Floodplain harvesting is the capture and use of water flowing across a floodplain. This is an important source of water for industry in rural areas of NSW. Floodplain harvesting is the last substantial capture of water to be licensed in a particular basin with an aim for “fair use” of this critical and politically sensitive resource.
Parasyn was selected by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to head up the floodplain initiatives to ensure information about capacity and water usage was reliable and fit for purpose. Parasyn’ s role in these initiatives was Consultant, Project Director and Type Tester.
The most significant risk to the DPIE Flood Plains Capacity Management System project was stakeholder engagement. The right planning, pre-workshop engagement and the sharing of materials maximised the outcomes of establishing clear requirements leading to defined scope and mitigating issues which have the propensity for significant magnitude.
| “Parasyn collaborated really well with everyone” |
Workshops are at the heart of a consultant’s toolkit. Workshops are an important experience for bringing stakeholders together. Workshops help facilitate collaboration and the merging of ideas but without the right people coming along prepared, any initiative can reverse the direction as quickly as it was planned. Parasyn’ s behind the scenes role facilitated prompt reviews, gathering additional feedback, clarifying understanding and forming relationships that encourage ongoing support. This process is essential in supporting developmental initiatives which are prone to have hiccups and are usually highly scrutinised.
Parasyn’ s role as Consultant, Project Director and Type Tester, blended with DPIE stakeholders to assess technologies, assess vendors, develop installation practices and codify the practice required for procurement and installation of 1400 devices throughout NSW country areas. The primary deliverable for the project was to develop, test, deploy and share all the knowledge required for others to implement the new standardised design for measuring and monitoring in real time floodplain stored water management system.
The POC Type Testing conducted by Parasyn development engineers included acquiring three data loggers and seven instruments and type testing them in all possible configurations. Level probes on test included hydrostatic and radar.
Type Testing including performance evaluation and functional assessment. Functional testing included integration testing, specification compliance, testing against DPIE requirements and basic operation. Detailed reports empowered DPIE to make their final selection of sensors and confirm their data loggers of choice were suitable for all sensor types. The risk of implementing inappropriate devices to 1400 sites is significant for DPIE.
DPIE short listed 4 sites for the live trial. Of the 4 sites Parasyn selected 2 sites which were used for testing the three loggers and probes on 3 storage facilities.
| “ Parasyn, seamless partnership with Goanna Ag” |
Important to DPIE was the selection of suitable local installers. Parasyn interviewed and selected the installer from a shortlist of suitable vendors.
After selecting the installer Goanna Ag, the initial plans included Parasyn supporting the local installation activities at the trial sites. Due to Covid restrictions only essential Goanna AG and DPIE staff were permitted access for site installation. This meant closer online collaboration between Parasyn and Goanna Ag to ensure installation and training materials could be produced suitable for standardising 1400 installations.
Online monitoring of sites was provided by an existing cloud hosted SCADA system. Parasyn prepared recommendations on how to integrate each of the logger/sensor options and managed end to end testing.
| “So many instances of going the extra mile to collaborate with other contractors” |
To prepare for site implementation, site conditions and communications needed to be considered. Desktop surveys were performed to establish the baseline RF capability of the test sites. NB-IoT was considered as the primary communicator platform with Satellite as the fallback option. Site dynamics included installation regimes, namely catwalk, bank, off a structure, free standing, pontoon etc. For the 3 dams on trial, catwalk and pontoon were applied though the design caters for most types. Further testing will be required for other installation regimes.
Parasyn and Goanna Ag worked together establishing suitable sensors for each sample installation. Parasyn provided the design and constructed the instrumentation cabinets including solar and battery storage. The first enclosure was shipped by Parasyn to be installed onsite for trials in May 2020. After installation of the first site, designs were adjusted and installation guides fine-tuned for future use.
Overall, Parasyn and DPIE were pleased with the results. Parasyn was given a 5 Star rating.
Floodplain harvesting is the capture and use of water flowing across a floodplain.
This is an important source of water for industry in rural areas of NSW. Floodplain harvesting is the last substantial capture of water to be licensed in a particular basin with an aim for “fair use” of this critical and politically sensitive resource.
Parasyn was selected by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to head up the floodplain initiatives to ensure information about capacity and water usage was reliable and fit for purpose. Parasyn’ s role in these initiatives was Consultant, Project Director and Type Tester.
The most significant risk to the DPIE Flood Plains Capacity Management System project was stakeholder engagement. The right planning, pre-workshop engagement and the sharing of materials maximised the outcomes of establishing clear requirements leading to defined scope and mitigating issues which have the propensity for significant magnitude.
“Parasyn collaborated really well with everyone”
Workshops are at the heart of a consultant’s toolkit. Workshops are an important experience for bringing stakeholders together. Workshops help facilitate collaboration and the merging of ideas but without the right people coming along prepared, any initiative can reverse the direction as quickly as it was planned. Parasyn’ s behind the scenes role facilitated prompt reviews, gathering additional feedback, clarifying understanding and forming relationships that encourage ongoing support. This process is essential in supporting developmental initiatives which are prone to have hiccups and are usually highly scrutinised.
Parasyn’ s role as Consultant, Project Director and Type Tester, blended with DPIE stakeholders to assess technologies, assess vendors, develop installation practices and codify the practice required for procurement and installation of 1400 devices throughout NSW country areas. The primary deliverable for the project was to develop, test, deploy and share all the knowledge required for others to implement the new standardised design for measuring and monitoring in real time floodplain stored water management system.
“ Parasyn, seamless partnership with Goanna Ag”
The POC Type Testing conducted by Parasyn development engineers included acquiring three data loggers and seven instruments and type testing them in all possible configurations. Level probes on test included hydrostatic and radar.
Type Testing including performance evaluation and functional assessment. Functional testing included integration testing, specification compliance, testing against DPIE requirements and basic operation. Detailed reports empowered DPIE to make their final selection of sensors and confirm their data loggers of choice were suitable for all sensor types. The risk of implementing inappropriate devices to 1400 sites is significant for DPIE.
DPIE short listed 4 sites for the live trial. Of the 4 sites Parasyn selected 2 sites which were used for testing the three loggers and probes on 3 storage facilities.
Important to DPIE was the selection of suitable local installers. Parasyn interviewed and selected the installer from a shortlist of suitable vendors.
After selecting the installer Goanna Ag, the initial plans included Parasyn supporting the local installation activities at the trial sites. Due to Covid restrictions only essential Goanna AG and DPIE staff were permitted access for site installation. This meant closer online collaboration between Parasyn and Goanna Ag to ensure installation and training materials could be produced suitable for standardising 1400 installations.
Online monitoring of sites was provided by an existing cloud hosted SCADA system. Parasyn prepared recommendations on how to integrate each of the logger/sensor options and managed end to end testing.
“So many instances of going the extra mile to collaborate with other contractors”
To prepare for site implementation, site conditions and communications needed to be considered. Desktop surveys were performed to establish the baseline RF capability of the test sites. NB-IoT was considered as the primary communicator platform with Satellite as the fallback option. Site dynamics included installation regimes, namely catwalk, bank, off a structure, free standing, pontoon etc. For the 3 dams on trial, catwalk and pontoon were applied though the design caters for most types. Further testing will be required for other installation regimes.
Parasyn and Goanna Ag worked together establishing suitable sensors for each sample installation. Parasyn provided the design and constructed the instrumentation cabinets including solar and battery storage. The first enclosure was shipped by Parasyn to be installed onsite for trials in May 2020. After installation of the first site, designs were adjusted and installation guides fine-tuned for future use.
Overall, Parasyn and DPIE were pleased with the results. Parasyn was given a 5 Star rating.
