Innovyze Releases QualWatch Generation V1.5, Raising the Bar for Drinking Water Contamination Early Warning and Management Systems

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Innovyze Releases QualWatch Generation V1.5, Raising the Bar for Drinking Water Contamination Early Warning and Management Systems

Latest Release With Multivariable Parameter Analysis Delivers Improved 24/7/365 Surveillance, Contaminant Detection and Early Warning

Broomfield, Colorado, USA, June 11, 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 the V1.5 Generation 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. The solution’s primary strength is its 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 to 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. As aging drinking water distribution systems deteriorate, they become increasingly vulnerable to structural failures and are plagued by excessive leaks and breaks, which can result in breaches in water quality integrity and potential contamination. These threats present a significant challenge to utilities charged with consistently providing safe drinking water. Because of public health and safety implications, water utilities are required to detect and monitor biological and chemical contaminants within their water distribution systems in real time. 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 caused by contamination; detect unanticipated normal events such as main breaks, backflows and sensor malfunctions; and spot 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 (e.g., water quality signals and operations data), online water quality sensors (e.g., free chlorine, total organic carbon, pH, conductivity, turbidity) and network modeling, QualWatch automatically reads and analyzes incoming water quality measurement data, compares it with expected and historical values. It then 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 a system, find the source of contaminant injection, track contaminant spread and determine how best to purge it from the system. Extremely flexible,QualWatch can 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. New additions to QualWatch include improved methods for reducing false positive alarm rates triggered by changes in water quality measurements due to normal changes in the hydraulic operations of the distribution system (e.g., opening and closing of valves, filling and draining of storage tanks, and pumps going on and off line). QualWatch can now also automatically quantify the correlation between multiple water quality parameters, allowing more accurate predictions of water quality values. This dependence method allows any water quality parameter value to be predicted from its historical data and by other variables (e.g., chloramine as a function of pH, total organic matter and free chlorine). 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. “Water utilities around the world rely on Innovyze’s best-in-class smart water network solutions to safeguard their water infrastructure and protect public health,” said Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, F.ASCE, President, COO and Chief Technical Officer of Innovyze. “By combining real-time water quality monitoring with advanced network modeling and predictive analytics, QualWatch enables water utilities to rapidly detect, track and contain the spread of contaminants throughout their systems and gives them time to warn and protect the public. Since day one, our mission has been to share powerful product development capabilities with the smart water network modeling community and foster its expansion. The new version ofQualWatch is a significant leap — one that greatly enhances these experts’ ability to enhance security and provide maximum protection to public health. It exemplifies our ongoing commitment to delivering superior value to our customers who manage, operate and sustain safe, reliable water distribution systems.”.