Customer

Clean drinking water is unquestionably the most essential basis for human existence. The Department of Public Water Authority ("Wasserversorgung") for the City of Zurich is responsible to ensure the flawless quality and secure supply of water to the city itself and 67 other nearby communities. Wasserversorgung Zurich supplies close to 5% of the total demand for water in Switzerland.

Fulfilling this major responsibility requires the utilisation of future-oriented infrastructure. In the course of a technical renovation project of the central control system, the command centre for the Wasserversorgung Zurich was refurbished and a new integrated control system was deployed. Multiple facilities - including a 1500km pipeline network - are monitored and controlled here on a 24 hour basis. Among the most important tasks of the operators are the management of water production and distribution as well as supply assurance following service disruptions such as pipe ruptures, etc. All faults occurring throughout the water authority coverage area are managed here.

Challenge

The original representation of the network was based upon a mosaic panel. For the redesigned control room, a technically advanced design appropriate for 24 hour operations was required to optimally support the dispatchers in their daily routines. It had to be simple to manage and flexible to use, delivering superb image characteristics as well as an above-average life span of the equipment. The project was awarded in a public tender process based upon criteria of overall company qualification, customer references and price-performance ratio. The installation was carried out during ongoing operations.

Solution

The new and generously proportioned video wall is based upon professional rear-projection technology from Eyevis, a leading international provider of demanding visualisation applications in control rooms and other settings. WEY, which exclusively represents Eyevis in Switzerland, was responsible for planning, project management and installation.

The video wall system combines outstanding design with superior picture quality. It consists of 16 x 50" EC-50-LXT rear projections cubes. The display modules are practically seamless, and can be implemented to realise flexible video walls of virtually any size. The use of DLP® technology guarantees the quality of high resolution images, free from the "burn in" effect, even with static images shown in 24/7 control centres environments.

The EC-50-LXT cubes are among the first cubes in the world that are based upon innovative LED technology. The LEDs, which are utilized for the representation of the primary colours, enables flicker-free pictures that do not cause viewers' eyes to tire. Furthermore, they are very durable and require very low maintenance.

WEY has complemented the solution with additional systems: Auto Colour Tracking (ACT) enables fully automatic colour and contrast adjustments to harmonize the pictures across the entire wall. With the WEY Central Interface Controller, event-driven alarms are automatically projected onto the large screen displays. This simplifies the monitoring of all the systems.

The video wall can be conveniently controlled from any workplace using the Graphic Controller Netpix, which provides all the necessary signal inputs. In combination with the Eyecon Wall Management software, all computer systems, applications and signals can be projected in any scale on any cube. This allows complete flexibility, a video wall configuration which is customised to exactly fit the requirements as well as a one-to-one representation of the dispatchers' workstation screens.

The solution has been deliberately designed in an open manner so that new requirements, functions and media can be quickly and easily integrated. The numerous advantages of the total solution convinced the responsible project leader, Mr. Patrick Wünsche; "The video wall perfectly complements our new control system and holds much promise for the future."

After only a very short time in operation, the new system has made significant contributions to the enhancement of efficiency. Patrick Wünsche: "It is now much easier to make changes to the system, such as the integration of video signals. Further, the operators now have an intelligent and flexible instrument with which they can respond faster and more precisely to events. This facilitates their responsible work."

Testimonial

Looking back, Patrick Wünsche confirms: "WEY proved to be a competent partner, who not only consistently implemented our requirements but also made valuable suggestions beyond the scope of the project itself. Constructive communication ensured that all our requirements with regard to the central connection of the large screen display to the new control system were met. Moreover, this made the complex installation during the operation of the control room much easier. In addition to the technical competence, I also appreciated the WEY project management skills which ensured that all deadlines and budgets were met as planned. In this respect, our expectations were fully met."