City of Zurich monitors the quality of its drinking water with s::can

Background

Zurich water works supplies one of the world’s best quality drinking water to the population of the Zurich metropolitan area. To ensure that the quality of the water remains high after it leaves the water treatment facility, and to detect any deterioration of the quality due to problems with the piping, the city of Zurich was looking for a water quality monitoring solution with the following characteristics:

• Deployed in-pipe
• Option to function as a smart grid
• Cost effective
• Coupled to a robust event detection system.

s::can’s solution

To be able to measure several parameters simultaneously the i::scan was installed with an in-pipe fixture. The i::scan is a revolutionary and affordable spectrometer that uses the latest LED technology to measure the absorption spectrum. The measured parameters include Turbidity, UV254, TOC, BOD and Color, depending on the application. The i::scan was installed in-pipe using a unique fixture that can withstand pressures up to 10 bar. The fixture has a separate valve to close the connection to the mains. This allows the i::scan to be taken out of the pipe for inspection or cleaning without interfering with the flow of the water. The system was installed in combination with a decentralized event detection system based on s::can’s moni::tool, that continuously analyzes spectral alarm parameters to detect changes resulting from untypical, possibly harmful, water quality events. These parameters are trained through data from the monitoring sites and then respond to deviations from the water quality observed during the training. moni::tool is a revolutionary new platform for the management of measuring stations, online probes and analyzers. Whether it is installed in a large monitoring network or as a standalone station, moni::tool’s intuitive software and state of the art features are an essential backbone for sensor and station management.

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