In a city with 100,000 inhabitants, for example, 10,000 to 12,500 m³ of wastewater containing faeces is produced every day. This wastewater is channelled through the sewage system to the treatment plants, where it is purified and discharged back into a river. The wastewater passes through various purification stages, from the removal of coarse foreign matter, to the settling and pumping of mineral components in the grit chamber, to biological purification using microorganisms, oxygen and sufficient time. The purified wastewater leaves the treatment plant after 24 to 36 hours.

It is hard to imagine the consequences of the sewage treatment plant coming to a standstill. In the past, a treatment plant foreman even lived on site to monitor the plant. Today, on-call services take over this task. However, the best solution is an early warning of impending complications.

A sewage treatment plant in southern Germany has now upgraded its igus® cable carrier system with the igus® smart plastic condition monitoring ( i.Sense ) and the predictive maintenance system ( i.Cee ) with connection to the superwise smart service. The condition monitoring system uses sensors on the moving arm to detect possible blockages such as ice, snow or foreign objects and switches off the system to prevent a total loss. This system shutdown is signalled to the on-call service via the existing alarm system.
The sensor data obtained is analysed in the predictive maintenance system i.Cee and forwarded to the igus® technical sales department in the event of pending maintenance work, imminent failures due to unexpected anomalies or necessary retrofit measures. They contact the responsible wastewater treatment plant manager promptly and offer spare parts, a retrofit service or an on-site service.

The sensors are connected to the i.Sense DIN rail module and communicate with the control system via the digital inputs/outputs. The i.Cee communication module is connected to the superwise smart service server via an isolated, VPN-protected TCP-IP connection via a mobile network.
Here you can view all your monitored applications clearly and at a glance. In terms of cybercrime defence, there is no connection to the internal field or Ethernet network. Customers can view the status of their igus® smart plastic systems at any time via protected access.
With superwise smart service and smart plastic, you make your products more durable and save maintenance costs.