The need for innovation in the Australian drinking water industry has been heavily influenced by changes to the Public Health Act 2010 and the Public Health Regulation 2012. These Acts require drinking water suppliers to develop and adhere to a ‘quality assurance program’ (or drinking water management system) and from 1 September 2014, this requirement applies to water suppliers defined in the Act, including water utilities, private water suppliers and water carters.
The requirements of the Act can be met in different ways including manual sampling or analysers housed in roadside cabinets or service pits, which require external power supplies. The manual sampling process can however be time consuming and power supplies are not always available or reliable. As a result of this, on-site manual water sampling and laboratory testing must be undertaken before problems within the network can be identified.
Reducing risk and streamlining the process of chlorine analysis is the newest product offering from Wallace & Tiernan® an Evoqua brand. The Chloroclam® and Hydraclam® technologies allow for the deployment of analysers simultaneously across the network, providing a multi-measured approach. The process includes the measurement of total or free chlorine and temperature (Chloroclam) while turbidity, electrical conductivity and pressure (Hydraclam) can be monitored throughout the network simultaneously.
Transmitting measurements at preset time intervals, the analysers function automatically and do not require interaction from an operator. Powered by lithium batteries, these analysers allow samples to be taken directly from fire hydrants or from any point in the potable water reticulation system. Once a sample is taken, vital data is transmitted to the utilities provider via the mobile phone network. This enables utilities to receive their chlorination readings in near real-time allowing for quicker responses to any deviations from safe levels.
The technology, which is leading the way in automated water sampling, assists utilities to rectify water quality issues in a time frame far shorter than manual sampling could provide and offers the assurance that the analysers will work, even in the event of a power failure.
