High-security system for harsh conditions

South Staffs Water (SSW) supplies drinking water to approximately 1.3m people and 35,000 businesses, covering an area of around 1,500 sq. km in the English Midlands. The company’s widely dispersed operating sites include treatment works, reservoirs, pumping stations, boosters and water towers.When it comes to protecting critical infrastructure, a locking system needs serious security credentials. As utilities like South Staffs Water (SSW) operate in widely dispersed and often remote sites, workflows can be complex. When SSW sought a new access control solution for their 91 operational sites, they required from their upcoming high-security system:

Durable products for harsh conditions
One key access to the needed areas per person
Simplier and transparent access management for employees and subcontractors

Audit trails on demand

In 2016 SSW trusted the security and safety of its sites to PROTEC2 CLIQ electromechanical locking system. The installation comprised of 600 padlocks, 392 cylinders and hundreds of programmable keys, plus four desktop and four wall programming devices. The PROTEC2 CLIQ electromechanical locking system has simplified access management, streamlining employee and contractor workflows and improving efficiency and security across the business. Key-holder revalidation is carried out via PDs at premises spread strategically around the SSW region.

If any key is lost, it can be deauthorised quickly, using the webbased admin software to change key status. Flexible access rights allow for keys to be given short validity time-periods, further reducing any risk that lost keys could compromise a critical water site. Audit trails can be generated on demand – for any lock or key. All SSW’s electromechanical locks are wireless: power is supplied by a standard battery inside every key, so there’s no need to run obtrusive, expensive wiring to secure the doors. All communications between lock and key are encrypted.

On top of this high-level mechanical security is a layer of electronic security: no lock can be opened without the key first being authorised by the central admin software. Each SSW employee now carries a single, physically identical key that works in any lock authorised by the system.

SSW is satisfied with their updated security solution and look forward to extending their cooperation with ABLOY in the future. Indeed, SSW subsidiary Cambridge Water have chosen the PROTEC2 CLIQ system from 2017.

"We chose the PROTEC2 CLIQ system because of the versatility and flexibility it offers. Our employees can use just one key for every site they need access to”Kate Wilkes, Resilience and Security manager at South Staffs Water

Benefits of Abloy's solution

Flexible access rights allow to give short validity time-periods for keys, further reducing any risk that lost keys
High-level mechanical security is a layer of electronic security
No need for expensive wiring, because all electromechanical locks are wireless and encrypted