Innovyze Releases QualWatch, Next Generation of Early Warning Network Monitoring and Water Quality Event Detection

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Innovyze Releases QualWatch, Next Generation of Early Warning Network Monitoring and Water Quality Event Detection

Breakthrough Release with Vanguard Predictive Analytics Delivers 24/7/365 Distribution System Water Quality Surveillance, Contaminant Detection and Early Warning

Broomfield, Colorado USA, March 12  2013 — Redrawing the boundaries of smart water network innovation for infrastructure security, Innovyze, a leading global innovator of business analytics software and technologies for smart wet infrastructure, today announced the release of QualWatch. This revolutionary early warning network monitoring and water quality event detection software changes the way water utilities around the world combine real-time water quality data with geospatial network modeling and predictive analytics to detect and manage accidental, deliberate or natural contamination of drinking water distribution systems. Its primary strength is the ability to monitor real-time changes in water quality and identify potential hazards fast enough to permit effective responses that mitigate or avoid adverse public health and economic impacts. Its predictive analytics also enable water utilities move from reporting past events to predicting future events. Armed with this power, water utility operators can become a major force for regulatory compliance and enhanced system security. Safe drinking water is essential to life. While effective water treatment is crucial, the distribution system itself is the last barrier in safeguarding water quality and protecting public health. Because of their extended service areas and large number of vulnerable entry points, water distribution systems are inherently susceptible to external contamination. Injected contaminants can rapidly spread downstream, endangering public lives. Internally, quality can also change dramatically as treated drinking water moves through the network due to complex physical, chemical and biological activities (e.g., contamination via cross connections or leaky pipe joints, intrusion into pipes, loss of disinfectant residual, bacterial re-growth, formation of disinfection by-products, corrosion of pipes and biodeterioration of materials). All these threats present a significant challenge to utilities charged with consistently providing safe drinking water. As an effective early warning system, QualWatch is a critical component of a smart water grid. It is designed expressly to help water utilities manage and secure their distribution networks more effectively, equipping their control rooms with the unprecedented power to visualize the integrity of their network water quality in real time through continuous monitoring and assessment of water quality dynamics. QualWatch enables water utility operators to continually and accurately compare water quality data against regulatory requirements such as maximum contaminant levels and pinpoint any violations; recognize abnormal water quality changes; and signal the onset of anomalous incidents they can evaluate and act on. The result is proactive network water quality management that ensures safety and security for all consumers. Designed for real-time applications with existing SCADA systems and online water quality sensors and network modeling, QualWatch automatically reads and analyzes incoming water quality measurement data, compares it with expected and historical values, and uses advanced mathematical and statistical techniques to rapidly detect contamination and accurately assess when, where and how utilities need to respond. Network modeling can help operators understand the movement of water in the system, find the source of contaminant injection, track contaminant spread and determine how to best purge it from the system. Extremely flexible, QualWatchcan analyze any standard water quality data — total chlorine, free chlorine, chloride, pH, electrical conductivity, total organic carbon, turbidity, total dissolved solids, nitrate, chlorophyll, oxidation reduction potential and other parameters — and help detect a wide variety of contaminants including pathogens, metals and pesticides. QualWatch can also differentiate between natural variation in water quality measurements and hazardous contamination. Sophisticated pattern recognition techniques help differentiate normal water quality patterns from anomalous conditions and screen out false alarms. A powerful feature of QualWatch is its unique ability to directly quantify the correlation between multiple water quality parameters, allowing more accurate predictions of water quality values. These capabilities represent fundamental advances in how effectively water utility operators can monitor the water quality integrity of their networks and respond if breaches are detected. Easy to learn and use, QualWatch is available as a stand-alone Windows program that runs on nearly any computer or as a complementary module of IWLive. It can be installed, up and running in just a few minutes on a utility’s local computer. This is a distinct point of differentiation from complex “software as a service” (SaaS) solutions, marking the first time utilities of all sizes can readily optimize network water quality management and protection at very low cost.