Cybersecure waste water management with PLCnext Technology To enable secure communication between the control systems of various processes at the wastewater treatment plant in Echten, Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta (WDODelta) chose PLCnext Technology. This is the world’s first automation platform certified according to the IEC 62443‑4‑2 standard, providing a future‑proof foundation for secure and reliable process automation. In close collaboration with the engineers from Moekotte and the technical consultants from Phoenix Contact, a solution was implemented that is demonstrably cyber secure and fully aligned with WDODelta’s security requirements.
Customer profile
Waterschap Drentse Overijsselse Delta (WDODelta) ensures safe living with water and provides sufficient and clean water for farmers and businesses, in urban areas and in nature.
Within its service area, stretching from Deventer to Assen, WDODelta operates, among other assets, 1,980 weirs, 438 pumping stations and 16 wastewater treatment plants.
With more than 60 years of experience, Moekotte is a leading specialist in electrical installation engineering for industry, utilities, energy, and water & infrastructure. As experts in water management, they developed a software library for pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants that has become the standard for many water authorities. Moekotte now supports almost all municipalities, provinces, and water authorities in Central and Northern Netherlands.
Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta aims to demonstrably comply with cybersecurity laws and regulations. As these requirements evolved during the course of the project, the solution needed to anticipate and adapt to these changes.
Challenge
At the wastewater treatment plant in Echten, wastewater is treated and sludge is digested into reusable by-products. Where traditionally the methane gas released during sludge digestion is used as fuel for a combined heat and power (CHP) installation to generate on-site heat and electricity, a different approach has been taken at this location.
The methane gas is upgraded in a separate installation to green gas of natural gas quality and supplied to the gas grid. The heat normally extracted from a CHP installation is now recovered from the effluent water of the adjacent wastewater treatment plant and upgraded by an industrial heat pump system.
For this circular process, the three installations must exchange data securely, as each installation depends on another. Because water authorities are part of the Netherlands’ critical infrastructure, they are required to impose strict cybersecurity requirements on their suppliers and installations. These requirements are defined, among others, in the CSIR.
Access to the heat pump and green gas installations for management and maintenance purposes is therefore only permitted under strict conditions, based on the need‑to‑know principle. Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta did not want to make any concessions when it came to control over connection setup, data governance, and the level of encryption. Full control remains with the water authority.
Making the right choices early in the project results in a lower Total Cost of Ownership.
Our solution
To enable this, IEC 62443‑4‑2 certified managed switches, industrial firewalls, and PLCnext controllers from Phoenix Contact were deployed. This made it possible to build a secure communication network between the installations.
Using OPC UA, the network enables secure data exchange while simultaneously supporting network segmentation (zoning) and continuous monitoring.
Schematic overview of our solution
Conclusion
This challenging project provided valuable insights into how different manufacturers of industrial automation solutions approach cybersecurity, and how secure communication can be established between installations from multiple vendors. By adopting PLCnext Technology, the water authority has taken a significant step forward in terms of cybersecurity and standardization.
Thanks to strong guidance, excellent implementation, and future‑oriented technology, WDODelta is assured of secure and reliable communication between the installations at the wastewater treatment plant.
PLCnext Technology aligns closely with the interests of WDODelta, enabling full compliance with the requirements set out in the CSIR.
