Automatic submerged measurement

Sitting at the office still knows the flooded situation to handle it promptly. This is the advantage of automatic monitoring system SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) which is being piloted in Ho Chi Minh City.

The research topic was ordered by the Center for running anti-submerged city program for the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City. There have been five bidding units, sending solutions using technology in monitoring and collecting flood management data of the city. The results and solutions of the research team include MSc Dang Hoa Vinh, Head of Water Resources Department, Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Natural Resources and Geography, and Mr. Nguyen The Phong, Deputy Director of the Hydrometeorological Service Center of Trung. The National Hydro-meteorological Center won the bid with a budget of VND 1.4 billion.

Out of sight the furnace went under the water

MSc Le Thi Xuan Lan, an officer of Southern Region Hydrology, said: to understand the extent of water flooding when there is rain, flood, high tide . currently in Vietnam, manual measurement is still used. When there is rain, flood, high tide, the measuring staff must go to the place to look at the water gauge (measuring water level) which is already installed, then report to the center.

Engineer Phong (left) and MS Vinh are introducing the device. (Photo: Thai Ngoc)

In this way, employees must work in harsh weather conditions. On the other hand, because of manual application, there is no immediate update, lack of forecasting to provide the most effective treatment plan.

Overcoming these limitations, MSc. Dang Hoa Vinh introduced the automatic measurement solution SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) - monitoring, data collection and remote control support. This method has been applied by many advanced countries, but in Vietnam this is the first time.

The cost of imported equipment in complete units from abroad for installation is very high - about over VND 200 million, so MSc Vinh has collaborated with engineer Nguyen The Phong, Deputy Director of the Hydro-meteorological Service Center to manufacture the machine. Automatic water level measurement .

Timely flood treatment

After four months of testing in many locations in Ho Chi Minh City, the measuring device gave very positive results. Sitting at the office, officials at the Center for Control Flood Control Program in the city still capture the data that the device transmits via the built-in phone sim. Energy for measuring equipment is taken from 12V battery. At the point of not installing solar power for charging, the battery will be replaced every two weeks.

Since Ho Chi Minh City started in the rainy season and has not yet flooded, the research team has installed testing equipment on the river and tested it in the area of ​​Tan Hoa - Lo Gom canal.

According to Master Vinh, not only is the device built to measure flood water level, the system also allows connection to automatic rainwater measuring system. Based on the measured parameters of the processing software, the computer will predict how much flooding the area will have, for how long. Since then, the center to run the anti-submergence program in the city will offer a solution to handle and operate the pump station, as well as to close the sewer at high tide. Thus, the situation will be overcome when the water has flooded, high tide surged to treat.