Water quality monitoring is one component of a Contaminant Warning System (CWS) and consists of a network of monitoring locations throughout the water distribution system. Each station contains a suite of sensors that measure standard water quality (WQ) parameters such as chlorine, total organic carbon (TOC) and pH. A growing body of data demonstrates that deviations in one or more WQ parameters from an established base-state can provide early warning of contamination. However, the normal variability in distribution system water quality, coupled with the large amount of data, makes it a challenge to successfully detect transient contamination incidents (USEPA EDS challenge).

optiEDS is a software based solution to this problem and helps detect anomalous conditions in real time. optiEDS is an event detection system (EDS) for water contamination.

optiEDS was a part of the EPA’s Event Detection System Challenge (see phase III). The full report is here (5MB PDF file).

For inquiries regarding the implementation of an Event Detection System please contact me.