The design of a computer-controlled automatic data acquisition and handling system for water quality management applications

Abstract

Real-time data processing has the potential for detecting wastes discharged into the environment and for monitoring the effects of the pollutants introduced. With proper monitoring and trend analysis procedures, poor or hazardous conditions can be detected or even anticipated to enable corrective and enforcement action. Timely information and evaluation is required for managing water quality as a resource so that waste discharges and in-channel treatment activities may be coordinated with variations in the waste assimilation capacity of the receiving waters. The hardware and software requirements of computer systems suitable for water quality monitoring and management applications are described in the sections that follow. Specific requirements for these systems include the ability to: 1. collect multiparameter data from on-line and off-line sensors 2. relate environmental events whose effects appear hours or even days apart 3. incorporate present and historical data into sophisticated aquatic systems models 4. utilize all available information to predict conditions for the near future. ...