ABB has been awarded a major contract by Vitens – the largest water supply company in the Netherlands, providing 340 billion litres of drinking water annually to six million customers – to develop a new process automation system.
The project will modernize around 200,000 input and output (I/O) connectors across approximately 250 sites, improving operational performance and enhancing compliance with industry standards. The order was booked in the second quarter of 2024.
The collaboration between ABB and Vitens will take a two-phased approach. The initial phase will involve developing a blueprint and executing a pilot project at a Vitens facility. Following successful completion of the pilot, the intention is to migrate all remaining Vitens production sites to the new system over the subsequent seven years.
The project will introduce the ABB Ability System 800xA Distributed Control System (DCS), ensuring unified operations across all Vitens plants. It will integrate existing automation standards into a cohesive framework, reducing maintenance costs and operational complexity. The new system will provide greater visibility from a central control room. This will enable standardized procedures and a seamless transfer of data covering water quality, flow rates, contaminant monitoring and leak detection. Vitens, which transports water to customers via 48,000 kilometres of distribution pipelines, will benefit from enhanced cyber security and more streamlined, resilient operations.
The trend for automation and digitalization in the global water industry reflects an emphasis on efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to address challenges such as water scarcity, aging infrastructure, and regulatory compliance.
“The increasing demand for drinking water, the growing number of technical experts in our business reaching retirement age, and the constant geopolitical cyberthreat pose a tremendous challenge for this vital operation in the Netherlands. Safe, reliable, and standardized process automation is essential to ensure the continuous and sustainable supply of water to our customers,” said Matthijs Zwart, CIO at Vitens. “ABB has qualified as our partner to achieve this ambition. Our collaboration combines ABB’s expertise in process automation with our experience in producing drinking water.
ABB will support Vitens through an evergreen service contract, which provides professional care for the installed base across its entire lifecycle, as well as continuous technology updates.
The upgraded system will comply with the latest critical infrastructure cyber and information security standards, including IEC 62443 and ISO 27001, in line with the new European Network and Information Security (NIS2) directive. Vitens also aims to adopt the ISA106 automation standard to improve the consistency, safety and efficiency of continuous process operations.
“At ABB, we are focused on conserving and preserving groundwater to make sure that every drop of this precious natural resource counts,” said Per Erik Holsten, President of ABB Energy Industries. “This collaboration with Vitens marks a significant step towards building a future-proof automation architecture in the water sector.”
This contract represents ABB’s sixth freshwater automation project in the Netherlands. ABB’s portfolio of water management technology solutions is designed to address water scarcity, enhance water quality and boost energy efficiency, ensuring optimal water flow from source to tap.
