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Gallagher secures water site

The Birmingham Water Works Board (BWWB) in Birmingham, Alabama, uses the latest technology at its distributed treatment facilities, from which it delivers an average of 100-million­gallons of fresh water a day to its customers in five counties. The company consistently meets and exceeds state and federal standards for safety and quality and takes pride in protecting the quality and safety of this essential resource.

In today’s world, community water resources need to be protected by antiterrorism technology, federal and state regulations and security solutions that deal with a range of health and safety issues. Accordingly, many industries, including water utilities, are implementing security system upgrades. The BWWB was one of the first water utilities in the nation to step up to advanced solutions on plant security.

In compliance with orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the BWWB performed a vulnerability assessment of each of its facilities. This involved deter­mining where critical assets were vulnerable to physical destruction of infrastructure (e.g., pumps, dams, filter plants) or contamination at any stage in the water treatment process.

This assessment exposed weaknesses in perimeter security at each of the board’s facilities. To address these weaknesses, BWWB needed a comprehensive physical perimeter security solution capable of deterring and detecting intruders 24/7, while meeting stringent legal health and safety criteria, integrating with other security systems – such as access control and CCTV – and providing centralised management and fence zone monitoring of multiple remote sites.

After investigating a number of options, Gallagher’s perimeter security system was selected to provide a comprehensive, integrated perimeter security solution. Gallagher systems have been proven over more than 20 years and installed on a wide variety of sites from general commercial to critical infrastructure throughout the world; this is the same system used by the United Kingdom to protect its national utility grid. The system is made up of the Gallagher Trophy FT physical perimeter security system and Gallagher Command Centre software platform.

Gallagher’s perimeter systems are non-­lethal electric fence systems that detect intrusion attempts and deter would-be intruders. Attack is deterred through sending a regulated electric pulse around the perimeter security system approximately once every second. These pulses give a short, but safe, shock, making it impossible to climb the fence.

Intelligent perimeter

The fence also detects attacks, differentiating between serious breaches of the fence and disturbances caused by wildlife, birds or weather conditions.

Detection is made possible by Gallagher Command Centre software, which controls perimeter access and monitors fence activity. Using encrypted communication, Trophy FT allows BWWB to control and monitor unlimited sections of perimeter fence at six separate facilities from a central command centre. By adding the Gallagher Command Centre, BWWB is able to integrate legacy security systems, while leaving the door open for future expansion and upgrades.

For BWWB, the ability of Gallagher Command Centre software to integrate Trophy FT with their legacy security and access control system was a deciding factor. This integration makes it possible for both perimeter and access control alarms to be monitored from a remote command centre. By providing a comprehensive audit trail and report templates, Gallagher Command Centre gives security personnel at BWWB easy access to information for status updates and security checks.

Terry Oden, CPP, security director at BWWB, with over 40 years of field experience in security and risk assessment, recalls, “Through prior experience with physical protection, I knew that Gallagher perimeter security technology had been approved by government agencies for use in highly classified locations. It has an excellent reputation.”

Oden was able to conform to local ordinances related to electric fencing by using the Gallagher Code of Practice. The Gallagher Code of Practice and minimum installation standards meet and exceed the requirements of all national and international standards regarding safety and the application of electric fence systems.

The operations team at BWWB has found Gallagher’s integrated perimeter security system to be easy to operate. Oden adds, “The operating system is highly compatible with our other security systems. The quality, flexibility and reliability of the Gallagher technology meet all of our expectations.”

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