Unattended Water Sensor. This R&D prototype developed by Sandia National Laboratories is used to test for biotoxins and was incorporated into the monitoring program. This technology is new to the North American water industry and is being tested at two public utilities.
Click here to enlarge imageAs part of the CWS project, Glendale evaluated a new emerging technology, the Unattended Water Sensor. This technology, developed by Sandia National Laboratories, is about the size of a briefcase (unlike traditional monitoring systems, which are the size of a desk), and can be moved to different locations within the water transmission system. The technology enables the city to provide real-time analysis of biotoxin agents that can currently be identified in only a limited number of national laboratories.
Carol Linden, Deputy Director of the Science-based Threat Analysis and Countermeasures group for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Research and Development (part of the Department’s Science & Technology directorate), notes that the Unattended Water Sensor has strong potential for homeland security applications that can protect critical infrastructure. Implementation of similar water monitoring systems is projected in other major U.S. cities in the next several years.
The CWS application also can help water utilities achieve goals identified in EPA’s 2006 2011 Strategic Plan. These goals are directed at enhancing the ability to protect public health associated with drinking water systems. Pilot testing the Unattended Water Sensor will help in the advancement of the technology.
Data Integration
Glendale’s system includes a “data fusion” application which automatically pulls event-related data from disparate databases (themselves each containing large amounts of data from disparate sources) to create a comprehensive data set that the Utilities Department’s operations staff can use to make rapid decisions about emergency response decisions.
Current real-time, remote water quality monitoring is limited to detection and evaluation of traditional water quality parameters (e.g., chlorine residual and turbidity) on an individual parameter basis. The CWS includes sophisticated event detection capabilities that allow end users to evaluate multiple water quality parameters and other relevant data (e.g., consumer complaints, hospital calls, and field activities) simultaneously and understand the special relationships therein.
The operations staff has the ability to view multiple data streams in real time in a single location that in the past had typically been seen as single points of data by different team members. As a result, the Glendale operations staff can make faster, more accurate decisions related to unusual events in the system.
The system’s straightforward graphical user interface offers intuitive search, display, and reporting capabilities that deliver alerts and associated information at the operational level. This new approach to creating an early alert system for water utilities helps the staff recognize and quickly address water distribution system problems and protect the public from negative events (either intentional or accidental).