Target outcome · 10 to 15% reduction in chemical consumption. $80K to $300K annual chemical cost savings at a typical 50 ML/d plant.
Business problem
Chemical dosing — coagulant plus polymer — is typically set conservatively high to cover worst-case conditions. Operators adjust one to three times per shift based on turbidity trends. During storm events, sudden influent quality changes overwhelm manual adjustment, forcing over-dosing for safety margin. This costs 10 to 20% in excess chemical and occasionally fails to prevent compliance issues during sharp transitions.
What it does
Four specialised agents work together on a 5 to 15 minute cycle. The 15 to 30 minute deadtime between a dose change and its downstream response is the main technical challenge — agents reason anticipatorily, using rate-of-change signals rather than waiting for post-coagulation confirmation.
4-agent team
- Influent Quality Expert — characterises coagulation demand from influent turbidity, pH, flow, and rate of change
- Treatment Performance Expert — monitors post-coagulation turbidity and downstream treatment response
- Dose Optimiser — proposes alum and polymer dose rates based on demand and performance
- Quality Guardian — validates every proposed dose against effluent permit margins, dose envelope, and analyser health
What the team handles
Handles
Alum and coagulant dose adjustment within envelope, polymer dose adjustment, dose-response model updates from jar tests, storm-mode anticipatory dosing.
Does not handle
Chemical procurement or inventory, jar test execution (lab responsibility), pH adjustment (separate control loop).
Humans retain authority over
Envelope changes, new chemical introduction, jar test interpretation, maximum dose authorisation.
Current process vs. with Agent Team
Outcomes and measurement
Specific alum consumption
Polymer consumption
Post-coagulation turbidity variance
Chemical cost per m³
*All figures are typical ranges. Achievable range depends on existing control maturity, data quality, and site-specific conditions.
Data inputs
SCADA
pre-treatment analysers
post-treatment analysers
LIMS
*Categories only — no tag names or system-specific field references. Exact data mapping is scoped per site.
Scoping questions
Expect these questions in a first scoping conversation. They signal engineering discipline and help narrow the template to your specific site context.
- What coagulant and polymer types are in use and what are the regulatory dose limits?
- Is the jar test procedure documented and results digitally captured?
- What post-coagulation analysers are in place?
- Are dose pump setpoints writable via SCADA?
- What is the current chemical spend and how is it allocated between process conditions?
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