Remote Ground Water Monitoring

Case Study – Parma, Italy: 24/7 Life-saving monitoring of nitrate concentration in groundwater

Background

The IRETI manages the integrated water service of 265 municipalities in Italy. This includes water supply, sewerage and purification of wastewater. With approximately 2.8 million inhabitants served, and an aqueduct network of over 23,000 km, IRETI introduced over 290 million m³ of water into the managed areas in 2018.

Challenge

The city of Parma, in a predominantly agricultural area, is affected by fertilisers used in the farming community. From time to time, the nitrate concentration in the groundwater is slightly higher than the maximum values allowed by Council Directive 91/676/EEC. Therefore they required an online control system with an alarm in case of anomalous situations so that immediate and appropriate measures can be taken.

**The s::can system, consisting of a spectro::lyser, the chlodi::lyser and a con::cube, is monitoring the application 24/7 and includes an event detection system in case of an abnormal event happening**.

s::can’s solution

After a successful trial of the s::can products, a long-term measurement system was implemented to further evaluate the NO3, Chlorine Dioxide and Temperature levels.

The system consists of :

spectro::lyser spectrometer – this monitors TSS, TS, turbidity, colour, TOC, DOC, BOD, COD, NO3-N, NO3, chloramine, HS-, O3, CLD, Chl-a, BTX, UV254, fingerprints, spectral alarms and temperature, depending on the application and individual selection.
chlodi::lyser chlorine dioxide sensor- an amperometric sensor for monitoring chlorine dioxide. It is ideal for all kinds of water treatment and produces stable readings even at high fluctuations of pH, temperature and flow. Strong surfactants are tolerated and the chlodi::lyser is not cross sensitive to chlorine.
con::cube control unit – which is able to manage up to 64 parameters for various online analysis needs
a dedicated software solution – overall management of water quality parameters including all the substances that absorb in the UV-VIS range. This allows the integration of the online monitoring system into the Water Safety Plan (WSP) as required by EU regulations and implemented in Italian legislation.
ruck::sack – automatic brush cleaning system

Subsequently, there is a good correlation between online and laboratory data. Also, there is minimal maintenance required due to the automatic brush cleaning system.

Together these successfully fulfilled the user’s need for a smart water monitoring system.

The diagram above shows NO³ measurement data for one week. It is clearly visible that the concentration can change quickly. Online monitoring with the spectro::lyser in real-time ensures immediate countermeasures can be taken when needed.

Benefits

Continuous 24-hour monitoring – making it easy to take countermeasures in the case of an abnormal event
High measurement frequency – the high measurement frequency of the installed spectro::lyser and chlodi::lyser probes allows for more precise data
Virtually no maintenance – the minimum maintenance of the installed spectro::lyser and chlodi::lyser probes means practically zero operating costs
Instant information about the water quality -preventing harmful consequences on people’s health.

“The spectro::lyser probe has positively amazed us for its accuracy and stability. This has granted such a dependable and safe online measurement, which makes the frequent discrepancies we used to have by comparing instruments data to lab values dissolve.”
– Valentino Piramide, Manager of Emilia Region at IRETI S.p.A.