How do you modernise multiple water and wastewater utility networks plagued by obsolete radios, repeated communication failures and unstable multi-repeater paths? In the Midwest, Opto Solutions and Perceptive Controls turned to RipEX – with remarkable results.
https//www.racom.eu/ru/case/water-utility-communications-across-the-us-midwest
Challenge: Legacy Radios, Multiple Repeaters and Unreliable SCADA Communication
Opto Solutions and its sister company Perceptive Controls – now united under UpT Reliability Solutions – bring over 135 years of combined experience delivering turnkey automation and SCADA projects.
Their recent work involved upgrading three separate water utility networks, each suffering from:
- obsolete radios with no support
- chronic communication failures
- unstable links caused by multiple chained repeaters
- reduced SCADA visibility and delayed alarms
- difficulty integrating modern RTUs and protocols
The reliability of all three networks had deteriorated to the point where maintenance teams were spending more time fixing communication than improving operations.
Solution: Parallel Migration Using RipEX
To avoid downtime, each network was migrated using RACOM’s Migration Solution – running the legacy radios and RipEX in parallel over two frequencies while gradually replacing RTUs and links.
End users immediately appreciated the simplicity and robustness of RipEX:
- easy, intuitive configuration
- automatic handling of security and encryption
- seamless integration with any RTU or protocol
One operator summed it up perfectly:
“Whatever the RTU, it just seems to work. It feels like everything is hardwired straight into the SCADA computer.”
Three Utilities, Three Architectures – One Result: Reliability
Portage, Michigan
- 82 radios
- RTUs: Opto 22 EPIC
- communication: custom protocol developed by Opto Solutions
Union Township, Michigan
- 22 radios
- RTUs: Opto 22 EPIC
- communication: Modbus TCP
Plainwell, Michigan
- 12 radios
- RTUs: Allen Bradley ControlLogix
- communication: standard TCP/IP
Across all three networks, RipEX eliminated communication failures – including those linked through multiple repeaters.
Results: No Failures, No Constant Maintenance and Delighted End Users
With RipEX, the utilities now operate stable, maintenance-free communication networks that simply work.
As Todd Reynolds, Partner at Opto Solutions, concludes:
“Not one of our 25 engineers has found fault with RipEX. It does what it says on the box – and then just keeps on doing it.”
RipEX has now become a trusted standard for water utilities seeking reliability, easy migration and long-term communication stability.
