UMC Utility Operations & Infrastructure 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a SCADA system in utility operations?
- Billing customers for usage
- Monitoring and controlling remote infrastructure in real time (Correct answer)
- Scheduling employee shifts
- Auditing financial accounts
Correct answer: Monitoring and controlling remote infrastructure in real time
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems allow utility operators to remotely monitor and control infrastructure such as pumps, valves, and substations in real time.
Question 2: Which water treatment process removes dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium to reduce hardness?
- Chlorination
- Coagulation
- Ion exchange softening (Correct answer)
- Sedimentation
Correct answer: Ion exchange softening
Ion exchange softening replaces hardness-causing calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions, effectively reducing water hardness.
Question 3: In electric distribution systems, what device automatically isolates a faulted section while keeping the rest of the network energized?
- Transformer
- Sectionalizer (Correct answer)
- Capacitor bank
- Revenue meter
Correct answer: Sectionalizer
A sectionalizer counts fault current interruptions and opens to isolate the faulted section after an upstream recloser operates.
Question 4: A utility's integrated resource plan (IRP) is primarily used to:
- Set employee performance goals
- Forecast long-term supply and demand and plan for future resources (Correct answer)
- Determine daily dispatch schedules
- Calculate monthly customer bills
Correct answer: Forecast long-term supply and demand and plan for future resources
An IRP is a long-range planning document that balances projected demand growth against supply options including generation, efficiency, and demand response.
Question 5: What does the term 'non-revenue water' (NRW) refer to in a water utility?
- Water sold to industrial customers at a discount
- Water produced but not billed due to leaks, theft, or metering errors (Correct answer)
- Stormwater collected for reuse
- Water reserved for fire suppression
Correct answer: Water produced but not billed due to leaks, theft, or metering errors
Non-revenue water is the difference between water put into the distribution system and water billed to customers, encompassing physical losses, unbilled authorized uses, and apparent losses.
Question 6: Which natural gas pipeline integrity management program component involves physically inspecting pipe walls from the inside?
- Cathodic protection survey
- In-line inspection (smart pig) (Correct answer)
- Pressure testing
- Leak survey
Correct answer: In-line inspection (smart pig)
In-line inspection tools, commonly called 'smart pigs,' travel through the pipeline and use magnetic flux leakage or ultrasonic sensors to detect metal loss and anomalies.
Question 7: In utility asset management, what does 'condition-based maintenance' mean?
- Replacing assets on a fixed calendar schedule
- Performing maintenance based on actual asset condition data and diagnostics (Correct answer)
- Deferring all maintenance until failure occurs
- Outsourcing maintenance to contractors
Correct answer: Performing maintenance based on actual asset condition data and diagnostics
Condition-based maintenance uses real-time or periodic condition data—such as vibration, temperature, or oil analysis—to trigger maintenance only when indicators show degradation.
UMC Utility Operations & Infrastructure 2
What is the primary purpose of a SCADA system in utility operations?