Swedish water utility finds access solution for security, key management and harsh climate

Dala Vatten och Avfall distributes clean water to four municipalities in the central Swedish region of Dalarna. An inventory of the company’s 20-year-old mechanical locking system revealed it was no longer possible to guarantee the safety of all the keys they had issued. Yet, a single sensitive key in the wrong hands could have serious consequences for a community’s water supply.

Dala Vatten och Avfall decided to invest in a new locking system. They needed to upgrade perimeter security at multiple, dispersed sites against the potential threats of sabotage or terrorism; to keep Dala Vatten och Avfall in full central control of all keys at all times, ensuring no unauthorized valid keys are floating around; and to enable facility managers to manage access authorizations right down to the level of the individual employee or key-holder.

Dala Vatten och Avfall chose CLIQ Remote, key-based access control based on encrypted electronics incorporated into programmable high-security mechanical cylinders and keys— a technology already trusted at many critical infrastructure sites across Europe.

CLIQ Remote functionality is designed for companies with dispersed sites and/or key-holders. It allows central admin staff to update access rights centrally, using the CLIQ Web Manager software, without requiring the workforce to return to base. Keys can also be time-limited for extra protection against loss or theft. Now, key-holders must revalidate each one after a fixed period, and can update their access rights, using portable or wall-mounted Programming Devices placed strategically at Dala Vatten och Avfall’s sites.

“The reason we recommended CLIQ Remote was precisely the need for controlled authorization at the individual level,” says Lars Thorwalls at Göthes, Dala Vatten och Avfall’s security contractor. 

“We no longer have to worry about keys that were never returned by employees or contractors,” adds Roger Lundkvist, production manager at Dala Vatten och Avfall.

It’s easy to manage or cancel key permissions using the CLIQ Web Manager. The same web-based software makes a comprehensive audit trail for every lock available on demand, so monitoring the frequency of contractor and other key-holder visits is easy. It is straightforward to tailor a contractor’s access rights by restricting key validity to specific places, times or dates.

“The management chore takes just a few hours each month,” says Anna Nordahl, who handles key management for Dala Vatten och Avfall. 

With CLIQ, power to each locking cylinder is supplied by a standard battery inside every CLIQ key. There’s no wiring, making CLIQ a fast retrofit solution for doors and padlocks at remote sites where mains electricity is difficult or impossible to connect.

In addition, CLIQ padlocks can secure almost any opening, making the CLIQ solution much more adaptable than standard electronic access control systems. And with CLIQ Remote, Dala Vatten och Avfall can combine mechanical and electromechanical locking in the same installation, tailoring door security to precisely what they need at every specific opening.

Critically for a company operating in Scandinavia, CLIQ locking hardware also works reliably in the harshest weather conditions. “Our locks are often located in exposed environments,” adds Roger Lundkvist.

“If it works for us in winter, there would be no obstacles to prevent expanding the system to other municipal services.”