This is the October 2015 edition of the monthly magazine of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
In this month’s issue we have
• An article on Wastewater Flow Monitoring by Andy Godley of the WRc
• A feature article by Peter Williams of IBM Big Green Innovation & Amir Peleg of TaKaDu on Integrated Event Management and how technology can help us in improving the delivery of the event management cycle
• An article by myself that question the use of the BOD test and looks at the modern alternatives using modern technology and ask whether or not we are ready to replace BOD as the parameter of choice for the Water Industry
• All of the usual news & important events that have happened this month or are coming up
Welcome to the January 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have a feature article on looking at the developments that the current pandemic has brought to the water industry, a case study on acoustic data loggers and another case study looking at the use of technology to manage the risks around dam maintenance.
Hope you enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the August 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles and case studies on
Leak detection in difficult locations
Enabling decision making with multi-faceted water data
Using instrumentation for a factor approach in the water industry
Enjoy the latest edition and don't forget to register for the free Water, Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring Conference and the Future Water Association's Network November
Oliver
This is the November edition of the magazine created for the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group on LinkedIn. If you like this edition then please join the group if you aren't a member already.
In this edition we have a round up of the WWEM Conference & Exhibition that took place this month as well as an article on the use of Energy Harvesting to power sensors on water networks. Our feature article this month is by the magazine's editor, Oliver Grievson and is a missive on what the Smart Water Industry is and how we make it "Business as Usual in the Water Industry.
Enjoy
Welcome to the April 2018 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control..
In the latest edition, along with the latest news from the Water Industry we have, amongst others, articles from
Nick Mclauchlan of Cyberprism who discusses the upcoming Network & Information Systems directive and its implications to the Water Industry
Doug Anderson of Vega Controls talking about Bluetooth and its application in instrumentation interaction and maintenance in the Water Industry
A "Focus On" article by Group Manager Oliver Grievson about the basics of instrumentation maintenance & calibration.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the last edition of WIPAC Monthly for 2020. In this edition, along with the water industry news surrounding instrumentation and Digital Transformation, we have a feature article highlighting the recent release of the IWA Digital Transformation White Paper on Instrumentation in Digital Transformation and an article on using Tryptophan measurement for energy saving in activated sludge plants.
Enjoy the last edition of 2020
Oliver
Welcome to this 10th anniversary edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
This edition is somewhat of a double edition featuring some of my favourite articles over the past five years and the content that goes into each edition. I won't spoil people's surprise at the articles that are in this edition,
Enjoy and have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the April 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
As well as a summary of this month's news in terms of instrumentation, automation & control and the smart water industry we have articles by
Dr Lucinda Gilfolye of Anglian Water on "How to solve a problem like CSOs"
Revd. Dave Walker on how to improve level monitoring
Doug Anderson on how radar is helping to improve the environment by improving the way we monitor
Hope you enjoy this month's edition.
Oliver
Welcome to the October 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month`s edition we have case studies on flow monitoring and mobile sensor management as well as a feature article that attempts to put a price tag on installing upstream and downstream monitoring for the overflows in England and Wales as recent plans have outlined for our rivers.
Enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the January 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have a feature article on looking at the developments that the current pandemic has brought to the water industry, a case study on acoustic data loggers and another case study looking at the use of technology to manage the risks around dam maintenance.
Hope you enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the August 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles and case studies on
Leak detection in difficult locations
Enabling decision making with multi-faceted water data
Using instrumentation for a factor approach in the water industry
Enjoy the latest edition and don't forget to register for the free Water, Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring Conference and the Future Water Association's Network November
Oliver
This is the November edition of the magazine created for the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group on LinkedIn. If you like this edition then please join the group if you aren't a member already.
In this edition we have a round up of the WWEM Conference & Exhibition that took place this month as well as an article on the use of Energy Harvesting to power sensors on water networks. Our feature article this month is by the magazine's editor, Oliver Grievson and is a missive on what the Smart Water Industry is and how we make it "Business as Usual in the Water Industry.
Enjoy
Welcome to the April 2018 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control..
In the latest edition, along with the latest news from the Water Industry we have, amongst others, articles from
Nick Mclauchlan of Cyberprism who discusses the upcoming Network & Information Systems directive and its implications to the Water Industry
Doug Anderson of Vega Controls talking about Bluetooth and its application in instrumentation interaction and maintenance in the Water Industry
A "Focus On" article by Group Manager Oliver Grievson about the basics of instrumentation maintenance & calibration.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the last edition of WIPAC Monthly for 2020. In this edition, along with the water industry news surrounding instrumentation and Digital Transformation, we have a feature article highlighting the recent release of the IWA Digital Transformation White Paper on Instrumentation in Digital Transformation and an article on using Tryptophan measurement for energy saving in activated sludge plants.
Enjoy the last edition of 2020
Oliver
Welcome to this 10th anniversary edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
This edition is somewhat of a double edition featuring some of my favourite articles over the past five years and the content that goes into each edition. I won't spoil people's surprise at the articles that are in this edition,
Enjoy and have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the April 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
As well as a summary of this month's news in terms of instrumentation, automation & control and the smart water industry we have articles by
Dr Lucinda Gilfolye of Anglian Water on "How to solve a problem like CSOs"
Revd. Dave Walker on how to improve level monitoring
Doug Anderson on how radar is helping to improve the environment by improving the way we monitor
Hope you enjoy this month's edition.
Oliver
Welcome to the October 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month`s edition we have case studies on flow monitoring and mobile sensor management as well as a feature article that attempts to put a price tag on installing upstream and downstream monitoring for the overflows in England and Wales as recent plans have outlined for our rivers.
Enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the July 2021 issue of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have, along with the normal news and events in the water industry, articles on
Leveraging data from the water distribution network
The race to net zero and digital transformation
The effective use of data in wet weather events.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
This is the Monthly Update from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. This publication is released each month and contains news, articles and events from the Water & Sewerage side of the global Water Industry
Welcome to the February 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have the usual news and articles for everyone's enjoyment including
A summary of the join SWAN Forum/WIPAC Virtual Workshop on "Overcoming Pollution" written by Sapir Yarden of the SWAN Forum, an article by Gary Wong of OSI on using data to create operational efficiency as well as an article on cybersecurity at the instrument level.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Welcome to the June 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have case studies from Hach and Aguas do Porto as well as articles from Kando and the SWAN Forum reporting about the recent SWAN Forum Conference.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Now on its 80th edition WIPAC Monthly is one of the Water Industry's premium publications for Instrumentation, Automation & Control and related subjects in the Water Industry.
In this edition there are articles on
The effectiveness of the use of satellites for leak detection
The maintenance of electro-magnetic flow meters with special reference to their maintenance, calibration and cleaning regimes
An article on treating data as an asset management class as well as another article on the use of Big Data in the Water Industry.
Lastly there is a plea to the general water industry to support the ongoing costs associated with producing WIPAC Monthly. It is published for the use of everyone however it will close if it cannot afford to support itself and thus donations to the operational costs of WIPAC Monthly are being asked for though either Kickstarter or through the Patreon website at https://www.patreon.com/Wipac
Welcome to the first edition of 2022 of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on the accuracy of monitoring in DMA and its importance by Vince Favre of Flow-Tronic. An opinion piece by Amir Cahn of the SWAN Forum about the importance of the Smart Water Industry and finally an article talking about the OFWAT Breakthrough Challenge that is being led by Severn Trent Water looking at AI & Machine Learning in the Wastewater Network.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
WIPAC Monthly is the magazine of the LinkedIn Group - Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition of WIPAC Monthly we talk about new developments in BOD monitors, the efficient use of VSDs, the perils of ignoring your instrumentation and whether or not you need to install an instrument at all
The January 2016 edition of the monthly magazine for the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. This edition includes articles on
• The trends in Instrumentation & Process Automation in the Water Industry for 2016
• The benefits of Smart Water Networks with reference to AMI
• The Impact of Energy Tariffs
• Activated Sludge Optimisation using Ammonia & Nitrate Data
• System Upgrades
• The dilemma that Big Data presents
Welcome to the March 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we again concentrate on pollution we articles from
Wireless Innovation talking about the need to concentrate on data management,
StormHarvester talking about the use of Artificial Intelligence in sewer blockage detection
Hach showing a case study from Beckton Wastewater Treatment Works and the use of Real Time Control for Ammonia Control and energy reduction.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
The December 2015 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine produced by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control group concentrating on the most recent developments in instrumentation, process automation, process control, data and information in the Water Industry
In the latest edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control, we have articles on:
The Drive Towards Digital Transformation
Classifying Data
Wastewater Flow Management
Smart Water Metering & Communication
All of this is on top of the usual news and views from the water industry and don't forget that the first WIPAC Webinar, sponsored by Vega Control Systems, will take place on 10th December 2019, log into the WIPAC Group on LinkedIn for more details
Welcome to the April 2020 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In the latest edition, on top of the industry news we have articles from
Amir Cahn of the SWAN Forum about Data as a Service
Andy Godley of the WRc about the focus on wastewater flow monitoring in the industry over the next asset management period (April 2020-2025)
Thomas Bennett detailing a case study from Enfield Council in London where they have created smart gullies with monitoring systems built into the manhole covers
Oliver Grievson of Z-Tech Control Systems and the Foundation for Water Research on how instrumentation as a whole is going to help deliver the targets that the England & Welsh water industry has over the next five years
Enjoy the latest edition and have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the March 2020 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on
Artificial Neural Networks in contaminant prediction
Digital Transformation and the customer
CFD and Physical Modelling to assess water treatment works performance
Have a good month, enjoy the latest edition and stay safe
Oliver
In this last edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine that is created by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control (WIPAC) LinkedIn Group we have articles about ORP sensors and where to use them in the Water Industry, the use of THM monitors in wastewater and an article on flow monitoring and its use in the water industry. Along with these fascinating articles we have this month's news from the industry the latest on company frameworks and the newest innovations from the instrumentation supply companies
Welcome to the October 2018 edition of WIPAC Monthly - the magazine from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on
Flow Meter selection
Flow Measurement & Control
The increasing importance of cyber-security in the water industry
Operational effectiveness
Enjoy the latest edition and if you are in the UK I hope to see you at WWEM
Have a good month
Oliver
The November 2015 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine produced by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control group concentrating on the most recent developments in instrumentation, process automation, process control, data and information in the Water Industry
The International Water Association and the ICA Specialist Group brings you the 3rd New Developments in IT & Water. Featuring sessions on Modelling & Control of Water & Wastewater Systems, Data Analytics, The Internet of Things and Cyber Security the conference will be the ideal place to figure out where the water industry is in the Smart Water Industry
WIPAC Monthly is the monthly magazine produced by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's issue we have, amongst the usual news articles from the Data/Information & ICA in the Water Industry:
An article on the legal issues of Big Data
An article focusing on Electro-magnetic flow meters
An article focusing on the OFWAT PR19 Methodology and its impact on future programmes
An article on Dissolved Oxygen in wastewater
Welcome to the August 2017 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the monthly magazine of the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we ask the question "Where does the Water Industry & the Smart Industry collide in an interesting opinion piece which looks at the various reports that have been published about the Water Industry recently.
In our second article this month we have a continuation of the "Focus On" pieces which look at the basics of a particular subject in the Water Industry. This month concentrated on the subject of Wastewater Flow Control.
This is all together with all of the usual news & events from the Water Industry
Welcome to the May 2019 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have a feature article on the recent Smart Water Workshop organised by +Add Strategy and sponsored by Diehl where the current state of smart water metering in the UK was looked at and some interesting results and discussions ensured. We also have an article on the complexities of protecting the telecoms infrastructure and finally two articles from the WIPAC archives to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the WIPAC group and to examine how far the industry has come since WIPAC opened its doors.
Welcome to the February 2016 Edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group on LinkedIn.
In this month's edition we have articles on
• The opportunities that the inter-connection of assets potentially have for the Water Industry
• The role of instrumentation in the factory approach of the Water Industry
• The impact of getting data quality wrong and the basics of how to get it right
As well as the usual Water Industry news
Welcome to the first edition of WIPAC Monthly for 2019. Only being a month into the year the Water Industry is seeing an increasing pace of interest into Water 4.0, Digital Transformation and the Smart Water Industry so it looks like its going to be an interesting year.
In this month's edition we have a preview of WEX Global which takes place in a few weeks time at the beginning of March where there will be a whole thread around Water 4.0, we also have an article on real-time control from Hach who will be one of the companies leading the smart water sessions in Porto. Following this we have an article on turbidity measurement and how Mike Sadar of Lovibond has put together a team to address some of the issues with the measurement technique. Finally we have an article covering the basics of comms system and how to select the systems for the applications
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the July 2021 issue of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have, along with the normal news and events in the water industry, articles on
Leveraging data from the water distribution network
The race to net zero and digital transformation
The effective use of data in wet weather events.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
This is the Monthly Update from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. This publication is released each month and contains news, articles and events from the Water & Sewerage side of the global Water Industry
Welcome to the February 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have the usual news and articles for everyone's enjoyment including
A summary of the join SWAN Forum/WIPAC Virtual Workshop on "Overcoming Pollution" written by Sapir Yarden of the SWAN Forum, an article by Gary Wong of OSI on using data to create operational efficiency as well as an article on cybersecurity at the instrument level.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Welcome to the June 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have case studies from Hach and Aguas do Porto as well as articles from Kando and the SWAN Forum reporting about the recent SWAN Forum Conference.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Now on its 80th edition WIPAC Monthly is one of the Water Industry's premium publications for Instrumentation, Automation & Control and related subjects in the Water Industry.
In this edition there are articles on
The effectiveness of the use of satellites for leak detection
The maintenance of electro-magnetic flow meters with special reference to their maintenance, calibration and cleaning regimes
An article on treating data as an asset management class as well as another article on the use of Big Data in the Water Industry.
Lastly there is a plea to the general water industry to support the ongoing costs associated with producing WIPAC Monthly. It is published for the use of everyone however it will close if it cannot afford to support itself and thus donations to the operational costs of WIPAC Monthly are being asked for though either Kickstarter or through the Patreon website at https://www.patreon.com/Wipac
Welcome to the first edition of 2022 of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on the accuracy of monitoring in DMA and its importance by Vince Favre of Flow-Tronic. An opinion piece by Amir Cahn of the SWAN Forum about the importance of the Smart Water Industry and finally an article talking about the OFWAT Breakthrough Challenge that is being led by Severn Trent Water looking at AI & Machine Learning in the Wastewater Network.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
WIPAC Monthly is the magazine of the LinkedIn Group - Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition of WIPAC Monthly we talk about new developments in BOD monitors, the efficient use of VSDs, the perils of ignoring your instrumentation and whether or not you need to install an instrument at all
The January 2016 edition of the monthly magazine for the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. This edition includes articles on
• The trends in Instrumentation & Process Automation in the Water Industry for 2016
• The benefits of Smart Water Networks with reference to AMI
• The Impact of Energy Tariffs
• Activated Sludge Optimisation using Ammonia & Nitrate Data
• System Upgrades
• The dilemma that Big Data presents
Welcome to the March 2021 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we again concentrate on pollution we articles from
Wireless Innovation talking about the need to concentrate on data management,
StormHarvester talking about the use of Artificial Intelligence in sewer blockage detection
Hach showing a case study from Beckton Wastewater Treatment Works and the use of Real Time Control for Ammonia Control and energy reduction.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
The December 2015 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine produced by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control group concentrating on the most recent developments in instrumentation, process automation, process control, data and information in the Water Industry
In the latest edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control, we have articles on:
The Drive Towards Digital Transformation
Classifying Data
Wastewater Flow Management
Smart Water Metering & Communication
All of this is on top of the usual news and views from the water industry and don't forget that the first WIPAC Webinar, sponsored by Vega Control Systems, will take place on 10th December 2019, log into the WIPAC Group on LinkedIn for more details
Welcome to the April 2020 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In the latest edition, on top of the industry news we have articles from
Amir Cahn of the SWAN Forum about Data as a Service
Andy Godley of the WRc about the focus on wastewater flow monitoring in the industry over the next asset management period (April 2020-2025)
Thomas Bennett detailing a case study from Enfield Council in London where they have created smart gullies with monitoring systems built into the manhole covers
Oliver Grievson of Z-Tech Control Systems and the Foundation for Water Research on how instrumentation as a whole is going to help deliver the targets that the England & Welsh water industry has over the next five years
Enjoy the latest edition and have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the March 2020 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on
Artificial Neural Networks in contaminant prediction
Digital Transformation and the customer
CFD and Physical Modelling to assess water treatment works performance
Have a good month, enjoy the latest edition and stay safe
Oliver
In this last edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine that is created by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control (WIPAC) LinkedIn Group we have articles about ORP sensors and where to use them in the Water Industry, the use of THM monitors in wastewater and an article on flow monitoring and its use in the water industry. Along with these fascinating articles we have this month's news from the industry the latest on company frameworks and the newest innovations from the instrumentation supply companies
Welcome to the October 2018 edition of WIPAC Monthly - the magazine from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on
Flow Meter selection
Flow Measurement & Control
The increasing importance of cyber-security in the water industry
Operational effectiveness
Enjoy the latest edition and if you are in the UK I hope to see you at WWEM
Have a good month
Oliver
The November 2015 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine produced by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control group concentrating on the most recent developments in instrumentation, process automation, process control, data and information in the Water Industry
The International Water Association and the ICA Specialist Group brings you the 3rd New Developments in IT & Water. Featuring sessions on Modelling & Control of Water & Wastewater Systems, Data Analytics, The Internet of Things and Cyber Security the conference will be the ideal place to figure out where the water industry is in the Smart Water Industry
WIPAC Monthly is the monthly magazine produced by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's issue we have, amongst the usual news articles from the Data/Information & ICA in the Water Industry:
An article on the legal issues of Big Data
An article focusing on Electro-magnetic flow meters
An article focusing on the OFWAT PR19 Methodology and its impact on future programmes
An article on Dissolved Oxygen in wastewater
Welcome to the August 2017 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the monthly magazine of the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we ask the question "Where does the Water Industry & the Smart Industry collide in an interesting opinion piece which looks at the various reports that have been published about the Water Industry recently.
In our second article this month we have a continuation of the "Focus On" pieces which look at the basics of a particular subject in the Water Industry. This month concentrated on the subject of Wastewater Flow Control.
This is all together with all of the usual news & events from the Water Industry
Welcome to the May 2019 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have a feature article on the recent Smart Water Workshop organised by +Add Strategy and sponsored by Diehl where the current state of smart water metering in the UK was looked at and some interesting results and discussions ensured. We also have an article on the complexities of protecting the telecoms infrastructure and finally two articles from the WIPAC archives to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the WIPAC group and to examine how far the industry has come since WIPAC opened its doors.
Welcome to the February 2016 Edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group on LinkedIn.
In this month's edition we have articles on
• The opportunities that the inter-connection of assets potentially have for the Water Industry
• The role of instrumentation in the factory approach of the Water Industry
• The impact of getting data quality wrong and the basics of how to get it right
As well as the usual Water Industry news
Welcome to the first edition of WIPAC Monthly for 2019. Only being a month into the year the Water Industry is seeing an increasing pace of interest into Water 4.0, Digital Transformation and the Smart Water Industry so it looks like its going to be an interesting year.
In this month's edition we have a preview of WEX Global which takes place in a few weeks time at the beginning of March where there will be a whole thread around Water 4.0, we also have an article on real-time control from Hach who will be one of the companies leading the smart water sessions in Porto. Following this we have an article on turbidity measurement and how Mike Sadar of Lovibond has put together a team to address some of the issues with the measurement technique. Finally we have an article covering the basics of comms system and how to select the systems for the applications
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the February edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition we have articles on:
Delivering Digital Transformation
A practical approach to IT/OT security
The Monitoring and Control of the Activated Sludge Process
Have a good month and hope to see you at some of this month's conferences
In this month's Water Industry Process Automation & Control (WIPAC) Monthly for May 2017 we give you three fantastic articles on
The adoption of the Smart Water Industry
Measuring Flow in part full pipes using the radar method from Area Velocity Specialists, Nivus.
A Technical paper on the evaluation of solid state reference electrode junction materials for ISEs.
All of this plus this month's news from the Water Industry with reference to instrumentation, process automation, control & the general Smart Water Industry
Welcome to the July 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have accompanying the usual news and views from the water industry articles about Using digital tools for future catchment management from Gwion Kennard and Stephen Barge from Atkins as well as a case study of real time diagnosis of pipe networks to help reduce leakage.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the first edition of WIPAC Monthly for 2023. In this edition we have articles on everything from managing and measuring storm water to how we are adopting 5G to how trust is vital and collaboration is vital in the way that the Digital Transformation is going to be delivered in the water industry.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the February 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have three fascinating articles.
The first is an opinion piece and our feature article by Group Editor, Oliver Grievson, looking at some of the history of flow and quality monitoring within the water industry in the UK and what has been done already to monitor the environment and the impact of the wastewater industry on it.
In our second article we look at a case study from TaKaDU and how the implementation of their CEM system in the city of Medellin has helped to reduce leakage, increase operational efficiency and help with long-term asset planning.
In last article of the month we look at measuring aeration blowers and how it can be used to increase the operational efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant and limit the operational carbon in article by Tom Jenkins and John Conover.
Enjoy the latest edition and have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the October 2020 issue of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine from Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
This month we have somewhat of a flow and pollution control special after the recent debates over pollution control in England & Wales.
Enjoy the latest issue
Welcome to the February 2018 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine from the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
In this months edition, on top of the month's news from the industry, we have articles from
Mike Strahand of ATi in the first part of an article on the development of Smart Water Networks
An article from Endress & Hauser about the importance of Smart Instruments and the data quality in Smart Pumping Systems
An article from AMS about the online remediation of Hexavalent Chromium using online analysis to control chemical dosing.
I hope you enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the November Edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
In this edition we have articles on data analytics, artificial intelligence and water resources
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the September 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly. The magazine brought to by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have all the news from the water industry including a post-conference update after the SWIG Sensing in Water Conference as well as articles on
How information siloes are proving to be an obstacle to Digital Transformation in the water industry
An article on cybersecurity in the USA and how Digital Tools are helping organisations to keep ahead of the increase in digital attacks and ahead of legislation
An article on the Siemens/BuntPlant SIWA Leakplus solution that will be demonstrated live on stage at this year's IWA Digital Water Summit in Bilbao towards the middle of November.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the April 2017 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine for the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
The focus of this month's edition is the calibration of instrumentation and making sure that the data that we, as an industry, capture is correct and leads to informed decision making.
This edition starts off with an article written by Group Manager, Oliver Grievson,talking about the general principles of calibration followed by an article by Alan Hunt of ABB on the benefits that digitisation of instrumentation has brought the Water Industry and finally an article specifically on turbidity measurement and its importance within the Water Industry
The monthly magazine for the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have articles on
Explaining Flow Profiles
Improving Water & Wastewater Asset Management using analytics
The use of online THM Analysers
Building the Business Case for Smart Water
A case study for Smart Wastewater Networks
Along with the usual industry news. If you enjoy this edition then please feel free to sign up to the LinkedIn Group (if you aren't already a member) and feel free to share this and previous editions with whoever you feel might enjoy it
WIPAC Monthly is the monthly magazine of the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. This is the edition from July 2016.
In this edition we have articles on Smart Water Networks, Area Velocity Flow Measurement, Smart Water Semantics and the Cyber Security of devices connected to the Industrial Internet of Things. All things that will be covered in the IWA Conference at WWEM this November.
Enjoy
Welcome to the July 2020 edition of WIPAC Monthly which has a strong theme of activated sludge plant control which was the theme of this month's 5th WIPAC Webinar (which is available for all to watch on YouTube).
In this month's edition we have an article that is a follow up to the webinar look at the highlights of what each of the presenters shared with the audience and a follow up case study that was actually originally printed in WIPAC monthly a couple of year's ago looking at the case study of Cookstown wastewater treatment works and how advanced control help save a large percentage of the works energy consumption. We also have another article looking at IoT based remote monitoring for asset management from Trimble Water.
Enjoy this month's edition....
Welcome to the August 2019 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine from the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this edition we have articles on
Artificial Intelligence and how it can benefit water resources
The use of Applications in the operational side of the Water Industry
Phosphorus measurement and control
I hope you enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the first edition of 2018 for WIPAC Monthly, the magazine of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group on LinkedIn.
In this month's edition we have two opinion articles looking at the future of the Water Industry. The first is by Group Manager, Oliver Grievson who looks at some of the technology directions the industry should take moving forward and the second is by Fred Greguras of Royse Law looking at some of the implications of the Internet of Things.
This month's edition also has two case studies, the first looking at leveraging data to minimise non-revenue water and the second at reusing fibre-optic cable for plant communications.
Welcome to the June 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's issue, along with the latest news and events from the water industry we have articles on
Using Artificial Intelligence in CCTV surveying from VAPAR
Optimising wastewater treatment through monitoring and measurement from ABB.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the October 2017 edition of Water Industry Process Automation & Control Monthly the magazine from the LinkedIn Group - Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have:
The news of the month surrounding instrumentation & control in the Water Industry
An article on the place of instrumentation in the factory approach in the treatment plants of the Water Industry
An article with a focus on Turbidity Measurement and the associated measurement of solids in the Water Industry
Welcome to the November/December 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly.
In this month's edition, along with the usual news from the industry we have articles on:
The Rise of Sewer Network Monitoring
A case study of the use of automation and Digital Tools in Scottish Water and how it is being used to continue on the journey to Net Zero
An article on how the rise of AI and the use of data centres is creating water resource issues.
Hope you enjoy the latest edition and you have a Happy Festive Period
Oliver
Similar to Wipac monthly 49th edition october 2015 (20)
Welcome to WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition, along with this month's industry news to celebrate the 13 years since the group was created we have articles including
A case study of the used of Advanced Process Control at the Wastewater Treatment works at Lleida in Spain
A look back on an article on smart wastewater networks in order to see how the industry has measured up in the interim around the adoption of Digital Transformation in the Water Industry.
Welcome to the April edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition, along with the latest news from the industry we have articles on:
The use of artificial intelligence and self-service platforms to improve water sustainability
A feature article on measuring wastewater spills
An article on the National Underground Asset Register
Have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the February 2024 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles from Rob Stevens of Proteus Instruments about the accuracy of ammonia monitoring in measuring river water quality looking specifically at the technologies that should be used.
We also have an article looking at how the Dubai Water & Electricity Authority is developing cutting technology and using Generative AI to Digitally Transform and improve utilities operations.
Lastly we take a look at a case study by Trimble looking how accurate asset data can be used to achieve efficiency in operational management.
Have a good month,
Oliver
Welcome to the January 2024 edition of WIPAC Monthly.
In this month's edition, along with the usual news from the industry we look at how changes in the industry such as Digital Transformation is being adopted in the water industry along with techniques such as Machine Learning and the adoption of Digital Tools.
We also take a look at the changes that are happening in the UK around monitoring and how this might be an opportunity for the adoption of final effluent monitoring,
Hope you enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the October Edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition, along with all of the news updates from the Digital Water Industry we have articles on
A feature article on Digital Transformation and Wastewater Net Zero which is a precursor article to a full white paper that is being developed as part of the IWA Digital Water Programme.
An article on the use of data within the water industry and the work that has been done by the supply chain to leveraging it and realise the basics of Digital Transformation.
An update on the development of Digital Twins as concept and case studies of how they are practically being used with the water industry.
Hope to see at least some of you at the IWA Digital Water Summit in Bilbao.
Welcome to the August 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles from GDI on their revolutionary laser scanning technique that has been used on all sorts of assets from a pumping station wet well in the presented case study to whole facilities. Using a variety of techniques they are able to create almost a full picture of almost any asset which is bound to very valuable when looking as we are set to digitise the water industry.
In our second article this month we have an opinion piece that has already been posted on LinkedIn through Martin Osbourne's DWMP blog which I was a guest writer for this month. It is all about the short history of event duration monitoring and how a spill is only a spill when it has been monitored correctly and counted accurately, otherwise we are painting a misleading situation
In our last case study this month we look at the work that has been done in Brazil that has created a 3-D Digital Sanitation Map of 489 municipalities across the country giving a much better look at what is essentially a hidden industry.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the May 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine from Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition, along with the news from the Digital Water Industry we have articles about
The value of increasing sewer network monitoring from David Walker at Detectronic
Using Clamp-on Ultrasonic flowmeters in real-time water networks by Andy Hammond of Flexim
The use of connected instrumentation for river water quality monitoring by Ipek Temizel of Endress+Hauser.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the April 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's issue we have a special edition all centred around water quality with articles on:
Instrumentation governance and data quality assurance
The Instrumentation lifecycle and the steps to take to assure good quality data
Artificial intelligence in water cycle management; and finally
The cost of monitoring our rivers
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the March 2023 edition of WIPAC Monthly. In this edition we very much concentrate on the storm overflows issue.
In our feature article we look at the data that has been released in England and see if the statement as to whether the current performance is really down to dry weather.
In our second article we republish the article from the University of Manchester calling for the flow monitoring of CSOs.
In our last article we relook at the article by Andy Godley of the WRc looking at how the water industry is finally installing alot more flow and level sensors in the wastewater system.
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the December 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition, the final one of the year, we examine the key takeaways from this month's IWA Digital Water Summit and highlight the need to start the Digital Journey now in order to use the Digital Tools to help in some of the biggest challenges like net zero and pollution as well as public health.
Enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the October 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly. The magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation and Control.
In addition to our normal news and views from the water industry we have all the round-up from WWEM2022, the Instrumentation Apprentice Competition and the Early Career Research Competition as well as articles on
CSOs and screening technology from Huber
A discussion on where we are in Digital Transformation as a prequel to the Digital Water Summit which happens at the end of next month
An article on using Digital Tools for water resource management
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
Welcome to the September 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group.
In this latest edition along with all of the latest industry news we have articles for you on
the importance of proper installation and maintenance in instrumentation especially where it is regulatory
A case study of the installation of an ultrasonic time of flight flow meter on a 3200mm pipe which, as the installation time is relatively quick, has reinstated accurate flow measurement enabling water savings
An article on monitoring CSOs and river water quality and how we need to think how best to do it before we make the leap of investing huge amounts.
Enjoy the latest edition and see you at WWEM.
Oliver
Welcome to the August 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine from Water Industry Process Automation Control.
In this month's edition we have, along with the usual news and views from the water industry, articles on
The use of hydraulic modelling versus machine learning
The importance of data in managing water infrastructure
Smart wastewater networks
Enjoy the latest edition and I hope to see at least some members at the Water, Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring Conference & Exhibition in Telford in October
Welcome to the July 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly. This month we have a bit of a retrospective issue looking at some of the things that we can use in the upcoming price review to resolve some of the industries toughest issues.
We have articles on
Serious Gaming in the Water Industry
A systems thinking approach to wastewater network management
Better asset management through better data management
Enjoy the latest edition
Welcome to the June 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition we have articles on Nitrous Oxide measurement in wastewater treatment, level measurement in remote locations, the economics of Digital Twins and the seven key takeaways from the SWAN Conference.
Enjoy the latest edition.
Oliver
Welcome to the May 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly, the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group - Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition where we celebrate the 11th anniversary of the group we have, on top of all this month's industry news, articles on
The use of solids measurement in controlling Drinking Water sludge
The use of ultrasonic flow measurement in drinking water chemical dosing control.
An article on cyber-security
A re-visit on the "Focus on" series looking at phosphorus measurement and control.
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the April 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this month's edition, along with all of the industry news on ICA and Digital Transformation we have articles on improving water quality in water towers, Digital Twins and modelling of pollution.
Enjoy,
Oliver
Welcome to the March 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn group Water Industry Process Automation & Control.
In this edition we have a pollution special concentrating on the crisis that is happening in the UK.
In this edition, as well as the latest news we have articles on
The cost of monitoring our rivers
Case studies of reducing CSO spills in the USA
The future challenges of wastewater flow and control
Enjoy this latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the February 2022 edition of WIPAC Monthly the magazine brought to you by the LinkedIn Group Water Industry Process Automation & Control. In this month's edition we have articles and case studies on
The use artificial intelligence for coagulant dosing in drinking water
The development of a nitrogen sensor for septic tank systems
A case study of non-contact area velocity flow meters at two treatment works in Hamburg, Germany
Enjoy the latest edition
Oliver
Welcome to the latest edition of WIPAC Monthly covering November and December 2021.
For the final edition of 2021 we have articles covering collaboration on sewer blockage detection techniques, we have flood modelling and we have something on the intelligent use of sensors which will of course help towards the world achieving Net Zero.
All of this on top of the normal industry news
Enjoy the latest edition,
Oliver
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TOP 10 B TECH COLLEGES IN JAIPUR 2024.pptxnikitacareer3
Looking for the best engineering colleges in Jaipur for 2024?
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Hierarchical Digital Twin of a Naval Power SystemKerry Sado
A hierarchical digital twin of a Naval DC power system has been developed and experimentally verified. Similar to other state-of-the-art digital twins, this technology creates a digital replica of the physical system executed in real-time or faster, which can modify hardware controls. However, its advantage stems from distributing computational efforts by utilizing a hierarchical structure composed of lower-level digital twin blocks and a higher-level system digital twin. Each digital twin block is associated with a physical subsystem of the hardware and communicates with a singular system digital twin, which creates a system-level response. By extracting information from each level of the hierarchy, power system controls of the hardware were reconfigured autonomously. This hierarchical digital twin development offers several advantages over other digital twins, particularly in the field of naval power systems. The hierarchical structure allows for greater computational efficiency and scalability while the ability to autonomously reconfigure hardware controls offers increased flexibility and responsiveness. The hierarchical decomposition and models utilized were well aligned with the physical twin, as indicated by the maximum deviations between the developed digital twin hierarchy and the hardware.
Understanding Inductive Bias in Machine LearningSUTEJAS
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Harnessing WebAssembly for Real-time Stateless Streaming PipelinesChristina Lin
Traditionally, dealing with real-time data pipelines has involved significant overhead, even for straightforward tasks like data transformation or masking. However, in this talk, we’ll venture into the dynamic realm of WebAssembly (WASM) and discover how it can revolutionize the creation of stateless streaming pipelines within a Kafka (Redpanda) broker. These pipelines are adept at managing low-latency, high-data-volume scenarios.
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1. Page 1
WIPAC MONTHLYThe Monthly Update from Water Industry Process Automation & Control
www.wipac.org.uk Issue 10/2015 - October
2. Page 2
In this Issue
Editorial.............................................................................................................................. 3
Industry News..................................................................................................................... 4 - 9
Highlights of the news of the month from the global water industry centred around the successes of a few of the
companies in the global market.
Evolution in Wastewater goes with the Flow...................................................................... 10-11
An article written by Andy Godley, probably theexpert in both potable and wastewater flow measurement in the UK,
on how technology is helping to close the gap in the measurement of wastewater from trade effluent to the household
to the wastewater treatment works
Feature Article: Integrated Event Management.................................................................. 12-15
Our feature article this month is by Peter Williams, CTO of IBM’s Big Green Innovation and Amir Peleg CEO of world
renowned Smart Water Company TaKaDu. In the article they discuss the event management cycle and how modern
technology can help the water industry to manage events more efficiently.
For Discussion: Replacing BOD: Is it possible..................................................................... 16-18
An article for discussion in this month’s WIPAC Monthly about the potential for replacing Biochemical Osygen Demand,
a parameter and a test that has been in wide use since 1908. The article explains BOD’s redundance and looks at the
potential for using COD, TOC, Respirometry & Tryptohan as replacement measures
Workshops, Conferences & Seminars............................................................................... 19-20
The highlights of the conferences and workshops in the coming months
WIPAC Monthly is a publication of the Water Industry Process Automation & Control Group. It is produced by the group
manager and WIPAC Monthly Editor, Oliver Grievson. This is a free publication for the benefit of the Water Industry and please
feel free to distribute to any who you may feel benefit.
All enquires about WIPAC Monthly, including those who want to publish news or articles within these pages, should be directed
to the publications editor, Oliver Grievson
The photograph on the front cover is of the Padre Dam Advanced Water Purification Facility in California where amongst other
equipment a Aqua Metrology Systems (AMS) THM 100 Monitor has been installed.
3. Is there a potential that repeating this in the home will sink the Smart
Industry?
Page 3
From the Editor
This month we saw one of the major global technology companies launch their version of a home management sys-
tem. It was of course Samsung and it is looking at the “Smart Home” from a telecoms and technology company point
of view. What of course it was a single perspective of what a person should have in their home but of course coming
from the one point of view it missed a lot of tricks. I am self confessed technology geek and I love technology, but, what
nightmare is having one sort of technology to run a part of my life, another to do something else and so on. To borrow
from the song title “There could be trouble ahead.”
What of course we are missing is some sort of collaboration across (a) the utilities (b) industry as a whole. Yes I want
the home management systems so I can litter my home with technology that will tell me all sorts of things that I may or
may not want to know beamed to my phone all around the world but yes I want that to link with my water meter and
my electricity meter and everything else (although I still shirk at my fridge telling me I need to buy a pint of milk). If as
an industry we are to go down the route of an (industrial) internet of things then this is interoperability is certainly the
way to go.
What of course this requires is interoperability, a
standard way of doing things and it is something that people like Laurie Reynolds has been
campaigning about for a very long time. Guess what....he’s right and it makes a lot of sense.
What of course the poor person in the home will end up with unless we go down this
route is a veritable minefield of devices all connected to one or two sensors all telling us
how much we’ve consumed of a single item. Guess what this is the fundamental basis of
the “Resistance to the effective use of instrumentation” except converted to the home
environment. It will undoubtedly turn the customer off the whole concept of the Smart
Industry and potentially affect the concepts of Smart Cities too.
So how do we change? It is a question that has been addressed by the SWAN Forum
recently in their report on the water industry regulators and there is the potential for the
different industries to work together, most simply the Utilities Industries working together.
The UK is going through a Smart Meter project for the electricity industry and this should
have included the water industry as well. Building new houses, in my opinion should have
miniature PLC’s hooked to the power and water meters, it is something that needs to go into the building codes and it is something where the cost needs to
be offset to somewhere (understandably the house builders can’t afford to swallow the costs on this). Once it is in the home environment then there is the
translation of this over to the treatment works environment too.
WIPAC has been talking about the Smart Industry for a while, it is starting to happen slowly, as water companies start to use their data in more effective
ways and think about the data they collect. In someways it is akin to a toddler who is attempting to run before he/she can walk....but to use one of favourite
phrases.....”we’re getting there.” The danger is of course is that so is everybody else and everybody is looking at the individual view and not the most holistic
view of things and the danger is that the customer will go so confused that potential for resistance increases all of the time.
What will happen in the future remains to be seen however, my personal feelings, is that it will need the holistic influence to guide all of the industries in the
same direction. Is this government, is this regulators, is this professional organisations or is this industry driver. Realistically it is probably a combination of all
of the above but if it is down to industry to deliver then there needs to be a way for the risks and the costs to be offset and that is possibly the biggest barrier
to the adoption of a joined up approach or inter-operationability and what we as a customer will end up with is something that is good, it works but it doesn’t
do everything that we want and it kind of.....misses the point.
Have a good month
Oliver
4. Page 4
Industry News
SWAN release Benchmarking Quality of Service Report
The SWAN Forum have released their Benchmarking Quality of Service Report this month which provides a comparison of the water industry regulators
across five different countries. The abstract from the report is below and a full copy of the report is available to SWAN members. Further details and more
information is available by contacting Amir Cahn of the SWAN Forum (amirc@swan-forum.com)
Improving customer service is a key business driver for water utilities. In the 2014 SWAN Global Utility Survey, customer service was ranked the number
one business driver by water utilities, cited by 76% of respondents. However, what differentiates high quality service from poor quality service and how are
utilities measured by their performance? This report examines how five, international water regulators in Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, UK, and U.S.,
uniquely benchmark and incentivize their utility operators to improve their quality of service, for example:
1. In Australia, the State of Victoria uses the “mystery caller” technique to evaluate call centre performance based on the operators’ tone and greeting
manner.
2. In Brazil, winners of the National Sanitation Quality Award are hosted in an elaborate gala award ceremony and invited to an international benchmarking
tour to view state of-the-art technologies and management practices.
3. In the Netherlands, the water regulatory association, VEWIN directly surveys nearly 12,000 customers to gauge customer satisfaction.
4. In the UK, the economic water regulator, Ofwat, requires water companies to propose long-term, outcomes with linked financial rewards and penalties
needed to deliver high quality service to customers.
5. In the U.S., utilities can develop their own benchmarking exercises or be guided by a voluntary assessment program. Industry organizations also have
annual awards to acknowledge performance excellence for outstanding utilities.
As the need to improve customer service grows, international water regulators will play a vital role in guiding and incentivizing utilities to meet and exceed
their quality of service standards. Each water regulator is at a different stage of its development with different needs and challenges. The goal of this white
paper will be to compare different quality of service standards, identify innovative benchmarking strategies, and encourage future collaboration.
Nivus launch novel contactless flow measurement system
NIVUS have launched a new accurate flow measurement system using parallel level measurements calling it the NivuSmart Q.
The new measurement method has been developed in close cooperation with the University of Strasbourg. A hydraulic model perfectly adjusted to the specific
conditions on the measurement site is the basis for accurate measurements. This model uses two level measurements in combination with the hydraulic model
to determine the flow rate. Both levels are measured at a known distance, such as in two consecutive shafts within a channel system. The measurement accuracy
is comparable to other contactless flow measurement systems such as Radar. By calibrating the measurement system even higher accuracies can be achieved.
Hydraulic phenomena such as backwater and free discharge can be detected using NivuSmart Q without any problems.
The system operates contactless since ultrasonic sensors are used for level measurement. Therefore costs for installation and maintenance are remarkably low.
Using self-sufficient GPRS data loggers featuring very long battery lifetimes moreover allows system operation without mains power supply. Being available on a
particular data portal, the data can be accessed via Internet from anywhere in the world.
NIVUS supply the new flow measurement as a complete system. Starting with the measurement site assessment, the measuring of existing channels and the
installation through the implementation of the specific measurement place models as well as the measurement verification - all steps are executed solely by the
system manufacturer.
5. Page 5
Acoustic technology SewerBatt wins additional investment
Merseyside-based business Acoustic Sensing Technology Ltd has received an
additional investment of £200,000 from The North West Fund for Energy &
Environmental, to help further commercial growth for its SewerBatt technology
used in drains and sewer networks.
SewerBatt – which uses echo-location principles similar to those that allows bats
to fly at night – works by sending multi-frequency sound waves along sewer pipes
which can rapidly identify the serviceability of drains and sewer networks. The
investment of the fund, which is managed by 350 Investment Partners, reflects a
belief in the benefits of using acoustic technology over more traditional underground
surveying methods such as CCTV.
Acoustic Sensing Technology Finance Director Rob Jones said: “As market awareness
of acoustic technology grows, and people recognise the significant cost savings and customer service improvements available to them, it is important that we
are able to continue to develop both our product and our service offering. The investment we have received from The North West Fund allows us to do just that
and demonstrates great confidence that what we have developed is right for the market we operate in”.
“We are very much at the forefront of developing this kind of technology, not only in the UK where we are working with a large number of major utility and rail
companies but on a world-wide scale where we already have significant market presence”.
“Through our dialogue with our customers we have a clear understanding of what they would like from us in terms of a future product and service offering. This
investment will enable us to deliver that without delay”.
Peter Linthwaite, partner at 350 Investment Partners, said: “When you consider that using acoustic technology to survey drains and sewers takes approximately
20% of the time of more traditional CCTV then it is not difficult to understand why the take up of our SewerBatt has been so significant”.
In August, Thames Water’s wastewater network partner Lanes Group announced it was rolling out SewerBatt across the Thames region after an 18-month trial.
Data source saves millions of pounds for flood risk
assessment sector
A national flood data source hosted by the Centre for Ecology &
Hydrology is estimated to deliver more than £5M a year net benefit to
the UK flood risk assessments sector, a new report has revealed.
The National River Flow Archive’s (NRFA) Peak Flow database is
calculated to provide net economic benefits of almost £5.4M annually in
terms of costs saved by environmental consultants and regulators. Over
a 25 - year term, it equates to a net present value of £95M,
according to report author Richard Blackmore, of Research Impact
Consulting.
Dr Harry Dixon, head of the NRFA, said: “Up-to-date, accurate records
of peak river flow are vital for developing understanding of flood events
and improving the ability of regulators and the private sector to predict,
manage and mitigate their impact. The NRFA data underpin the full
spectrum of flood risk activities from national strategic mapping through
to flood risk assessments conducted when planning new housing or
commercial developments.”
Peak flow data was integrated into the NRFA – hosted by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – in April 2014. The move means that, for the first time since the
national collation of hydrometric data was initiated in 1934, a single source of UK-wide data is available to support water resources and flood risk management.
NRFA data are used in a number of areas of UK water management, including water resources assessment, national situation monitoring and freshwater science.
As the findings relate to just a small part of the database’s uses in flood risk assessments, the calculated value represents only a fraction of the national archive’s
wider economic impact.
Dr Dixon said, “The report highlights a significant economic contribution by the NRFA to the local flood risk sector. The analysis demonstrates that the entire cost
of maintaining the NRFA Peak Flow Database on an annual cycle is easily covered by the benefits of its use by consultants and regulators in preparing and assessing
detailed flood risk assessments alone.”
6. Page 6
Southern Water Implements ICMLive
Innovyze Tool to Provide Real-Time Operational Forecasting and Decision Support System for Urban and Rural Catchments at One of Largest Water and
Wastewater Companies in South East of England.
Innovyze has announced this month that Southern Water, UK, has selected ICMLive, the industry’s leading real-time integrated catchment modelling solu-
tion, to help manage and operate its large and complex sewer collection system. The purchase will allow Southern Water to harness the power of real-time data,
scenario planning and predictive modelling to improve the operation and management of its collection system and better anticipate and mitigate the effects
of extreme weather-related events.
Southern Water is one of the largest water and wastewater companies in the South East of England, serving an area of some 4,450 sq. kms. Each day, it treats
and recycles 730 million liters of wastewater for more than four million customers at 368 treatment works once it is conveyed through a 39,000 kilometer sewer
network.
“Our wastewater system spans an extensive network of pipes, and we continually seek out the best modelling technology to help us effectively optimize
performance and sustainability,” said Andrew Adams, Asset Manager for Wastewater Infrastructure at Southern Water. “This technology will help give us more
timely, accurate and reliable catchment forecasts – supporting our progress from largely reactive to more proactive network management. This could result in
significantly more efficient and economical network operations, greater network integrity, improved network maintenance and customer service.”
A powerful risk assessment and real-time decision making tool, ICMLive enables managers and operators to consider the influence of a full range of
catchment factors in the management of flooding and reduction of unregulated discharges; the enhancement of storage and existing infrastructure for
savings on capital works; and the optimization of pumps to lower energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions. The software is designed to work automatically.
Once a system is configured, real-time data is continually and automatically harvested and quality-checked. Simulations are run automatically at a user-defined
frequency. They draw on the full hydrodynamic and technological capabilities of the industry-leading InfoWorks ICM, including one- and two-dimensional
modelling techniques, real-time control, dynamic water quality analysis, and GPU-enhanced and remote simulation. Simulation frequency can change in
response to user-defined conditions.
ICMLive lets users quickly assess events as they occur, identify potential problems before they reach a critical level, respond decisively to operational challenges,
reduce overflow volumes, and minimize downstream effects. For example, operators can analyze the impact of a predicted incoming storm event and identify
all areas with the potential to be impacted by flooding or overflows. Alternative mitigating solutions can then be rapidly and accurately analyzed and compared
to determine the level of effectiveness and associated cost, and the most appropriate solution can be quickly acted upon.
ICMLive also allows users to perform additional scenario analysis simulations, exploring alternative real time control scenarios and quickly seeing the effect of
these changes on the system. ICMLive’s wide range of capabilities make it a key tool in the decision making process, enabling users to take action to avoid system
issues, release timely alerts, and quickly deploy response teams if necessary.
“Water is a precious and increasingly scarce resource essential for life, and its effective management is critical for all water authorities to ensure long-term
viability and keep the communities they serve strong, safe, and sustainable,” said Ruth Clarke, Client Service Manager for Innovyze. “We are proud that
Southern Water has chosen ICMLive to play such an important part in its critical work to optimize the operational management of its sewer network.”
Added Paul F. Boulos, Innovyze’s President, COO and Chief Technical Officer, “Southern Water has always been at the forefront of smart water network
modeling innovation. We’re delighted to know that our industry-leading solutions will continue to be helping this progressive enterprise optimize the operation
and management of its sewer system and better serve its customers.”
7. Scottish Water has awarded a consultancy support contract for IT Outsourcing worth an estimated £3 million.
The contract covers development support of a sourcing strategy for its IT products and services. These are currently delivered through outsourcing agreements
with 3 global IT partners, which expire in August 2018.
Scottish Water is currently conducting a full review of its sourcing strategy, service requirements, supply chain design and service integration solution in
preparation for a formal procurement.
Seven companies were in the bidding for the work – who had to demonstrate that they met the following minimum criteria:
• Within the last 18 months they had provided consultancy support to a similarly scoped project that involved re-procurement of IT external support from an
existing environment of outsourced provision to multiple partners.
• Track record of successful support in the development of sourcing strategies for clients with an of annual expenditure of at least £50 million on external IT
service/products.
Edinburgh-based firm Vision Consulting has won the contract, which runs for four years.
Work will include review, assessment and selection of preferred suppliers
The objectives of the project include:
• identify a Sourcing Model with the right number of providers and work packaging to maximise commercial and technical synergies and minimise
procurement and management costs
• review the end to end service requirement to identify the best means of delivering Scottish Water’s business requirement;
• assist Scottish Water in the review, assessment and selection of preferred suppliers;
• support implementation of a service integration solution and alliance model across Scottish Water providers;
• recommend commercial and pricing models which incentivise positive provider behaviours and deliver cost reduction, service improvement, flexibility and
additional business value;
• develop a performance management system across all strategic Scottish Water IT partners that not only delivers the expected benefits but goes further to
extract the full potential value available from each sourcing relationship;
• review current IT Business Change programme delivery models and recommend improvements so that Scottish Water can deliver challenging programmes
being implemented over 2015 to 2021;
• recommend a shape for the Scottish Water retained organisation so it is fit-for-purpose
• review all currently in-house delivered services and recommend best of breed model for future delivery;
• recommend how Scottish Water can capitalise fully on any new opportunities and capabilities in the sourcing marketplace — e.g. Independent SIAM
services, RPA (robotic process automation), re-shoring, impact sourcing.
Scottish Water awards £3m IT consultancy support contract
Amey’s Yorkshire Water team adopts smartphone video
technology
Amey is deploying breakthrough time- and cost-saving one-touch smartphone video technology across its Yorkshire Water team. The technology is enabling the
team to provide full video reports produced by the app and accompanying system will replace photos and paperwork.
Adopting evidentially-standard-secure smartphone video technology is saving Amey time and money, and ensuring build, maintenance and repair project
records are and will remain accurate.
The YRfree technology operates on smartphones and tablets and allows project employees and managers to video-record job progress, snag-resolution and
project completion as definitive reports - removing time-consuming form-filling, photo-taking and uploading from their workload as well as reducing travel to
and from site.
Adam Stephenson, Innovation Business manager at Amey said: “Amey is always looking at new innovative solutions to help us do our job better and is leading
the way in the utilities sector with this YRfree solution. It not only helps to make the work that we do safer, but keeps our employees better informed and better
supported even in the remotest of sites. The technology allows them to gain immediate support from their colleagues through instant video upload and by using
the conferencing facility to get advice. We expect to see significant benefits for Yorkshire Water and their customers, as well as for our employees, as YRfree is
deployed.”
YRfree CEO John Ridd said: “This solution is unique on several fronts. Primarily, Amey will use it as a record-keeping and storage tool. At any stage in a job or
project, somebody on the ground can use the app to video-record the status.”
Page 7
8. BridgeValley Community and Technical College in West Virginia celebrates the opening of a cutting-edge PTU® (Process Training Unit) made possible by the
generous contributions of Endress+Hauser, BridgeValley and Rockwell Automation. Thanks to industry partners, BridgeValley will be the new home to a $1M,
1,800 square-foot, state-of-the-art PTU®.
“By working alongside BridgeValley and other universities, Endress+Hauser can help secure the talent pipeline and better prepare our next-generation
workforce for successful careers in the field of process control and automation,” said Brandyn Ferguson, Vice President of Human Resources, Endress+Hauser.
“The innovative approach we have taken at BridgeValley is truly unique to the industry.”
The BridgeValley PTU® will serve as a go-to place for companies who are seeking workforce training for their employees and customers, and for students to
utilize as they pursue their degree programs. The PTU® combines theory and a hands-on approach to provide participants with real-world experience in a safe,
working process environment.
The PTU® is outfitted to help students and customers gain hands-on experience with the types of operation, diagnostics and troubleshooting found in real-life
process plants. It features the latest Endress+Hauser flow, level, temperature, pressure and analytical instrumentation, two 350 gallon tanks, in addition to the
PlantPAx process control system donated by Rockwell Automation. The PlantPAx process automation system will be used in a functioning environment with
field devices to train customers for operation and maintenance of process systems. In addition, it provides a venue for demonstrations of Endress+Hauser and
Rockwell Automation technology and a regional resource for customers to obtain hands-on training in a controlled environment.
“A key aspect of our role in the community is to partner with industry leaders to provide technical education necessary to keep our companies competitive and
jobs in West Virginia,” said Dr. Jo Harris, BridgeValley President. “Our collaboration with Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation allows students and local
companies to receive real-world experience in a controlled learning environment.”
The partnership between BridgeValley, manufacturers Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation, and the sales and service company Forberg Scientific Inc. will
benefit the community and industry in West Virginia by not only offering learning opportunities for college students, but also industrial training for workers from
many large companies in the area wanting to modernize their processing plants, and take advantage of new technology to develop more efficient operations.
The BridgeValley PTU® is one of ten across the U.S. built to help keep up with the heightened demand for workforce training. Recognizing this trend,
Endress+Hauser has made investments to become the clear leader and number one instrumentation training provider in the industry.
Industry Partners Endress+Hauser And Rockwell Automation
Make Major Investment In BridgeValley Process Training Unit
Padre Dam Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Project
Incorporates Online THM Instrument
Padre Dam Muncipal Water District in Santee, California has installed the
THM-100 online trihalomethane (THM) monitor from Aqua Metrology
Systems to provide real-time data on disinfection by-product (DBP) formation,
aid the utility in evaluating their innovative free chlorine disinfection strategy,
and ensure the safety of potable reuse water being used produced at their
Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Project.
Padre Dam imports 100 percent of its drinking water supply from the
Sacramento Bay Delta and Colorado River. Drought conditions and imported
water supply challenges have highlighted the need for Padre Dam to explore
new possible water sources capable of ensuring a safe and reliable drinking
water supply. As a result, the Advanced Water Purification Demonstration
Project began operations in April 2015 at the Roy Stover Water Recycling
Facility to evaluate the treatment strategy needed to meet the requirements
for potable reuse from recycled water. Once full-scale, the Advanced Water
Purification Project will provide 2,000 to 3,000 acre feet per year, 20-25%, of Padre Dam’s drinking water.
The Advanced Water Purification Demonstration Project, using a 100,000 gpd pilot facility, includes the feasibility testing of the addition of free chlorine,
ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation. Free chlorine is a unique application for water recycling facilities and as such, it is important to test
and verify the quality of the potable reuse water created through advanced treatment. The THM-100 monitor is being used to demonstrate the free chlorine
strategy and its ability to provide high quality potable reuse water while limiting the formation of harmful DBPs.
“The THM-100 online monitor provides us with immediate and accurate daily reports on THM levels. Monitoring the real-time formation of THMs helps us to
ensure we are meeting the pathogen removal requirements for potable reuse. The online monitor continuously measures the THM levels of the permeate water
from the reverse osmosis system. Manually collected samples are analyzed alongside the samples taken automatically by the monitor in its online mode,” said
Al Lau, Director of Engineering, Padre Dam Municipal Water District.
“As utilities explore new potable water sources, such as potable reuse, or new technologies to improve existing water quality, it is imperative to validate
performance during feasibility studies and full-scale operation,” said Rick Bacon, CEO of Aqua Metrology Systems. “Online instruments such as the THM-100
provide utilities with the high frequency and real-time data needed to safely and effectively manage their water, water reuse or wastewater treatment facilities.”
Page 8
9. ATi wins new monitoring framework with UU
Analytical Technology (ATi) has been awarded a new framework agreement for water and wastewater monitoring equipment with United Utilities.
It will see ATi act as the sole or dual technology supplier in nine categories of instrumentation: pH analysers, chlorine residual analysers, turbidity monitors,
dissolved oxygen monitors, suspended solids monitors, ammonium monitors, conductivity monitors and sludge blanket monitors.
The deal builds on a long-standing partnership between ATi and UU which started in the 1990s with chlorine monitoring.
The instrumentation will be installed for control and environment monitoring. Several projects are already underway, with the early emphasis on smaller
wastewater plants.
Dr Mike Strahand, ATi Europe General Manager, commented: “This latest framework agreement builds on our existing relationship with United Utilities and is
designed to ensure the control, monitoring and reporting capabilities of water and wastewater plants.
“A key part of the selection process was the whole life cost of the instruments, due to industry focus being on product lifecycles. ATi’s philosophy is to
design industry-leading monitors that require minimum intervention and minimum reagent use during operation, resulting in low running costs and minimum
maintenance. This makes ATi’s products very competitive over 15 year lifecycles.
“This agreement clearly demonstrates a strong desire by both parties to commit to investing in the future of water quality.”
ABB Stonehouse facility
gains UKAS Accreditation
Rotork wins new valve actuation
framework with South East Water
Release of LIDAR flood database laser data extends
commercial applications
Page 9
ABB’s manufacturing and testing facility in Stonehouse,
Gloucestershire has this month achieved UKAS accreditation for
an extended range including electrical testing, temperature and
pressure. This enables the facility to not only test its own range
of equipment but also act as an external testing laboratory for
external companies and it expands the range of testing that ABB’s
facility can offer.
Following formal pre-qualification and tender processes, Rotork UK has been awarded a
new and exclusive valve actuator supply framework agreement with South East Water for
a period of three years, with the option to extend to five years.
Many of these processes utilise Rotork IQ intelligent multi-turn and part-turn valve
actuators and Profibus control networks to assist with high levels of automation and
provide diagnostic and preventative maintenance functions.
Rotork UK’s framework is also designed to provide training and support services to South
East Water staff and its delivery contractors, enabling the design, commissioning and
maintenance of flow control equipment to be achieved in the most efficient way and
deliver reliable, automated control.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss has described the release of new laser mapping data from the LIDAR flood database as “just the beginning of the biggest
government data giveaway the country has ever seen.”
The recent release of 3D LIDAR maps, produced by the Environment Agency, will be used to help grape growers better understand the tiny variations in slope and
aspect of their land. When used in combination with other data, growers will be able to pinpoint the best location to plant vines that will thrive.
The extensive LIDAR archive – which contains 11-terabytes of information, equivalent to 2,750,000 MP3 songs, and covers most of England – was originally used
by the Environment Agency to plan flood defences and analyse land use.
It was released last month under the #OpenDefra project, which will see 8,000 datasets made publicly available in the next year, so that commercial industries and
members of the public can use it free of charge.
Sir Philip Dilley, Chairman of the Environment Agency, said:
“This data can give unique information about a landscape that can be useful for all kinds of applications. For example, when deciding where best to plant vines, the
data can provide a vital insight into the terrain to identify ‘frost hollows’ and badly-drained areas that adversely affect vines.”
“Making our LIDAR surveys available as Open Data gives entrepreneurs, businesses, and local communities new opportunities to grow our thriving rural economy.”
LIDAR is the first of a number of datasets that will be released by Defra in the coming months to help grow the wine industry. From data on soil chemistry and
ground water measurement to information on water supplies and localised microclimates, the planned data releases will support an industry already at the
forefront of technology.
Steve Wilkinson, Head of Data Services at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee said:
“We are entering an age where all sectors – government, commercial and research – will need to work much more closely together to protect and get the best
out of our environment. While the tools and techniques for analysing data become ever more powerful, it is making data more accessible that really makes the
difference.”
10. Article:
Evolution In Wastewater
Goes With The Flow
While options for clean water flow measurement abound, there is room for improvement on the wastewater side — but new technologies are closing the gap.
Flow measurement underpins almost every aspect of the water and wastewater industries. In the clean water part of the cycle, flows are monitored and
measured at all stages from source to delivery, driven by factors such as environmental protection (abstraction), reduced leakage, and revenue generation. On
the wastewater side, however, there is generally less flow measurement in place as, historically, the drivers for wastewater flow metering have not been as
strong.
Playing Catch-Up
There are significant technical difficulties when metering wastewater that make it much more challenging to measure than clean water and may also partly
explain why there is less metering of wastewater flows.
Firstly, once abstracted, most clean water travels through pipes that are pressurized by pumping or gravity and run full. Wastewater, on the other hand, is often
running through partially-filled pipes, sewers, and channels with a free surface flow. Closed-pipe flow is, on the whole, much easier to meter than open-channel
flow, where the level of fluid and its velocity can vary independently. Thus, a given volumetric flow in a specific channel may be a shallow, fast-moving flow or
a deep, slow-moving flow. Unless a control structure such as a weir or flume is in place, two measurements — velocity and liquid level — are often required to
calculate volume.
Clean water flows also tend to be contained in round pipes. In wastewater, we find all kinds of interestingly-shaped sewers and channels. When no structure
is in place, the shape needs to be characterized with respect to depth to calculate the wetted area (volumetric flow being wetted area multiplied by mean
velocity).
Then, of course, clean water is, by definition, clean; wastewater isn’t. Wastewater can be highly variable in content, carrying heavily-fouling substances such as
fats, oils, and greases (FOG), as well as light solids and heavy solids, such as grit and other debris.
Pressing For Measurement
In the U.K., regulations stemming from the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and the Water Framework Directive have changed the emphasis on
wastewater flow measurement. It is set to change even further with the new pressures on water companies caused by the Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODIs)
put in place as part of the latest industry price review. These include, for example, incentives to reduce the incidence of sewer flooding. The consequences of
pollution spills from malfunctioning combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are now more severe, with higher fines being levied by the Environment Agency for such
incidents. This is leading, in the words of David Tyler, Environment Strategy Manager at Southern Water, “towards a more resilient and adaptive sewer network,
one which is inexorably underpinned by in-sewer flow monitoring.”
Finally, there is also the opening of the retail market for water and wastewater services in 2017 in England that will allow non-household customers to buy their
wastewater services from any provider, not just their local water company. This should stimulate new ideas for service provision with better understanding of
wastewater discharges, underpinned by flow measurement.
The majority of wastewater, whether from residential premises, industrial, or commercial sites, is discharged to the sewer network. A large industrial user will
have a trade effluent meter (TEM) monitoring its discharges so that charges can be levied based on the Mogden formula, which combines flow, solids, and
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) to assess loading on the treatment process. The opening of the retail market for non-household water services in 2017
is stimulating new interest in this area. Those offering services based on more accurate flow measurement, and hence more accurate charges, are likely to
develop additional services that can be provided using this data.
Applying Solutions
This may be an area where insertable sensors, such as the Nivus correlation pipe sensor, can be used to good effect. Such sensors can be installed in a live
pipe without disruption, but more importantly, can be removed for cleaning, thus providing ongoing accuracy. Some are already in use for monitoring trade
discharges to the environment from on-site treatment plants.
At sites without trade effluent meters, charges are based on the metered potable water supplied. Where waste flows to a combined sewer that also receives
surface runoff, adjustments are made in the charging mechanism. An interesting development for sites without a specific TEM, therefore, is the wastewater
meter offered by Dynamic Flow Technologies.
This uses microwave technology to measure the actual discharged waste flow. Models have currently been developed for typical drain flows in 4-inch (100 mm)
and 6-inch (150 mm) pipes and will allow charging based directly on the quantity of foul discharge, rather than some assumed relationship with the water in
and unmeasured adjustments for runoff. This technology is currently on trial with Wessex Water in the U.K. and could lead to new charging mechanisms for
sites where clean water usage is relatively low but where there are large surface areas for rainwater runoff (for example, an out-of-town superstore where
relatively little clean water is used in toilets and canteen facilities, but there are large roofs and parking areas).
In-sewer flow measurement is perhaps one of the most challenging flow applications in the water industry, due to the highly fouling nature of the fluid.
Page 10
11. Andy Godley is a senior consultant for Flow Measurement and Metering at WRc plc and is considered one of the UK’s leading experts
on flow measurement. Godley has been involved with flow for more than 25 years, working across both the clean and wastewater sides
of the industry for users, suppliers, and regulators. He sits on a number of British, European, and international standards committees on
flow topics.
However, it is also one of the most necessary for the reasons cited above. Non-contact sensors that are less prone to fouling are clearly desirable.
While sewage levels are monitored quite widely using non-contact methods, non-contact velocity measurement is also now available using products such as
the Raven-Eye and the LaserFlow. Both user Doppler methods — the former based on radar and the latter on lasers. These afford the opportunity to better
understand what is going on in a sewer and distinguish, for example, level increases due to blockages and genuine high-flow storm events, both of which might
lead to flooding but require different responses.
The Future In-Sewer
In-sewer flow measurement can also help manage loads going into treatment processes. WRc, an independent public limited company that provides water/
wastewater research and consultancy, has recently been investigating the opportunity for smarter auto-desludging of primary settlement tanks. Desludging may
be initiated by in-sewer meters warning of an incoming high load, thus creating headroom to deal with the first foul flush from a storm event and avoiding excess
solids being carried through into second-stage treatment.
The Manning Formula (or derivatives) has long been used to estimate flow-rate based solely on a single level reading, though some of its assumptions and
limitations mean that it is usually only an estimate at best. However, at the International Flow Measurement Conference held this July at Warwick
University in Coventry, England, Laurent Solliec of Nivus presented an improved method using two-level sensors. This new approach can overcome some of
the difficulties with traditional slope-area methods, such as coping with backwater. Tests in a sewer in Germany have been promising. Two-level sensors could
provide a relatively easy-to-install and low-cost method for sewer flow monitoring.
The non-contact area-velocity meters are causing considerable interest for use on treatment works inflows and outflows, particularly now that independent
testing by WRc under the Environment Agency’s Monitoring Certification Scheme (MCERTS) has shown such approaches as being capable of producing data
of the quality required by the regulator. LaserFlow and Raven-Eye are opening up the market for such devices, but, like all innovations, their work raises new
questions.
One key aspect that is being debated is the in situ calibration and verification of these devices. Under MCERTS, users are required to have ongoing confidence in
the operation of their effluent flow meters, including measurement validation. Systems are also subjected to an external inspection and in situ verification every
five years by an MCERTS inspector. There are a number of methods for doing this at the moment, but recent papers have identified new and potentially more
convenient methods. Tamari, et al.1 report promising results from handheld radar, and Lüthi, et al.2 have developed an app for a mobile phone that captures
the movement of the liquid surface using the device’s camera and analyses to give a measurement of flow.
Emerging, there are a large number of innovations for wastewater flow measurement driven by the need for better management of wastewater flows for
environmental protection and the opportunities to develop new charging methods. It is often difficult to get new technologies accepted by a conservative water
industry. There are encouraging signs that the U.K. water companies are becoming much more interested in implementing innovative solutions. Independent
test schemes such as MCERTS and the European Environmental Technology Verification pilot project play a significant role in establishing the capabilities of new
developments, though there is still work needed to develop methods for field verification.
Measurement Points In The Wastewater Network
Page 11
12. Feature Article:
Integrated Event Management
Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD is probably one of the most and also one of least known parameters in the Wastewater Industry. Everyone has heard of it
Abstract
Today, global water utilities face a multi-dimensional challenge: they have aging assets with budget and resource constraints, yet increasing customer
expectations. To effectively respond to network “Events” (e.g. leak, water quality issue, faulty meter, etc.), utilities must manage the full life-cycle of events in
the right priority and in a speedy manner. This will drive a higher efficiency in water network operations and result in much higher customer satisfaction. This
white paper proposes a new paradigm for water Event Management drawn from other industries. It will focus on Asset Management, Customer Relationship
Management and the missing layer, Integrated Event Management.
Introduction – The need
Throughout history, people have devised systems for getting and using water more efficiently: the qanat systems of underground conduits in Persia, for
example, are effectively pollution proof, suffer no evaporation losses and are over 3,000 years old. Progress really picked up speed in the Enlightenment era. In
the 18th century, a rapidly growing population fuelled the establishment of water supply networks. In London and Manchester, sanitation systems were added
in Victorian times, once it was established that sewage contaminated water was a source of cholera. Since then, rapid urban population growth in developed
and developing countries has triggered the establishment of governmental, municipal and private water utilities around the globe. Water utilities have invested
billions of dollars in laying down the infrastructure required to supply the increasing demand for high-quality water, and for maintaining a reasonable level of
service to their customers.
However, a water utility today faces several challenges:
• Aging assets (of different periods, types, and materials), some dating back to the initial Victorian expansion;
• Highly demanding customers (everyone expects satisfactory water service, adequate water pressure and good water quality in a 24/7 manner) – or, where
the 24/7 condition cannot be met, at least an equitable distribution of clean, safe water per head, at predictable times of day;
• Limited resources (e.g. droughts, and over pumping of natural underground reservoirs)
• Costly operations (water utilities are the #1 energy consumers);
• Various exogenous problems such as errant backhoe loaders, traffic vibrations, loss of power, floods or earthquakes, customer theft, etc.;
• Inadequate pricing of their primary commodity – making it difficult to justify updates and in some cases, leak fixes.
As if these operational challenges were not enough, water utilities are also confronted with constant incidents and faults, such as:
• Network incidents such as faulty assets, leaks, bursts, etc.;
• Problems related to water quality;
• Network-operation faults such as a valve left open or installed in the reverse direction;
• Telemetry faults such as broadcasting problems, etc.
Any combination of these multi-dimensional challenges and incidents creates an “Event” that needs to be addressed by the water utility staff. The challenge
for water-utility management teams is optimizing their decision-making process in order to achieve the required level of service and the best utilization of the
assets at a minimum cost with an effective response time to all events. In a utility’s daily reality, it is often just about maintaining service at the best possible
level, given all the broken assets, and operational events.
An Event-Management solution is key to such an optimization challenge, which needs to embrace cross-organizational functions and work across all
management levels. We propose here a paradigm for Event Management drawn from the IT industry.
Event Management - The analogy to the IT sector
An “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” (ITIL) comprises a set of practices for IT service management that focuses on aligning IT services with the
needs of a business. ITIL defines a category named: Incident Management, which is relevant to issues like Cyber Security, where an ‘incident’ happens and
needs to be detected, contained and resolved.
An Incident Management system is defined by the ITIL as the combination of the following seven phases:
1. Incident detection and recording
2. Classification and initial support
3. Investigation and diagnosis
4. Incident containment, as applicable
5. Resolution and recovery
6. Incident closure
7. Ownership and modelling
Page 12
13. These seven components are broadly used in the cyber security industry and can be applied to any business using IT services. A full Event Management solution
mirrors that of Information Technology Incident Management, both of which can be presented through a similar process, as seen in the table below.
Phase Incident Management Description Event Management Description
Identification & Registration Detection of an incident
Detect an Event (by smart analytics) and allocate
an Event ID number
Categorization Incident categorization Classifying Event Type (leak, faulty meter, etc).
Diagnosis & Prioritization
Symptoms of an incident
Prioritized for better utilization
Event Information (location, magnitude, etc.) and
set priority (big burst in rural area VS. small leak in
a central location)
Containment Limit possible damage
Isolate the incident (by automated pump and
valve settings)
Investigation Determine the cause Analyze the root cause
Resolution Solution
API to work order management and other opera-
tional systems
Incident Closure Incident closed in system
Repair Verification (by analytics) and define the
Event End Time, plus summary information (total
water loss, repair time, etc.).
Event Management - Enabling technologies
In the last few years, new technologies have been introduced to the world of water utilities:
• Data transmission costs have dropped significantly;
• Self-powering meters have been introduced;
• Big data technologies enable the collection, aggregation, manipulation, and processing of extremely large volumes of data in near real time;
• Cloud computing reduce the cost of acquiring and maintaining massive onsite hardware in order to maintain and process large volumes of data;
• External data (e.g. weather information, assets histories) have become easily and cheaply accessible.
These technologies and conditions together with a set of newly developed data analytics algorithms enable the automated creation of most events in the water
network, which in turn calls for a fully managed lifecycle of “Events.”
Managing Life-Cycles
There are three, essential pillars for a water utility’s on-going operations:
1. Assets – in which huge investments have been made in the last few decades
2. Customers – the real users of the service and the ones paying the bill
3. Events – which need to be managed to ensure smooth on-going operations
In the last few decades, most advanced water utilities in the world are using mature Software Products to manage assets (e.g. few Asset Management solutions
exist in the market, like Maximo by IBM) and to manage customers (CRM solutions are common with any service provider since the mid-1990’s). It seems that
there is high level of similarity between these two solutions since both of them deals with managing the full life-cycle of the relevant ‘entity.’
Managing Assets
Asset Management for asset lifecycle and maintenance management is today’s common solution for managing physical assets effectively in asset-intensive
industries such as water utilities. A good Asset Management product allows water utilities to maintain system configurations, identify links between critical
assets, schedule maintenance based on events, prior maintenance plans or predicted failures, manage inventory, generate work-orders and manage their
execution, record work carried out, update asset histories, manage resources and personnel. Such a system enables managing the full life-cycle of all types of
assets, optimizing their purchase, deployment, operational use, maintenance, and disposal. Trend analysis also enables persistent weaknesses to be discovered
and for sharing and enforcement of best practices.
Managing Customers
A CRM product integrates all the phases of the customer life-cycle into three major processes: Solicitation, Lead-Tracking, and Relationship Management. For
water utilities, the most crucial process is the Customer Relationship Management.
Whenever a customer interacts with the water utility, it is vital that the richness of information available on that customer informs and guides the process-
es that will help to maximize the customer’s experience, while simultaneously making the interaction as effective and efficient as possible. This includes
everything from avoiding repetition or rekeying of information, to viewing customer history, establishing context and initiating desired actions. Most CRM
products available have a true 360-degree view of the customers including views of the past, present and future interactions and potential interactions of the
Page 13
14. customer with the water utility.
Delivering on managing the customer’s full life-cycle with the 360-degree view is not simply about having a unified database of all activity, but rather being able
to pull together the pieces of information that are relevant for a specific customer and specific interaction into an intuitive workspace for the agent regardless
of organizational department and/or function.
Managing Events
Integrated Event Management solutions are now becoming available, and allow the water utility staff to manage the full event life-cycle. The types of Events
which can now be automatically detected is very wide, some of which are: Water Loss, Leaks, Bursts, Hidden Leak, Abnormal Usage Pattern, Faulty Meters,
DMA Breach, No Data, Water Quality, Over/Under Pressure, Water Balance, and more.
The following diagram depicts an event management process from start to end.
Managing Water Quality, Level of Service, Environmental Impacts and more
The overall responsibility of water utilities is not about managing assets, nor is it about managing Events. They are expected to deliver good quality product
(‘water’), at appropriate pressure, in a 365/24/7 manner, with minimal environmental impact and at the lowest possible cost (it is a basic human civil right to
get water). Achieving this target is highly dependent on being able to manage the three ‘entities’ mentioned above: Assets, Events and Customers.
Integrated Event Management - The missing layer
Utilities around the world collect a large amount of raw data, from internal sources (meters, sensors) as well as external ones (customer calls, central control
room of the city, etc.). An Integrated Event Management solution aggregates different data types, from different sources, and by using several technological
approaches (Data Analytics) it is able to detect ‘significant events’ which is the first phase in the event’s full life-cycle. The ability to trigger that process is key
and in most cases it is based on automated process.
From there on, the process continues according to the flow of information gathering about ‘the event’ and presenting it to decision makers in order to optimize
their decisions, by getting higher visibility to each event or to any correlation between several.
Here is an example of a typical set of information that can be collected on each event and is needed in order to make smarter decisions. The table below shows
a generic data set and a simple example with a water leak.
Smart
Alert
Start
Time
Classify
Magnitude
Location
Priority
Contain-
ment
Tags
Actions
/API
Verify
Repair
End
TIme
Summary
Info
Root
Cause
Owner
Page 14
15. Peter WIlliams is the CTO of IBM’s Big Green Innovations unit (an in-house incubator for IBM’s environmental businesses, focused
on carbon, water, alternative energy and computational modelling). He had over 20 years of experience as a strategy and change
consultant working for Pricewaterhouse Coopers and subsequently IBM when PWC was bought out. He had a major role in de-
veloping IBM’s smarter cities, water management and resilience businesses and developing IBM’s “smarter planet” positioning
amongst other roles in the organisation. He is also a visiting lecturer at Stanford University
Amir Peleg is the founder and CEO of TaKaDu, a global leader in Integrated Water Network Management, allowing water utilities
to improve network efficiency and make smart decisions and is also the Chairman of SWAN – the Smart Water Network Forum – a
worldwide industry forum promoting the use of data technologies in water networks.
He holds a B.Sc. degree in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (via the TALPIOT
program) and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
General Event Example: Leak
Smart Trigger / Smart Alert The flow pattern in a specific supply zone has an abnormal pattern & higher levels of flow
Start Time Analyze the pattern, compare to the ‘normal’ behavior, and estimate when the leak started
Classification / Type Understand that this is a suspected leak
Magnitude / Size Estimate by means of analytics what is the magnitude of the leak. Is it 5 liters/sec? or 50 l/s?
Location Where the leak is? In which DMA or Pressure Zone?
Priority
Which is more important now? A big burst in a suburb area? Or a small hidden leak in the city center? Which critical
non-water assets (such as hospitals) might be affected?
Containment Which valves needs to be closed to limit the leak?
Owner Accountability – who has the responsibility to take the necessary actions and fix the leak?
Tagging
Mark the event with sub-classification (e.g. there are several types of Leaks), some finer resolution of understanding the
‘event’
Actions & API Connect to any other IT system in order to streamline the process (Assets Management, Work Order Management).
Root Cause Possibly understand the root cause of the event
Verify Repair Confirm (automatically, by means of analytics) that the flow data is back to its normal values and normal pattern
End Time Measure the time when the event ended and mark the time it took to ‘repair’ the event (as an operational KPI)
Overall Measures How much water was lost in this event? How much time it took to resolve? etc.
The target of an Integrated Event Management system is to provide real-time, actionable “Event” alerts such as faults, leaks, bursts, pressure, flow and level
anomalies, water quality, and telemetry problems. This enables water utilities to ‘know’ about all the events, to manage the situation by receiving valuable
insights and informative details (e.g. type and location), as well as helpful management tools (e.g. event prioritization, the event’s root cause, and repair
verification). Therefore providing benefits on both a tactical and strategic level.
Such a comprehensive, decision-making platform can be utilized across the utility from the analyst monitoring the network to the executive team considering
long-term strategic goals or CAPEX investment for the next quarter (e.g. where to replace assets).
The Future of Event Management
Today, water utilities transmit and collect more data than ever before. Cloud computing provides a cost-effective approach for processing and analyzing large
volumes of data (Big Data). Integrated Event Management systems allow utilities to respond to network problems in real-time and manage the full event
life-cycle. This enables utility management to make more educated decisions about their network operations from event identification through categorization
and classification, prioritization, resource allocation, and all the way up to closure.
It is our vision that Integrated Event Management systems will transform the way utilities operate, resulting in a culture change and improved managerial
processes. Already, implemented by major utilities worldwide, these innovative solutions will continue to become the reality for modern cities as they strive
to become more efficient and customer-centric. In the future, Integrated Event Management systems will become essential for utilities seeking to maximize
the value of their data and raise the bar on their performance.
Page 15
16. Introduction
Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD is probably one of the most and also one of least known parameters in the Wastewater Industry. Everyone has heard of it
and most people will have trouble defining what it is exactly, its mentioned a lot and very rarely defined. For the sake of this article it can be defined as:-
The amount of oxygen required by aerobic microorganisms to decompose the organic matter in a sample water, such as that polluted by sewage. It is used as
a measure of the degree of water pollution.
Or better defined is the definition of the test
The molecular oxygen utilized during a specified incubation period for the biochemical degradation of organic material (carbonaceous demand) and the oxygen
used to oxidize inorganic material such as sulphides and ferrous iron.
(Clesceri et al. 1998)
For me I have always understood it by the analytical method that is used to measure it. In its simplest for you measure the amount of oxygen consumed by
bacteria in a five day period in a jar that’s been put in the dark at 20°C for five days. Taking all of this aside it is a method that has defined the water industry
for over a hundred years now with it being first devised by the Royal Commission in 1908. It is a measure of the organic strength of sewage and as it measures
the Oxygen Utilisation Rate it is still a very useful parameter to this day.
However the test has its limitations and probably chief among these is that it takes five days to analyse and thus has limited operational usefulness and thus
cannot be used as a measurable parameter for control but also the test has limited accuracy and repeatability at concentrations less than 5mg/L O2. and the
test is not valid unless at least 2mg/L of O2 has been consumed (Clesceri et al. 1998)
This last limitation is probably the most telling as discharge standards in wastewater treatment works are getting lower and lower with concentrations <10mg/L
the limitations of the testing method have the potential to cause more and more problems. The question that has to be asked is what are the alternatives to
measuring BOD in the modern wastewater industry?
The answer is there are several including:
• Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
• Respirometry
• Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
• Tryptophan and Tryptophan-like substances
Option 1 - Chemical Oxygen Demand
Chemical Oxygen Demand is a technique that has been used for many years and is a regulated parameter, in Europe under the Urban Wastewater Treatment
Directive. It is an indirect measurement of the amount of organic compounds in water and in crude (domestic) wastewater is often approximately 2 ½ times the
BOD. It is a technique that has long been associated with BOD and in the past 10 years rapid online methods have meant that it can be used as a measurable
parameter for control. The cost of the instrumentation has meant that the online measurement technique has not been particularly widespread across the
domestic wastewater industry although it has been prevalent in industrial wastewater treatment.
The problem with Chemical Oxygen Demand is that it is variable as it goes through the treatment works so a great deal of work has to be done relating the BOD
to the COD and establishing a firm ratio and making the assumption that this ratio will remain the same. If there are any changes within the catchment such as
new trader or a change in the nature of the sewage then the ratio will also change. So relating the COD that is measured to BOD, if it is parameter that is still
wanted is made a very difficult task. The problem is that COD measures significantly more of the oxygen demand that would normally happen when a substance
is discharged to a water course and thus the usefulness of the measurement is limited when assessing the environmental impact of the pollutant load.
The benefits of the technique are such that it easily measurable either in the laboratory or online and with modern methods quickly enough to control a
treatment process by. The usefulness for industrial purposes is clear, the potential in domestic wastewater is probably more limited by the price of the online
instrumentation but again, as under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive it is a regulated parameter, it is surprising that it is monitored online more
frequently.
Option 2 - Respirometry
Respirometry is probably the closest of all of the alternative measures of measuring organic load to BOD. The technique is a direct measurement of the
oxygen consumed and was devised in the UK in the 1950’s. However the complexity of the technique has not seen it used beyond benchtop respirometers as
it is simply too complex for wastewater operators. However in the past five to ten years this has started to change with online sonde techniques being used
and more recently floating respirometers for wastewater treatment works.
The basic of respirometry works on the principle that In the aerobic tanks of a biological treatment plant, the complex molecules of the wastewater are
broken down by the combined activities of heterotrophic bacteria (that break down organic carbon compounds), autotrophic or nitrifying bacteria (that
For Discussion:
Replacing BOD - Is it possible?
Page 16
17. break down ammonia) and other micro organisms. In terms of process control, there are three major processes
at work: Biodegradation (the breakdown and removal of organic carbon and ammonia), Growth (growth and
multiplication of the bacteria, which results in new biomass) and Respiration (oxygen consumption that provides
the energy that the bacteria require for growth).
The three processes are interdependent. As a result, by measuring the rate of respiration, a measure of the rate
of biodegradation can be obtained. For this reason, a respiration may be used as the control variable in process
optimisation. If toxicity in the influent wastewater inhibits the respiration rate of the activated sludge, it follows
that there will be an associated reduction in the rate of biodegradation.
It is probably in the more recent developments that this technique has come to the forefront with sonde like
devices which have the potential of acting as control systems in either a feed forward mode at the start of a ASP
process, within lane to control processes or at the end of the process to control the compliance position. These
in-lane respirometers have the advantage that they are looking at process control and compliance rather than just
a compliance position thus giving an added value to justify the cost of purchasing the instrumentation.
There are alternatives that have more recently been developed working on similar principles that again are used
for control purposes.
Respirometry for almost 60 years, since its first development in the 1950’s, has suffered from the fact that it is too complicated a technique for anything but
dedicated scientists on large treatment works and as manning levels within organisations has declined so has the ability to use the technique in operational
situations. However the recent developments in instrumentation have made the devices that are available easier to use and on large treatment works where
there is a desire to control the process not only for compliance but for efficiency as well then respirometry has a good potential.
The last benefit of using respirometry is the fact that it measures the actual oxygen utilisation rate and so in terms of environmental performance gives the
regulating agencies a direct comparison between BOD and what is measured and for this reason it is probably the closest alternative to what the industry
currently uses and regulates upon
Option 3 - Total Organic Carbon
The use of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) as an alternative to BOD came
into the wastewater industry in 2013 when the WEF Laboratory Practices
Committee hosted a webcast where three managers in the US Water
Industry presented the case for using TOC as an alternative. This was done
by measuring the relationship between TOC and BOD for several years to
prove that the BOD could implied by measuring TOC and the relationship
was stable. The testing done was enough to persuade local regulatory
authorities that the TOC test was a valid alternative and comparable back
to BOD results. The advantage being that TOC was measurable
within 2 hours instead of 5 days and online analysers and sensors as a real
alternative to the BOD test.
Subsequent work by instrumentation companies such as Hach has built
upon the work done by the pioneering US water companies and this
has shown that their is a good relationship between BOD and TOC. The
technique has developed to the extent that it has now received USEPA approval under 40 CFR 133.104 and allows wastewater treatment plants to substitute
TOC analysis for BOD monitoring of oxygen-demanding substances. WWTPs seeking to substitute and report TOC values for BOD values must conduct a long-
term correlation study and submit results to the regulatory body that issued the NPDES permit to their facility. Study data must be collected using USEPA-
approved methods intended for NPDES permit compliance reporting.
Further studies have shown that the online versions of TOC analysers have a similar accuracy to the laboratory versions showing that it is possible to conduct
online TOC measurement within wastewater treatment works to not only measure compliance but also control the works as well.
The disadvantages of TOC as a replacement for BOD is that it is an implied measurement of BOD rather than an actual measurement. The correlation study that
is the current acceptable technique in the United States should be checked to establish whether or not the relationship has changed. The further argument is
that it is not a direct measure of the environmental impact on the receiving water course and could be used as a reason to unfairly discard the technique. To
date it is not a technique that has been adopted outside of the United States, at least not widely. Is it an alternative to BOD, with the right conditions and the
right correlation work that has been done, most assuredly
Option 4 - Tryptohpan Like Fluorescence
The last potential alternative to the BOD test is the measurement of Tryptophan and Tryptophan like substances using fluorescence spectrometry. The
technique is a rapid detection technique that in the past five years has been developed as a technique to imply the organic pollution as tryptophan (amongst
other amino acids) is a part of the human diet.
The technique has been in development for a number of years now and at least two companies have produced working sensors. The first versions of these
sensors have had problems with interferences, mainly with Chlorphyll and more recently studies done by the University of Birmingham and in particular Kieran
Khamis have looked at the affects of temperature and turbidity,
In Lane respirometry and ASP Control
Influent & Effluent BOD to TOC results from a study done by Hach
Page 17
18. At the most recent Sensing in Water Conference experiences from the field have identified problems with interferences with the technology (rather than any
one particular sensor type) but a lot of the work has been done to both understand and account for the interferences that the technique but with specific site
calibration of the technique it was possible to use it for monitoring of BOD by measuring Tryptophan like fluorescence (TLF). The conclusion of the paper was
“that for surface water applications without site specific calibration TLF sensors are best employed as qualitative indicators of organic enrichment and can be
used to trace point source pollution. However, for treated effluents, natural waters (with site specific calibration), drinking water infrastructure and groundwa-
ter aquifers quantitative in situ monitoring of reactive DOM using TLF submersible sensors represent a sensitive, cost effective solution.”
This agrees with the comments that were raised at the Sensing in Water Conference insofar as their are matrix effects on the technique and operationally in
the field these affects are being seen but this is where a standardized material, such as L-tryptophan, has been recommended in the studies so far. What the
presentation of the field experiences did reveal is that where the technique has been practically used in the field so far it has reaped great benefits and it is
a technique that is worth using and developing further as it has become a useful tool where it has been used to date in environmental studies. What has not
been fully trialled, or at least not released, is the use of the technology on wastewater treatment works where the stated specific site calibration could be
carried out and the accuracy and repeatability of the technique assessed in this application.
Conclusions
The global water industry is coming to a point in time where BOD becomes a redundant test because of its inaccuracy and unreproducability at low range. The
definition of the technique itself invalidates any measurement below 2mg/L and this is an inherent limitation of the technique. Consented levels of BOD in
Environmental Permits are getting to the point where, at sub 10mg/L and less this limitation will start to become a problem for the water industry.
In this summary of the techniques that could potentially replace BOD as the regulated measurement of choice we have several options. Of these the only
one that has been accepted for regulatory purposes to date is the measurement of total organic carbon. Although Chemical Oxygen Demand is a regulated
parameter under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive it is not used to assess routine sanitary compliance.. Taking all of this into account the use of TOC
does look to be the best alternative although the acceptability around the world has to be questioned as it only implies, through comparative studies, the
pollutant load to the environment and the impact that this load has..
The alternatives are of course respirometry and the use of tryptophan like fluorescence and of these it seems that the use of respirometry has more benefit
to the industry in control of large wastewater treatment works rather than the online monitoring of compliance due to the cost of these types of instruments.
The alternative is tryptophan,which has been used to great purposes so far, but it also feels that there is more development to be done in order for it to be
a mainstream sensors. Whether this is incorporating the recent work of interferences into the sensors themselves or more field trials to prove the accuracy
of the technique. When this work is done and the accuracy of the technique proved then the message was that TLF sensors could be a gamechanger for the
Global Water industry.
To answer the question that was in the title of this summary - is it possible to replace BOD as a regulated parameter within the water industry? With a lot of
work the answer is of course yes. TOC has already achieved this in a number of wastewater treatment works in the United States of America and there is a huge
potential for it to replace BOD but there are also other techniques in existence that could do the job and with respirometry and tryptophan we have these.
Industry News(continued)
Page 18
CTG’s new CDOM monitoring systems launchine at AquaTech
CTG’s new CDOM-Station and CDOM-Station Pro systems are being launched at AquaTech, Amsterdam
(3-6 November 2015). These systems allow utility operation managers, process scientists and engineers to
assess real-time levels of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in water systems. This is achieved by
detecting UV CDOM fluorescence, which has been shown to correlate with organic levels in a wide
variety of water environments, providing significantly enhanced improvements in sensitivity over
conventional absorbance methods. Applications for these new systems include managing disinfection
by-product formation potential, assessing organic load through water treatment works, filter management,
coagulation control plus monitoring the formation of THMs and HAAs.
The CDOM-Station comprises a single CTG UviLux CDOM fluorometer and a Watchkeeper wall mounted data
display and logger. The CDOM-Station Pro includes an additional UviLux sensor, configured for detecting
Tryptophan-like fluorescence. The second sensor provides additional sample information regarding potential
bacterial contamination.
The CDOM-Station & CDOM-Station Pro have been designed for both indoor & outdoor operation, with
the UviLux fluorometers either fitted within a water trough or mounted in flow-through manifolds for in-line operation. A single cable connects the UviLux
fluorometers to the Watchkeeper display and logger unit where data is displayed on a colour touchscreen for internal logging. In addition data is also made
available from a 4-20mA output.
19. November 2015
SWIG Innovation Workshop
25th November 2015
Warwick University, UK
Hosted by Sensors for Water Interest Group
January 2016
Coastal Pollution Monitoring Workshop
27th January 2016
Dublin City University
Hosted by Sensors for Water Interest Group
WWT Wastewater Treatment Conference
28th January 2016
National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry, UK
Hosted by WWT
February 2016
Smart Potable Water Networks Workshop
25th February 2016
Saffron Hill, London
Hosted by CIWEM
WEX Global 2016
29th February - 2nd March
Lisbon, Portugal
Hosted by Water & Energy Exchange
March 2016
WWT Smart Water Networks
17th March 2016
Holiday Inn, Birmingham, UK
Hosted by WWT
Optimising Control of fouling with Smart Sensors
Details to be Confirmed
Hosted by Sensors for Water Interest Group
June 2016
IWA Leading Edge Technology Conference
13th - 16th June 2016
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Hosted by the International Water Association
ACE 2016
19th - 22nd June 2016
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Hosted by the American Water Works Association
Page 19
Conferences, Events,
Seminars & Studies
Conferences, Seminars & Events SWIG Events
in 2015-16
Innovation Workshop
Where: University of Warwick
When: 25th
November2015
Description
There is a wealth of new technology and innovation being developed in UK
universities which often translates into the development of new products
in industry. Successful translation and exploitation of academic research
depends on recognising potential and forming necessary collaborations.
This SWIG Innovation workshop is designed to bring together academic
research groups and interested companies to identify potential
technologies, collaboration, and exploitation opportunities in the area of
sensor technologies developed for use in water.
The need for new sensor technologies for water is often driven by
legislation and the need for regular measurements at lower concentrations,
or the need for more rapid or more reliable measurements made at remote
sensing sites. This encompasses a wide range of technologies that are used
for measuring physical, chemical or biological parameters in or of water.
For examples sensors that measure water pressure, height or chemical and
biosensors for measuring dissolved components, or pollutants or micro -
organisms. How remote sensors and sensor networks communicate reliably
and securely, energy harvesting and data management are other important
technology areas that form part of a modern water sensing system.
Coastal Pollution Monitoring Workshop
Where: Dublin City University, Ireland
When: 27th January 2015
Description
The SWIG Coastal Pollution Monitoring Workshop will address the impact of
EU Directives including Water Framework, Bathing Waters and Shellfish to
monitoring of rivers through to coastal waters under current pressures from
both industrial and natural pollution. The Workshop will provide delegates
the opportunity to learn about current monitoring projects and practices
from regulators, academics, water companies and sensor suppliers from
both the UK and Ireland.
The workshop will look at monitoring technologies for application to coasts,
ports, marinas affecting leisure users, fisheries, aquaculture and bathing
waters.
The event is being hosted by Fiona Regan of Dublin City University