Running into supply problems in Mpumalanga , Eskom had to choose between expanding its infrastructure or cutting electricity usage in the area. It chose to investigate methods to cut usage, and focused, among others, on water pumps used in the area for irrigation purposes.
(A number of these pumps operate on farms in the De Kaap Major Irrigation Board district, each using on average 5 Megawatt per hour, pumping water from a local river.)
The solution it wanted, Eskom said, had to ease demand on it, but also had to benefit local farmers and the Irrigation Board. In the end it funded an innovative project to bring about remote monitoring and management of water pumps, to improve their energy efficiency.
The solution chosen in the end was designed and implemented by Irri-Gator, a major solutions provider in the irrigation industry, in collaboration with partners. It provides real-time access to pump state data, and offers farmers remote control via SMS and the Internet. It also allows for the remote monitoring of pumps and water usage by the Irrigation Board, saving it time and resources.
The system proposed by Irri-Gator consists of a GSM controller at all pumps, supplying them with remote Internet connectivity via the GSM network. Each controller connects to a centrally managed server. For the system’s connectivity portion, the Multenet Router was selected to connect the servers via the GSM network.
The Multenet Router features USB connectivity to provide enhanced expandability options and has built-in VPN functionality to cater for businesses or individual users requiring a secure and reliable router. Connected to an external serial or USB modem, it provides secure cellular GSM/GPRS and 3G/HSDPA connections, for reliable primary and backup connectivity to corporate networks, the Internet or other devices connected to the cellular network.
For more information please contact:
Multenet Technologies
Tel: +27 21 882 8811 fax +27 21 882 8825
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