LOVELAND, CO, Sept. 16, 2005 -- Hach Homeland Security Technologies' Event Monitor™ Trigger System has been recognized as one of the 100 most technologically significant new products of 2005 by R&D Magazine.
The Event Monitor Trigger System technology is able to accurately detect, assess and categorize -- according to established water-analytic parameters of turbidity, chlorine, pH, conductivity, and total organic carbon -- in real-time any water quality deviation within a distribution system. The new technology is considered a break-through in water distribution management, according to industry experts.
The R&D 100 Awards provides a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and academia as proof that the product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year. The 43rd annual competition of the R&D 100 Awards saw entries from many of the most prestigious product-development companies, research organizations, and universities from around the world. This year's R&D 100 Award event will be held on October 20th in Chicago, Illinois.
"We are pleased and honored to be recognized by R&D Magazine," said Dr. Jeff Throckmorton, president of Hach's Homeland Security Technologies division. "For the first time, public water distribution management can in real-time identify, for example, a water main break or a caustic overfeed (water pump malfunction that over adjusts the pH level), or any number of other water distribution events, including foreign or toxic agents, and take appropriate steps to address it before it impacts the entire water system."
The Event Monitor Trigger System integrates multiple sensor outputs from Hach's Water Distribution Monitoring Panel (WDMP) or PipeSonde™ In-Pipe Probe, and astroTOC™ UV On-line TOC (Total Organic Carbon) Analyzer that are strategically located throughout a water distribution system. Using dynamic, intelligent -- continuous heuristic application -- software the Event MonitorTM calculates a single trigger signal by analyzing the data from the instruments and interprets the significance of water quality deviations from the established baseline. It applies a mathematical analysis of all parameter measurements to recognize data patterns and deviations.
As the Event Monitor "learns" the specific combination of sensor measurements -- the "fingerprint" -- of unique events, it stores them in a "Plant Event Library" and alerts operators when it recognizes water quality fingerprints signaling key operational deviations requiring attention. Operators can also label these fingerprints as they are detected for simplified identification should they recur. This provides detection capability and categorization not possible with current human-only or instrument-only monitoring systems.
Many municipalities are currently using the Event Monitor Trigger System and water distribution monitoring sensors to detect water contamination events and improve operational efficiency.
Hach Homeland Security Technologies focuses on the development of innovative and breakthrough technologies that can be used to detect contamination events, terrorist activity, and improve general operational control in both water and air. It's a division of the Hach Company (www.hach.com), based in Loveland, Colo. Hach is a unit of the Danaher Corp. (www.danaher.com), is a leading manufacturer of professional instrumentation, industrial technologies, and tools and components.
