Lessons from the Pinellas County, FL Hack The biggest challenge the 55,000 water treatment plants in the US face is monitoring the plant to avoid intrusions. In our increasingly digital world, the threat of intrusion is no longer just physical. Water treatment plants are amongst the focus of cyberattacks from international hackers and extremists. The recent hack of the treatment facility in Pinellas County, Florida, shows us that even the smallest operations are at risk. Why? The reason is simple; each of these plants provides water to an average of about 50,000 Americans. The potential impact of a hack is substantial for those seeking to do maximum damage. This figure is attraction-seeking, and the US water supply technology has very little protection against hacking. The Florida incident is a case study to explore the prevailing problems with the existing water system management technologies in the country and how operators can better protect their critical infrastructure going forward. BACKGROUND: The Florida Water System Hack In the early days of February 2021, an unknown hacker recently infiltrated a computer for the water system and briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide by a factor of more than 100. The introduction of sodium hydroxide would have led to the loss of disinfectant in the water, a sudden change in water PH level, and dissolved oxygen in suspension. (more…)... Continue Reading

We all know technology changes quickly. How many cell phones have you had in the last decade? Sometimes that change collides with Raco’s commitment to delivering durable products that last decades. We still have autodialers installed that were sold in the 1980s! While staying ahead of that technology curve Raco has remained committed to supporting all of the installed units out in the field. For the past few years have shipped with the latest LTE wireless technology. There are many benefits to the new technology, but many units still remain on legacy technology. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, after all.  OK, so what is happening? Key Raco network partners are now publicly committed that they will retire the legacy CDMA and 3G wireless networks in January and February of 2022, respectively. See details below. (more…)... Continue Reading

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Julie Phillips, with Wolverine Water Works, will be at the MI-AWWA/MWEA Joint Expo on February 4-5, 2020, Booth 132 at Lansing Center, Lansing Michigan. Since 1957 Wolverine Water Works has been a distributer of pump control and level systems as well as transmitting, indicating and continuous level control systems for water tanks, wet wells, cooling towers, reservoirs, dams, municipal water treatment, storm water/sewage facilities & industrial fluids, including detergents, paints, inks, adhesives, polymers, resins, lubricants and other petroleum products. Additionally, Wolverine Water Works has been a RACO Rep since 1982. Discover how Cloud-Based SCADA capabilities and RACO’s AlarmAgent.com product, provides real-time visibility that protects remote critical assets through an easy-to-configure interface. See first-hand how: Newly expanded Human-Machine Interface (HMI) customization options allow customers to visualize their AlarmAgent.com data within their preferred dashboards and screens. The resulting real-time views can reveal the state of the customers entire facility ecosystem. Robust data visualization and reporting are now available on demand on any Internet-connected device, giving customers peace of mind that even their most remote devices a... Continue Reading