It's time again to visit another AWWA American Water Landmark. This time we're heading west to Utah to Mountain Dell Dam. Fast facts:

• Mountain Dell Dam was built over the course of 11 years starting in 1914.
• The project increased Salt Lake City's storage capacity to 850 million US gallons of water.
• Grand total for the 11 year project? $90,000. Adjusted for inflation (from 1925 to 2016), that's is $1.2 million.

Here are some of the original plans - you can click on the picture to see it bigger.
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And this is pretty cool - check out this video of a drone flyover to see the dam as it is now.

We've been using MPE controllers for many years, and it never fails to leave a customer happy. I had a great moment a couple months ago when an operator and I were talking and he launched into a full-throated endorsement of the SC2000 that he had had for several years. I was surprised, probably we had been talking about flow meters and the conversation totally turned, but mostly really happy that he was so happy. Here's 7 things that we both like about the lift station controllers:

Have you ever looked at a touchscreen and wondered what in the world it was trying to tell you? Or worse, your lift station has no interface telling you anything at all? One of things that operators love about the MPE SC2000 controller is that the interface is easy to understand, making it actually useful to them when they're doing lift station checks and troubleshooting. Your level is right there, your pump running is right there, your system status is right there, all at a glance.

A cool thing about the MPE SC2000 is that the controller is 100% SCADA ready, and acts as a RTU as well as a lift station controller. Let's break that down. With a lot of stand alone controllers, you have to use a separate piece of equipment - a RTU - to communicate between the controller and the radio. The SC2000 has the RTU built in, so you don't need a separate piece of equipment.

No external computer or special software required here. Using a simple programming ladder, the MPE controllers can be easily programmed. Want to make a level adjustment? Easily do it from the interface, avoiding the cost of a service visit.

If you have flow meters or VFDs at your station that you want to control from your SCADA system, the SC2000 has got you covered. ​Optional I/O is available for VFD speed control and for additional telemetry inputs. This is really handy, and helps avoid any extra programming or equipment. 

Sometimes there's a smaller station that really just calls for simple float controls. Enter the duplexer, a low cost SCADA ready plug-in pump controller designed to perform level control for duplex lift station applications. The level inputs of this dual pump controller can be connected to either four float switches. It also comes in an intrinsically safe version that can be mounted three different ways.

When it comes down to it, reliability might be the most important thing we look for in controls. It doesn't matter if a piece of equipment runs your whole plant, does all your DNR reports, answers all your emails, and bakes you a cake one day if it fails the next. Sure, you'd have one really awesome day! But could you ever really trust it? We love this about the MPE controllers - you can trust it. Over 12 years, we've only had a handful of controllers fail, and most those times they were damaged by power surges. The great track record helps us - and more importantly our operators - sleep easy. No cake, though. We're still working on that.

MPE offers awesome support on all of their products. Need a new controller? Lead time is usually a day. In those instances above where controllers were damaged, it is one of the most easy RMA processes ever. They receive the controller, evaluate it, fix it, and test it for at least 24 hours before sending it back. They stand behind their products 100%.