Frequently asked questions.

What does an Electrical Engineer in the W/WW industry do?

  • Power Systems (Medium voltage, Low Voltage)

  • Controls and Alarms (Floats, Transducers, Ultrasonic, Dialers)

  • Communications (Fiber, Copper, Cellular, Radios)

  • SCADA Systems (Primary Control and true SCADA)

  • Emergency Power Generation (Diesel/Nat Gas)

  • Instrumentations (Flow Meters, Valves, Pressure).

When is an Electrical Engineer needed?

There are two types of construction projects; public funded projects and privately funded projects. Each have their own requirements for when a licensed PE is needed for electrical engineer work.

  • When utilizing public money; any construction project over $8,000.00 requires the use of an electrical engineer to provide stamped drawings. https://pels.texas.gov/downloads/TBPELSDiagrammatic.pdf

  • When utilizing private money or commercial projects; A single story building with over 8 unites, A two story building with over four units, A building over two stories, Other buildings over a one story building, and A floor area over 5,000 square feet require the use of a professional electrical engineer.

  • Guzman Engineering recommends the use of an electrical engineer for multi-phase projects, rehabilitations, large expansions, and/or significant control modifications to help ensure a successful project is constructed.

What are the major electrical pieces of a W/WW system?

  • Utility Equipment

  • Electrical Protection Equipment

  • Control Panel

  • Automatic Transfer Switch

  • Emergency Power Generation

  • Panelboard and Low-Voltage Transformer

  • Autodialer or Alarm System

  • Lighting

  • SCADA Panel

What is SCADA and how can it help me?

SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). A SCADA system utilizes industrial specialized computer equipment to actively and with precision measure data and make decisions with that information. This may include use of a pressure transducer in a lift station to measure wet well level and allow operations to modify pump set points without manually modifying float cable lengths. SCADA can also analyze data from power meters, pressure transmitters, flow meters, and other equipment to develop trending reports such as pump run times and flow over a monthly/daily/yearly period.

SCADA can also allow both remote monitoring, remote alarm notification, and remote control of a facility from an off site location such as an operators phone to reduce the amount of time needed to make critical decisions or realize a potential problem is occurring. Reach out to us for further information and planning exercises.