CA2464463A1

CA2464463A1 - Method for monitoring a public water treatment system

Info

Publication number: CA2464463A1
Application number: CA002464463A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Thomas D. Wolfe; James Douglas Elliott Iii
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Hach Co
Priority date: 2001-10-26
Filing date: 2002-10-18
Publication date: 2003-05-08
Also published as: WO2003038685A3; AU2002349959A1; JP2005508052A; US20020077777A1; US6560543B2; WO2003038685A2; EP1438578A2

Abstract

A method of monitoring the daily operating performance parameters for water treatment processes through the collection of localized data. The data is manipulataed to generate preconfigured performance, maintenance, and quality assurance reports and further provide automatic submittal of data as require d for regulatory review of certain water treatment systems such as potable wat er treatment. The data is collected from sensors located at an equipment site a nd transferred to a remote located by use of the Internet, further all data received and used for generation of reports is also accessible by Internet connection and be delivered directly to the regulatory agency without additional process.

Description

4 Related Application This Application is a continuation-in-part application 6 to Serial No. 09/213,781 filed December 17, 1998 the 7 contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
8 Field of the Invention 9 This invention is related to the field of water treatment, and in particular, to a method of monitoring 11 advanced separation and/or ion exchange processes by use of 12 the world wide web allowing review of data collected and 13 complied asynchronously from a web server.
14 Background of the Invention Potable water is essential with quality and safety 16 standards regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency 17 (EPA) in accordance with the Public Water System 18 Supervision program. The standards are enforced by local 19 agencies. There are over 170,000 water districts in the United States which provide public drinking water to 90% of 21 Americans.
22 The EPA has primary standards designed to protect 23 public health against substances that may be harmful to 24 humans if consumed. EPA secondary standards ensure the aesthetic qualities of water such as taste, odor, or 26 clarity. However, each water district remains responsible 27 for monitoring the drinking water itself to ensure that it 28 meets all drinking water standards. The treatment 29 processes for the drinking water must be monitored as well.
In order to comply with the regulatory testing 31 calendar, water districts are required to report a battery 32 of analytical test results varying from hourly to yearly, 33 depending on the source of the water supply. Water 34 systems must monitor their drinking water to ensure that it is safe for their customers. Monitoring schedules differ 36 according to the type of contaminants that may be present 1 in a given water supply. The hourly tests are typically 2 chlorine and turbidity, which can be accomplished with 3 automatic analyzers. Water districts use electronic 4 sensors to monitor the amount of storage, discharge pressure and flow from the systems on a daily basis.

6 Other parameters which not automatically sensored, but 7 rather are determined by analytical tests, are reported to 8 regulatory agencies on a periodic basis.

9 Municipal water may be obtained from any source, including seawater, all of which can be made potable by use 11 of proper water treatment equipment. For instance, a 12 reverse osmosis system is capable of lowering the total 13 dissolved solids of sea water into drinking water. Despite 14 the sophistication of pretreatment, improper operation can lead to fouled membranes. If fouling occurs but is found 16 quickly, the membranes may be cleaned averting water 17 contamination and associated water treatment repairs.
18 However, if the fouling is not detected quickly, the water 19 treatment system can be irreparably damaged and lead to human health concerns.
21 One of the problems with maintaining advanced 22 processing equipment is a need for highly qualified 23 individuals. Employment of a full time staff is costly and 24 can be problematic since such monitoring is repetitively and highly qualified individuals can easily become bored.
26 For this reason, all water treatment processes include a 27 large assortment of strategically placed sensors that are 28 typically incorporated into a computer system capable of 29 comparing the sensor values against a pre-set quality level. However, if the operator does not recognize a 31 particular alarm condition, the elaborate array of 32 monitoring equipment is useless.
33 Municipal water treatment plants are ultimately the 34 responsibility of elected officials. Yet these officials rarely have the technical training or time to allow them 1 directly access the performance parameters of the systems 2 for which they are responsible. The present invention 3 could easily be used to provide a readily understandable 4 presentation of the current performance of municipal water treatment system which was fully accessible by the elected 6 officials at any time via the Internet. In addition, in 7 this application of the technology, the same presentation 8 of the system performance could be made accessible to the 9 public at large, allowing interested members of the public to monitor the operation of their own drinking water plants 11 as desired.
12 Thus, what is lacking in the art, is a means for 13 monitoring water treatment processes in a cost effective 14 manner by highly trained personnel providing regulatory reporting with a real time analysis that can be 16 simultaneously viewed and verified at any time by multiple 17 parties, from any location having access to the Internet of 18 facsimile machine.

Summary of the Invention 21 The instant invention is a method of monitoring water 22 treatment systems, particularly those subject to regulatory 23 reporting such as potable water treatment systems. The 24 method includes the collection of data which is manipulated to generate preconfigured performance, maintenance, quality 26 assurance, quality control, regulatory, cost reports, 27 performance graphing, historical trends, and regulatory 28 reports. The data is collected from sensors located at an 29 equipment site and transferred to a remote located by use of the Internet where all data received can be used for the 31 generation of reports also accessible by Internet 32 connection. The reports, graphs and information can be 33 viewed online or downloaded by use of a web browser.
34 Regulatory reports can be forwarded automatically to the regulatory agency via electronic transmission means with 1 the added benefit of receiving reports generated directly 2 from the sensor input thereby eliminated the possibility of 3 human error or tampering. The method allows a single 4 location to monitor countless customers with each customer capable of reviewing information relevant to their 6 equipment, all information is kept confidential by use of 7 appropriate account names, protocols and passwords.
8 Thus, an objective of the instant invention is to 9 provide a method of compiling information from a plurality of sensors mounted to a water treatment system to generate 11 operational information in near real time, from any 12 location having access to the Internet. The compiled 13 information can be placed into the required format required 14 by regulatory agencies.
Another objective of the instant invention is to 16 provide a system that operates independent of all system 17 controls wherein no feedback is possible to the 18 programmable logic controller or control .system and to 19 transfer such information by a local Internet provider to a consolidating Internet address.
21 Yet another objective of the instant invention is to 22 provide an Internet report system that can be viewed online 23 or offline providing alarms by the use of current and 24 historical records.
Still another obj ective of the instant invention is to 26 provide automatic polling of sensor data, automatic 27 transmission of sensor data, data to graph conversion, data 28 to statistical report conversation, compliance calendars, 29 e-mail notification of compliance and the ability to automatically file data and reports with the regulatory 31 agency.
32 Yet another objective of the instant invention is to 33 provide scheduled and predicted maintenance reports by the 34 use of the current and historical records; providing emergency notification of failures, shutdowns, critical 1 parameters, membrane damage by the use of electronic mail, 2 pager, and/or human voice calling.
3 Another objective of the instant invention is to 4 regulatory reporting without the need for human interface 5 thereby negating human error or tapering.
6 Still another objective of the instant invention is to 7 provide a method of regulatory reporting which is 8 independent and/or complimentary of the existing monitoring 9 system.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will 11 become apparent from the following description taken in 12 conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set 13 forth, by way of illustration and example, certain 14 embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary 16 embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various 17 objects and features thereof.

19 Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a pictorial representation of the various 21 modules that make up the instant invention.
22 Figure 2 is a flow diagram of the start-up operations 23 of the software.
24 Figure 3 is a flow diagram of the data acquisition operations of the software.
26 Figure 4 is a flow diagram of the data analysis and 27 report generator of the software.

29 Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Although the invention has been described in terms of 31 a specific embodiment, it will be readily apparent to those 32 skilled in this art that various modifications, 33 rearrangements and substitutions can be made without 34 departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.

1 The instant invention is a monitoring system that 2 incorporates the use of the Internet for providing a remote 3 location for assimilation and dissemination of configured 4 reports regarding water treatment systems primarily for the purpose of preparing and submitting regulatory reports 6 required for operation of certain water treatment systems.
7 Data is first collected by the use of sensors and on-line 8 analytical devices from numerous locations on a water 9 treatment system. For instance, a typical potable water treatment system may include sensors for, but not limited 11 to: raw water temperature, conductivity, pH, chlorine 12 level, fluoride, turbidity, conductivity; and so forth.
13 The data generated by the sensors are forwarded to a data 14 capture module or programmable controller 10 which performs the required analog to digital conversion for use in 16 transmitting data files 12 and 14 to a main server located 17 off-site by use of local Internet access. Date files may 18 also be transferred by modem to a processing site. The 19 local data capture module, or programmable controller 10, continuously scans sensor data inputs and automatically 21 logs and archives operating data at specified intervals.
22 System operation for real time monitoring 16 by accessing 23 an Internet web site 18 specifically set up for a 24 particular customer. The data is also manipulated by the data computer 20 with ftp uploads wherein operating 26 parameters are displayed graphically in a tabular format 27 which are color coded to provide an indication of normal 28 operation, warning status or alarm conditions. The 29 information from the sensors are used for determining critical information for the proper evaluation of the water 31 treatment system which is normalized and graphically 32 displayed for performance evaluation, preventative 33 maintenance, scheduling, or for trouble shooting.
34 Historical performance data 24 can be plotted and presented also in geographical 26 or tabular form 28 for 1 selected periods. This provides for not only an historical 2 analysis of system performance, but also a record of prior 3 performance where quality control or regulatory recording 4 purposes. In this manner, the software is designed to continuously scan sensor input and compare the current 6 value with alarm set points in a pre-determined report 30.
7 These set points may be different than actual locally set 8 alarm points. For example, management may wish to see all 9 instances where alarms were close to an alarm or trigger point and such conditions may be summarized in exception 11 reports. The device further has the ability to notify 12 authorized users by e-mail or use of a pager when process 13 conditions meet or exceed, or appear likely to exceed, 14 normal alarm conditions. This provides a layer of redundancy in system operation, and allows non technical 16 and management personnel to be notified promptly in the 17 event of non standard operations.
18 The system will automatically prepare the 19 documentation required to meet the regulatory requirements.
The documentation can be printed out and mailed or 21 transmitted by facsimile to the regulatory agency. Ideally 22 the regulatory report document is sent directly to the 23 regulatory agency via electronic transmission methods using 24 .ftp (file transfer protocol) or e-mail (smpt)thereby eliminating the opportunity for human error and/or 26 manipulation. The customer is capable of accessing data 27 related to his processing equipment including all data, 28 information and reports by use of any computer having 29 Internet access capability. This eliminates the need for specialized equipment and allows a manager operating at his 31 desk to access the data from any location whether it be the 32 office, home, or on the road without the use of specialized 33 computer systems. The software program continually updates 34 the reports for the customer or a customer may view the reports or download them from the web site.

1 In the preferred embodiment, the reports are 2 configured to each regulatory requirements when a service 3 agreement is established. For instance, the process system 4 operations would contain the information necessary to monitor, maintain, supervise and trouble shoot process 6 plant system performance. In this manner the typical 7 information and parameters process block would include, if 8 applicable, flow rates, pressures, delta pressures, 9 permeate quality, pH, alarm conditions, tank levels, and a graphical presentation of applicable process performance 11 parameters and trends. A regulatory report would contain 12 the information necessary to enable a regulatory agency to 13 determine operational parameters including quality and 14 quantity of the treated water to confirm compliance with specifications and standards. Information in this report 16 would typically include treated water production 17 rate(flow), treated water consumption rate(flow), treated 18 water storage volume, reserve capacity (at current 19 production and consumption rates), final treated water quality, reports and archive data for regulatory compliance 21 and/or QA/QC documentation.
22 Calculated/estimated overall plant efficiency may be 23 provided as a percent of theoretical efficiency.
24 Efficiency could be based on the theoretical minimum water, power, and chemical consumption versus actual consumption 26 calculated.
27 Now referring to Figure 2-4, set forth is the 28 operation of the program. This program has four essential 29 parts - the local data capture means, the data sending means, the data computation and analysis, and the web 31 server.
32 At the local site, where the process equipment is 33 located, a serial interface board is used with a local 34 computer to capture data from the process instruments through the serial output of the Programmable Logic 1 Controller (PLC). A software drive specifically designed 2 for the process PLC is utilized for this application.
3 These drivers are available commercially and with the 4 correct driver and some slight modification nearly every commercial PLC can be accessed. This local computer is 6 connected to the Internet either via dial up access or 7 through a dedicated corporate network.
8 A local configuration file on the local computer tells 9 the program which PLC register addresses to access, any scaling factor which needs to be applied, a physical 11 description of the data being collected for example -12 temperature or pressure, and how often the access is 13 required. The data set collected is then converted to a 14 comma delimited string value and stored locally on the hard disk in a sequential file. This file may also be encrypted 16 by software if necessary.
17 At set intervals, usually in the order of 1-30 18 minutes, the local program calls a third party control 19 software module (the data sending module) which activates the Internet connection software. Either a third party 21 Internet Service Provider is accessed via dial up 22 connection and a modem or a local network is used. The 23 contents of the local data file are then sent via ftp 24 protocol or e-mail (smtp) to either an ftp server which can be accessed by the main data computer or directly to the 26 main data computer. The local computer uses the ftp access 27 path and passwords stored on its hard disk in the 28 configuration file to determine where to send the data. If 29 the configuration file has changed since the last update, this file is also sent.
31 The local computer program then transfers the contents 32 of the data file to a historical data file on the hard disk 33 providing an on site data backup source. The current data 34 file is then reused for storing new data. Typically the amount of data transferred each cycle to the ftp server is 1 relatively small - several kilobytes - so that the load on 2 the network is minimal. It will also be apparent to anyone 3 skilled in the art of programming that this local computer, 4 if so desired, could also be used to access the Internet 5 and the results of main data computation could be displayed 6 locally.
7 Main Computer 8 At the main data computer, the high level program also 9 utilizes a series of configuration of "*.ini" files to 10 establish the path to where the raw data exists. This data 11 is the data which needs to be analyzed, formatted and 12 presented. The configuration file also contains the output 13 path names to the various directories used by each client 14 when they access their data via a web browser.
The main program loops through each data set in turn, 16 restarting as needed. Data is either accessed from the 17 main computer's hard disk or downloaded from the ftp 18 server. The configuration file allows the main program to 19 determine which data point is which part of a typical reverse osmosis or ion exchange system. The configuration 21 file also holds information on which units the local 22 process collects data. For example, the configuration file 23 may indicate that at site B, the third data item in each 24 data set is the applied feed pressure expressed in kilopascals. The program must operate in a consistent set 26 of units and thus translates all pressure values into the 27 common format of pounds per square inch (psi) using a units 28 conversion sub-program. Furthermore, in this example, the 29 feed pressure is critical in determining the future and current performance of the system in reference to its 31 performance when new. Furthermore, for reverse osmosis 32 membranes, changes in pressure are related to age, 33 production rate, and temperature and vice versa. Thus a 34 change in flow rate may or may not indicate that the overall system's performance has changed when normalized 1 and compared to its performance when new or recently 2 cleaned. Prior to this invention, the complex mathematics 3 for these conversions required some manual intervention on 4 the part of the operator to compute the normalized conditions. The instant invention does this automatically 6 and reports normalized data to the output.
7 Of course, many more process parameters are monitored, 8 normalized, and analyzed by the computer software of this 9 invention.
The results of these analyses are then utilized in the 11 following manner:
12 o Raw performance data compared to normalized or 13 corrected data is plotted in simple, easy to 14 understand graphs which are published in the jpeg of gif format readily usable by a web browser.
16 O The performance is compared to predicted normal 17 performance and if the differential exceeds present 18 limits (found in the configuration files) selected 19 individuals are automatically sent E-mail or in more extreme cases a pager or fax (paper) alert.
21 O Process and regulatory reports are prepared from the 22 data and published as html tables for access by a web 23 browser.
24 O Historical data is regularly updated and new graphs are prepared, in the jpeg or gif format as noted.
26 O Scheduled maintenance requirements are reviewed by the 27 software and if needed within a preset time - usually 28 within one week, or E-mail notification is sent to the 29 designated individual.
In either case, the output is sent to the designated 31 web directories on a web server attached to the Internet.
32 These directories are appropriately protected for access 33 only by authorized individuals. It may be appreciated that 34 the physical location of the Main Data Computer, the ftp server, and the web server may be at the same location or 1 remote from each other. In addition mirror sites can be 2 maintained as necessary to provide reliable service.
3 The main computer may be either a stand alone unit or 4 can serve as the Internet web server in itself in addition to performing the actual computations. No particular 6 operating system is preferred for the web server and either 7 Windows NT or UNIX may be utilized depending on 8 convenience, reliability, and cost issues.
9 It is to be understood that while I have illustrated and described certain forms of my invention, it is not to 11 be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts 12 herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those 13 skilled in the art that various changes may be made without 14 departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown in the 16 drawings and described in the specification.

Claims

1. A method for remote monitoring the daily operating performance parameters for a water treatment system employing an electronic control system for monitoring selected parameters comprising the steps of:
a) accessing raw operating data from said electronic control system;
b) providing a storage means on a local computer for holding said raw operating data in an electronic format;
c) coupling said local computer to an Internet server computer;
d) transmitting said stored raw data via the world wide web using transmission methods to a remotely located Internet server computer, e) storing said raw data on said Internet server computer, f) accessing such data asynchronously from said Internet server, f) manipulating said raw data into an analysis result and report result, and g)uploading said analysis result and said report result to an Internet server in a format suitable for access and visualization with a web browser program.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of filing said report result with the appropriate regulatory agency.

3. The method of claim 1 including the step of transmitting said report result directly to the appropriate regulatory agency using electronic transmission means.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said electronic transmission means is via e-mail.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said electronic transmission means is via .ftp (file transfer protocol).

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of manipulating said raw data includes routines to notify selected individuals on the basis of the stored parameters relating to the performance of the system being analyzed.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of manipulating said raw data includes routines to notify selected individuals on the basis of the stored parameters relating to compliance testing dates and performance criteria.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of accessing the raw data includes the steps of reading, querying, and storing data accessed from said electronic control system by use of a serial interface card.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of accessing said data is integrated into said electronic control.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein water treatment system produces potable water.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said water treatment system treats wastewater treatment system including secondary and/or tertiary treatment.

12. The method of claim 1 said electronic control system is defined as a programmable logic controller (PLC).

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of accessing raw operating data from said electronic control system includes a serial interface card coupled to said local computer, whereby said serial interface card is operable to transfer serial output of raw data from said electronic control system to the local computer.
'

14. The method of claim 10 wherein said local computer includes software operable to perform the stops of reading, querying, and storing data accessed from said electronic control system.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said digital data files are transmitted to said Internet server by file transfer protocol.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein said digital data files are transmitted to said Internet server by e-mail.

17. The method of claim 1 including the steps of:
comparing said analysis result with known optimum performance parameters, determining the differential between said known optimum performance parameters and the analysis result, and sending notifications to pre-determined recipients if known limits for differentials are exceeded.

18. The method of claim 1 including the steps of:
comparing said analysis result with EPA parameters, determining the differential between said known optimum performance parameters and the analysis result, and sending notifications to pre-determined recipients if known limits for differentials are exceeded.

19. The method of claim 1 including the steps of:
comparing said report result with EPA parameters, determining the differential between said known optimum performance parameters and the report result, and sending notifications to pre-determined recipients if known limits for differentials are exceeded.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said software program utilizes mathematical normalization and prediction routines to produce the analysis result.

21. The method of claim 1 including the steps of converting operating data into visual graphs.

22. The method of claim 1 including the steps of converting operating data into statistical reports.

23. The method of claim 1 including the steps of converting operating data into a compliance calendar.