Case Study

Water Infrastructure

Cairns Regional Council: Leachate Pump Station SCADA Renewal

Modernising critical environmental control and telemetry infrastructure for Far North Queensland.

Project Reference

CRC-PCE23201

Handover Date

May 2024

160,000+

Population Served

60+ yrs

Combined Team Experience

Kingfisher

Modular RTU Platform

DNP3

Over Private RF Network

“Management of communications, weekly progress reporting, and technical execution by the project engineering team was exceptional. Parasyn systematically addressed old wiring discrepancies and remained highly motivated to solve complex cutover challenges without disrupting active environmental controls.”

CRC Senior Project Engineer, Cairns Regional Council

Project Overview

The Leachate Pump Station SCADA Renewal Project (CRC Reference: PCE23201) was initiated by Cairns Regional Council (CRC) to replace ageing, obsolete Remote Telemetry Units at the Portsmith Leachate Pump Station. As a critical environmental defence asset, the leachate station prevents contaminated runoff from entering local waterways and sensitive marine ecosystems. CRC required highly specialised design, software development, installation, and commissioning services to completely modernise the monitoring system while maintaining full station operability throughout the transition.

The project called for a comprehensive physical and operational migration from a legacy RTU platform to modern, secure processing hardware, ensuring full integration with Council's overarching SCADA and systems platform architecture.

Technical Scope & Requirements

The core objective was to deliver a secure, reliable, and standardised monitoring package in strict compliance with the CRC General Specification. Key deliverables included:

Hardware Provisioning

Design and engineering of new components in the existing RTU panel, featuring an upgraded RTU processor, reliable power supplies, and high-density digital and analogue I/O modules to monitor wet well levels, pump currents, and flow rates.

Standardisation & Compliance

Development of PLC code and SCADA graphics conforming explicitly to CRC's established software templates and functional standards for AVEVA Plant SCADA.

Operational Integration

Implementation of secure DNP3 and Modbus TCP communications protocols for real-time telemetry, historical time-stamped data buffering, and critical alarms back to the main control room.

Engineering Deliverables

Provision of comprehensive Pre-Implementation Assessments, functional control narratives, verified electrical schematics, and complete Operation & Maintenance manuals.

The Parasyn Solution

Parasyn deployed a methodology engineered around its Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and the structured V-Model framework, ensuring every software block and hardware layout was verified against CRC specifications before arriving on site.

Target Outturn Cost Safety Net

Acknowledging the typical data gaps found in legacy environmental assets, Parasyn worked closely with CRC during the Request for Quotation phase to clearly define project boundaries, minimising scope creep while maximising commercial certainty.

Domain Expert Team

Senior automation specialists and systems architects with extensive experience deploying critical infrastructure solutions across the Australian water and waste sectors, combined experience exceeding 60 years.

System Optimisation & Footprint Reduction

Rather than a direct hardware swap, Parasyn refined the panel internals, removing redundant equipment, maximising terminal space, and standardising site-typing layouts to reduce long-term maintenance burden.

Implementation & Cutover Methodology

Given that leachate management cannot be shut down without significant environmental compliance risk, a rigorous, multi-staged cutover plan was developed and executed:

Pre-Cutover Audit & Baseline Assessment
Real-time software logic verification and electrical point-to-point pre-testing isolated any pre-existing instrument faults or legacy wiring anomalies ahead of mobilisation.
Weekly Progress & Risk Reporting
A transparent weekly reporting cycle tracked engineering milestones, active technical risks, and upcoming cutover steps, keeping Council stakeholders consistently aligned.
Staged Go-Live Activities
Executed via step-by-step physical and communications cutovers, with high-risk activities backed by tested rollback procedures to guarantee the station could resume legacy operation instantly if required.
Post-Cutover Proof Period
A mandatory one-week monitoring and optimisation window, completed jointly by Parasyn and CRC, covered pump duty cycle verification, level sensor accuracy, telemetry latency, and alarm synchronisation.

Project Outcomes & Handover

The project concluded with a formal handover in May 2024, meeting all defined requirements and deliverables.

✓

Technical Success

Full functional compliance achieved with high-fidelity telemetry and robust local data logging.

↑

Network & Asset Uplift

Eliminated legacy hardware failure risk and delivered a maintainable, standard-compliant asset.

★

Safety & Quality

All works delivered in full alignment with ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 14001 standards.

Compliance Standards

ISO 9001 — Quality

ISO 45001 — Safety

ISO 14001 — Environment

IPSec Security

DNP3 Protocol

Lessons Learned & Future Recommendations

The following insights were captured to inform future projects of a similar nature across Council's asset portfolio:

Insight	Impact & Context	Recommendation
Verify Live Code vs. Repositories	Discrepancies often exist between centralised backup files and what is actually running on old physical processors.	Always extract active code directly from the site PLC/RTU before beginning software generation.
Mitigate Legacy Drawing Discrepancies	Environmental assets frequently undergo undocumented field modifications over their operating lifespans.	Factor in early physical point-to-point panel audits to map legacy anomalies before manufacturing new panels.
Isolate Commissioning Dependencies	Relying on external network teams to test telemetry pathways can compress commissioning timelines significantly.	Secure local control loops and build simulated SCADA verification environments early, independent of final IT routing.

Portsmith Leachate Pump Station site, Cairns, with the Lamb Range in the background