Case Study

Chlorine Monitoring Upgrade for Uisce Éireann (Irish Water)

Chlorine monitoring capability upgrade at Service Reservoir, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Background

Uisce Éireann (UE) is responsible for the operation and management of water services infrastructure across Ireland, supplying safe, compliant drinking water to homes and businesses nationwide. Maintaining reliable chlorine residual visibility across its treatment and distribution assets is central to UE’s operational and regulatory obligations.

At a service reservoir in County Kildare, UE identified a need to upgrade chlorine monitoring capability, specifically to move beyond localised, on-site readings toward integrated remote visibility and historical data logging accessible through its regional ICONICS cloud SCADA platform.

Cully was engaged to deliver this upgrade, providing both the instrumentation and the integration expertise to connect the new analyzer to UE’s existing telemetry and SCADA infrastructure.

The Challenge

The site’s existing chlorine monitoring arrangement was local-only; readings were available on-site but not accessible remotely, and did not feed into the regional SCADA platform. This created several operational limitations:

 

  • No remote visibility of chlorine residuals at this service reservoir, requiring physical site visits to check readings
  • No historical trending or data logging through the SCADA platform, limiting the ability to identify patterns or investigate past events
  • Ongoing reliance on traditional colorimetric analyzer technology with associated reagent costs and maintenance overhead, costs that can run to thousands of euros per year
  • Limited audit trail for regulatory reporting purposes

Why the Halogen MP5-A?

Following a review of the site requirements, the Halogen Systems MP5-A was selected as the monitoring solution. The MP5-A is an amperometric chlorine sensor that measures free chlorine alongside four additional water quality parameters simultaneously without requiring membranes or reagents.

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Why MP5-A is the right fit for this site?

Key Selection Criteria

  • Reagent-free and membrane-free design — eliminates the consumable chemical costs and scheduled reagent replenishment associated with colorimetric DPD-based systems. Traditional reagent-based systems can cost thousands of euros annually in materials and maintenance; the MP5-A offers essentially zero ongoing consumable costs.
  • Five parameters in a single instrument — free chlorine, pH, conductivity, temperature, and ORP measured simultaneously from one installation point, replacing the need for multiple instruments.
  • Flexible mounting options — the MP5-A supports dip/immersion mounting, wet tap installation, and flow cell configurations, making it adaptable to the physical constraints of different site types.
  • Digital communications — Modbus RTU (RS-485) serial communication from the Halogen transmitter enables structured data transfer to PLCs and SCADA systems, in addition to standard 4–20 mA analogue outputs.
  • Proven suitability for drinking water infrastructure — designed for continuous, unattended operation in water treatment and distribution environments.

Scope Delivered

Instrument Supply & Integration

Monitoring

Cully supplied and installed the Halogen Systems MP5-A at the Kildare service reservoir. The installation used a dip-mounted (immersion) arrangement, with the sensor assembly lowered directly into the reservoir for continuous in-situ measurement. A new local display and controller unit was also installed in the site control room, providing operators with at-a-glance readings during site visits.

PLC & SCADA Connectivity

Integration

The core engineering scope was the end-to-end integration of the MP5-A into UE’s existing automation and monitoring infrastructure:

 

  • The MP5-A transmitter was hardwired to the on-site ABB telemetry marshalling PLC, delivering all measured parameters as structured signals into the site’s automation layer.
  • From the marshalling PLC, data was pushed upstream to the Cully-managed ICONICS cloud SCADA platform, making real-time chlorine and water quality readings visible remotely to the UE operations team.
  • Historical data logging was enabled through the ICONICS platform, providing a continuous, timestamped record of readings, which supports both operational trend analysis and regulatory audit requirements.

Outcome & Benefits

  • Remote chlorine visibility – Real-time MP5-A readings now accessible through ICONICS cloud SCADA — eliminating reliance on local-only checks
  • Historical data & trending – Continuous timestamped logging via ICONICS enables trend analysis and supports regulatory reporting
  • Reagent & maintenance costs – Eliminated ongoing reagent consumable spend; near-zero annual materials cost vs. traditional colorimetric systems
  • Multiparameter monitoring – Free chlorine, pH, conductivity, temperature & ORP measured from a single installation point
  • Operational efficiency – Reduced need for physical site visits solely to check chlorine readings; remote visibility supports lean operations
  • SCADA integration – Seamless hardwired connection via ABB marshalling PLC — no additional communications hardware required
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Technical Notes for Specifiers

 

For engineering teams considering the Halogen MP5-A on similar projects, the following notes reflect the experience from this deployment:

 

  • Mounting flexibility: The MP5-A supports multiple installation configurations — dip/immersion mounting (as used at this site), wet tap, and flow cell arrangements — making it adaptable to different reservoir and pump station environments.
  • Communication options: In addition to hardwired 4–20 mA analogue outputs, Modbus RTU serial communication from the Halogen transmitter is available. This supports structured digital data transfer to PLCs and SCADA systems where analogue signals are not preferred.
  • SCADA platform compatibility: The integration approach used here, hardwired to an ABB marshalling PLC, then to ICONICS cloud SCADA, is representative of typical utility telemetry architectures. The MP5-A’s standard output options make it compatible with the majority of PLC and SCADA platforms used in the Irish water sector.
  • Installation time: The full scope, including instrument installation, electrical terminations, PLC integration, and SCADA commissioning, was completed efficiently with no disruption to normal site operations.