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Water · PDAM Tirtanadi · 2022–2025 0102

Over 5 NTU, the pumps stop

Cloudy water must never reach people's taps. At five PDAM Tirtanadi plants, the distribution pumps now stop on their own once turbidity passes 5 NTU.

Brown, turbid raw water channel at a water treatment plant
Raw water at IPA Sunggal. The river can get this muddy.

The problem

River water can turn muddy in no time, especially after heavy rain. The plant has to treat it until it is clear before pumping it to the city.

If the only safeguard is someone on watch, there will be gaps. That is not the operator's fault. Nobody can watch one number for 24 hours.

What we did

  1. 01 · Field

    Measure all the time, not now and then

    Online analyzers sit on the treated water line. Turbidity, pH, flow, pressure and reservoir level are read continuously.

  2. 02 · Logic

    Let the PLC stand guard

    The PLC reads turbidity and locks out the pumps. Treated water targets below 2 NTU. Above 5 NTU the distribution pumps stop automatically. Operators see it all on SCADA.

IF NTU > 5.0 THEN
    POMPA_DISTRIBUSI := STOP;
END_IF;
An illustration of the logic. The real code is longer, of course.
Filter basin of a water treatment plant with water flowing
Filter basin at IPA Martubung.

The result

  • Treated water stays below 2 NTU.
  • Since the system went in, cloudy water has never again reached customers.
  • The same pattern runs at all five plants.