scope:

Introduction

Just as water utility system varies in definition, so does automation and instrumentation. However, to provide a framework for this manual the following definitions will be used (AwwaRFIJWWA 1994):

Automation: the replacement or elimination of intermediate components of a system or steps in a process, especially those involving human intervention or decision making, by technologically more advanced ones.

Instrumentation: both the technology and installation of equipment to monitor and control operations and carry out information processing associated with observation or adjustments of operations.

In the broadest sense, an instrument is defined as a device that performs a specific job. In a water utility, an instrument is usually a measuring or control device. In an automatic system, the controlling factor, such as flow or pressure, has to be reliably sensed or measured. Automation and instrumentation are closely associated because one depends on the other.