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GrayMatter Helps Toronto Water Keep Innovating

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The Process Control Systems Unit at Toronto Water has a critical job at one of Canada’s largest water and wastewater providers.

The roughly 30-member team supports the utility’s SCADA systems, operational technology and networking at Toronto Water, which treats 1 billion liters of safe drinking water a day. The group also manages capital projects, day-to-day maintenance, contracts, licensing, upgrades and standards enforcement.

Partnership & Value

“GrayMatter has always provided value for us,” says Zack Sayevich, manager of the Process Control Systems Unit. “We’ve been working together since I became the manager in 2019, and they’ve helped us understand and forecast our SCADA licensing requirements, ensure we get the necessary technical support and help us determine what we actually need.”

Toronto Water has taken on numerous capital projects to expand capacity and modernize existing systems. Those include implementing corrosion control and zebra mussel control processes, adding phosphorus removal to a treatment plant, installing lining in aging pipes, making emergency sewer repairs and carrying out water and wastewater plant upgrades. 

“We have a big system. We have 600 PLCs, maybe more, and eight big plants — four water and four wastewater — a distribution system and a collection system. All of them are fully automated and on SCADA,” Sayevich said.

 
 

“We have a big system. We have 600 PLCs, maybe more, and eight big plants — four water and four wastewater — a distribution system and a collection system. All of them are fully automated and on SCADA,”

Zack Sayevich,

Manager of Process Control Systems Unit,
Toronto Water

 
 
 

New Solutions

Toronto Water is a long-time GE Vernova customer. 

GrayMatter provides support to Toronto for GE software products Proficy iFIX and Proficy Historian. 

“It has been a great partnership with Toronto,” said Aaron Knight, a GrayMatter solutions architect who lives in Toronto. 

“I try to help clients like Toronto see the big picture, identify what goals they’re trying to achieve and then help them to identify the best technologies and tools available.” 

Toronto is examining expanding its usage of Proficy Webspace to allow its plant operators to remotely monitor and control SCADA via Apple iPad, Android-based tablets and web browsers.

The solution would allow Toronto to avoid building a new cloud workspace infrastructure.

Sayevich said he enjoys the work at Toronto Water.

“The people are great,” he said. “It's good to be responsible for part of a public service, and the work is technical, so you’re always trying new things and technologies.”