Automating SWIM Compliance Reporting for Queensland Water Utilities

What Makes SWIM Compliance Reporting a Data Management Challenge?

For each requirement, more beads of sweat develop if the information is not electronic and not readily accessible. The solution needs to be a part of everyday life, rather than a special event to be celebrated when done. Water Service Providers throughout Queensland construct various ways to assemble the information and lodge it online using the different portals and tools provided by each agency.

Most of the traditional collection methods are fraught with process capture limitations and rarely are they automated or integrated into existing enterprise systems like the business ERP system. The source of data that feeds into an enterprise reporting system may come from data loggers, lab data (LIMS), SCADA, spreadsheets used for recording manual readings of meters, or customised instrumentation devices.

How Did Mareeba Shire Council Digitise Their SWIM Data Assembly?

In 2014, Mareeba Shire Council working closely with Parasyn developed a strategy to digitise the assembly of data and information management and automatically prepare the SWIM or any other reporting requirements that the organisation had to comply with.

By shaping the methods of collecting data and systemising how the data is recorded, the integrity of the information significantly increases. It becomes more predictable and reliable. As the data is digitised, the time it is captured is also recorded, adding a whole new dimension to how assets are managed in real time. The sampled information, the time and the date of the event are all captured in the enterprise reporting system.

How Does SCADA Integration Eliminate Manual Data Entry?

To enhance the reuse of manual data already being recorded by plant operators, data is now directly entered into SCADA, where it is processed and pushed into the enterprise reporting system. This means that the data is validated at the time it is entered, not later when something is inadvertently observed in a report. By capturing the information and creating appropriate context, including seeing history of how it performed previously, there is no need to revisit the information later — a significant saving.

The twofold benefit of this is that operators now see manual data and the automated SCADA data all in one place. The significance of this long-term benefit is sometimes hard to appreciate at first glance; however, the days of spreadsheets for "special" data and reams of paper in the truck that describe remote plant are quickly disappearing. Operators do not need to ask questions about remote plant that is currently "unmonitored" because the information about the remote assets is captured when personnel visit the sites for inspections, and it all ends up in SCADA.

Automatic preparation of SWIM reporting requirements is managed using the swimlocal platform — the standard data management tool now used by Queensland Service Providers, replacing the original web-based portal approach.

What Happens When the Underlying Data Platform Is Modernised?

Over the decade that followed, the system Parasyn and Mareeba Shire Council built together continued to evolve. In the past year, the underlying data platform was migrated to a modern process historian, and integrations with additional data sources were automated — extending the same principles of reliable, digitised data capture to a broader operational dataset.

The migration preserved the integrity of historical records while expanding what the system can now see, store and report on. What began as a SWIM reporting automation project has become a live data infrastructure investment — one that continues to return value with each additional source integrated and each reporting cycle completed without manual intervention.

As part of the platform modernisation, the transfer of reporting data from the historian into the SWIM reporting environment was also automated. Previously, data had to be extracted manually, prepared in the required format, and imported into SWIMlocal — a time-consuming process that also introduced the possibility of errors at each handling step. That manual pathway has been replaced by a direct, automated integration. Operational data flows from the historian into the compliance reporting environment systematically and repeatably. SWIM reporting is no longer a once-a-year preparation exercise — it is a byproduct of a well-organised operational data infrastructure.

What Are the Long-Term Benefits of Enterprise Data Digitisation?

Presenting the data in a usable format for consumption is the easy part, once it lives in the digital space. Simple as this may seem, this is one example of operational data management in practice. The benefits begin to multiply exponentially after the data is captured in a suitable enterprise system, as information is freely accessible in a secured and managed fashion.

Information can be pushed to compliance agencies, published internally to corporate users, or analysed by network planners, scientists, modellers and asset managers all wanting to improve the service provided to their customers. The key takeaway is: organise the data, systemise how it is captured, and store the data securely. The "easy part" is publishing information to the right people at the right time.

Each organisation has a unique information infrastructure footprint, a unique set of operational requirements and a history of discipline about how data is managed. This can all be shaped and managed to produce more reliable and sustainable management of the assets the data represents. So the greater effort is in getting organised, understanding how information can be appropriately gathered efficiently, collecting data using conventional tools, and storing the data securely.

The technology is important; however, the technology does not organise itself. The rules of managing data are logical, but they are different for each organisation. Once asset information is digitised reliably and accurately, it is ready for consumption. You decide how, when, where and why — and the key takeaway is that your own team is likely to have the skills to consume the data if it was done right the first time.

"Electronic submissions to SWIM provides substantial savings for mid-sized Water Service Providers such as Mareeba Shire Council as it reduces staff time required to report on multiple data requests and gives staff the security that the data being uploaded is accurate and concise, and this also allows staff to focus on their core essential duties.

Mareeba Shire Council's experience with Parasyn from initial enquiry to project progression — Parasyn were very helpful, professional and prompt showing genuine interest in our objectives and were very enthusiastic during all stages of our project. Ensuring that we were not only getting what we required, but also highlighting initiatives and contributing valuable suggestions to help us achieve our goal."

Further Reading

1. qldwater, Statewide Water Information Management (SWIM) Programme — qldwater.com.au/swim
2. qldwater, swimlocal — data management platform for Queensland Water Service Providers — qldwater.com.au/SWIMLocal