: Conducted extensive workshops with EOCWD and Big Bear Electric. This allowed the project to stay ahead of schedule, meet design and functional expectations, and reduce operational impacts.
  • Migration Planning: Developed and implemented a comprehensive migration plan to maintain uninterrupted operations throughout the transition from analog to digital communications.
  • Startup & Commissioning: Developed strategic cut-over plan to mitigate operational impact for each remote site.

Testimonials

“We at EOCWD were faced with an unexpected phoneline shutdown by AT&T, with all communication lines scheduled to be disconnected by the end of 2024. We anticipated this would disrupt our ability to monitor and control remote sites. AIC responded quickly—deploying a new radio system and installing all new control panels before the year’s end, ensuring a seamless transition.”

~ David Youngblood