Analytics Software for Water Treatment Plants in Mining

With real-time monitoring and AI capabilities, TalbotAnalytics eliminates guesswork from the management of water treatment plants in mining.

Water security has become a paramount concern, not only for mines across southern Africa but on a global scale, with profound implications for operational viability, regulatory compliance, and community relations.

The multifaceted issue of water secuirty is influenced by various factors, spanning from global trends to local catchment-specific conditions. Key determinants of water security include primary water availability, which is increasingly impacted by climate change and escalating demand driven by population and industrial growth. Additionally, the integrity of water infrastructure has emerged as a challenge contributing to the overarching “water crisis”. Political agendas, such as dam construction and transfer schemes, further complicate the landscape.

In South Africa, financial considerations, including water price inflation, at an average of 10% annually for the next three years, and rising costs of infrastructure operation, maintenance, refurbishment, and replacement, exacerbate the challenges faced by the mining sector. This sector is confronted with an abundance of obstacles. Addressing these challenges necessitates innovative water managment strategies incorporating AI and software solutions.

Conventional water management techniques

Water has long been undervalued, resulting in a lack of systematic measurement and tracking in the mining industry, a trend that began to shift with energy in the mid-2000s but is only now emerging in water management. Limited data exists, primarily confined to incoming volume and water flow metrics, leaving a substantial gap in understanding water usage and trends. Even when data is available, accessibility remains a significant challenge, hindering effective water management efforts.

Thus, to enhance water management strategies, real-time, accessible data must be made available to mining companies. This allows for the immediate detection of water losses and abnormal water usage per unit of product. It also facilitates the presentation of the potential costs associated with disruptions due to water unavailability, as well as the financial benefits of implementing water savings and wastewater treatment solutions. In addition, it is imperative to predict future periods of water deficit by analyzing future water requirements alongside historical water usage patterns. This involves identifying and evaluating risks using advanced monitoring systems, such smart metering data-driven approaches, which encompasses factors such as water availability, quality, cost, and competing demands from various users.

The solution. TalbotAnalytics.

From having spent over 15 years modelling water security for clients across Africa, TalbotAnalytics was developed specifically as a robust water management solution for mines and industries. It simplifies collaboration and data sharing with process specialists, consultants and strategic partners, by using Machine learning and AI.

Data is collected in real-time from agnostic smart sensors installed on water-related equipment within the mining operations. These sensors continuously monitor various parameters, such as water volume and a borad range ofquality parameters, providing a live feed of crucial operational data.

This collected data is then transmitted to a cloud-based storage system, enabling remote access and analysis. In some setups, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) may first aggregate and pre-process the data before it’s sent to the cloud, optimizing the data for further analysis.

Once in the cloud, sophisticated algorithms and data processing tools analyze the raw data. This analysis transforms the raw sensor readings into actionable insights, identifying patterns, trends, and potential anomalies within the operations. This process is crucial for converting vast amounts of raw data into meaningful information that can drive decision-making.

The processed data is then integrated into a Software as a Service (SaaS) product to facilitate the visualization and interpretation of the data through interactive dashboards and reports. Users can customize these visualizations to highlight specific metrics of interest, from basic operational statistics like water volume and quality to advanced predictive analytics. These predictive insights enable the anticipation of future trendsallowing for proactive adjustments to operations to optimize performance and efficiency.  

How TalbotAnalytics has saved the mining sector millions.

Mining companies have historically spent large sums on the purchase of water from Water Service Providers (Water boards or Municipalities) as well as the management of contaminated or excess water. However, in water positive areas mines now realise that the water they were once pumping from underground, to keep the mine workings dry, and discharging at the surface, has immense value. 

By installing a water recovery plant and ensuring optimal plant performance, treated water that was previously discharged to a potable level, can now save the mine millions per month and at the same time reduce their demand on the municipal system. The treated water is now 100% compliant and available for other purposes/users.

Each mine presents with its own unique challenges for which Talbot has devised specific approaches and solutions. Where TalbotAnalytics is deployed, there are consistently vast improvements in the optimisation of water use and water treatment.  

A key challenge to mine water treatment is that both surface and ground water surrounding and within the mine may be exposed to a variety of contaminants; from the geology itself, mining techniques, machinery, and even from cooling systems.

Water pumped from underground is clarified at source to limit the impact of TSS contamination on mine equipment (pumps & pump impellers) and to limit it’s transfer to the surface. However, due to the limitations of working kilometers below the earths surface there is significant variabilty in the effectiveness of this first stage of treament as dosing of polymers is often inconsistent. This can have a large impact on the water treatment operations at the surface.

Through live tracking of key parameters, such as pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, colour, and temperature, TalbotAnalytics ensures the stabilty of the treatment plant by providing real time data, enabling immediate decisions to be made.

Pretreatment and operational cleaning regimes are customised specifically for each mine’s raw water.

Other key performance indicators which are monitored consistently include membrane performance, daily water production, water recovery and losses per process. With real time data and TA the agility necessary for efficient production is delivered.

Tracking anything enables you to better manage it and derive value from it. Through our software as a service platform, TalbotAnalytics, integrates AI, the best of human expertise, and agnostic smart-technology to ensure mining companies optimise their product recovery, minimise environmental impact, and enhance regulatory compliance.

With the ability of accessing real-time data and predictive analytics, our software enables proactive decision-making, facilitating essential cost savings and operational efficiencies while safeguarding water resources.