IoT, the “cloud” and your Water Supply

 

A recent article in the September 2015 issue of Water Technology Magazine entitled The Internet of everything (even water) by Dave Eifert attracted my attention. It discussed how cloud-based monitoring, using the Internet of Things (IoT) can benefit the water industry.

The reason it was of interest, beyond the pure technology aspect, was that the water district which I am a “director emeritus” is embracing similar technology. 

Dave notes five issues facing the water industry. This new technology has applications in all of these areas.

• Retiring personnel –reducing workforce and taking important knowledge with time [lack of continuity]
• Reduced funding
• Increasing regulations
• Drought
• Strategies to overcome water scarcity (such as reuse)

He further notes:

“With potentially fewer people to complete more complex work, looking to new technologies and service-delivery models to accomplish peripheral tasks makes sense. With this technology, water treatment professionals can focus on the main task [supplying clean, potable water]. …

IoT [Internet of Things] is new technology and a new service-delivery model that makes in-the-field devices smart and allows them to provide near real-time information to end users anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection.”

Smart meters and the “cloud” allow for faster acquisition and analysis of data. Dave uses the example of chlorine residual at the end of an existing distribution system. However, I would like to present a more critical issue which, in my opinion, impacts far more global water suppliers. It is especially relevant to smaller water supply systems.

As I have noted in numerous blogs, availability of clean potable water is critical to our survival as a species. Only about 7% of the water on Earth is fresh water in the first place; the rest is brackish or salt water, unusable by humans [in that state]. It stands to reason that water is one of our most precious resources.

As drought continues to encroach upon the western United States, the availability of clean, fresh water diminishes. More users with less water creates major challenges for both small and large water suppliers. California is an excellent example of the impact of major drought across all segments of society from homeowners to farmers.

Because of scarcity, the use of water in the western United States has become a complex regulatory nightmare. This is especially true of the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, New Mexico and Arizona. These states depend upon one supply, the Colorado River, as their major source of water. It should be noted that the headwaters of this mighty river is also the state with the same name. As an aside, it is estimated that 70% of the practicing water lawyers in the United States reside in my home state of Colorado. Clearly, the reason for the predominance of water lawyers is they want to be close to the source of supply.

There is both a legal [having the right to use available water] and a physical [is there water actually in the river] component to water in the states using the Colorado River basin. For example, there was a newspaper article several years ago about a rancher in Southern Colorado. He had the first priority [the number one legal right to use any water in the stream]. However, as shown on the photograph with the article, the stream was completely dry. The opposite can happen; the stream or reservoir can be full but if you have a very low legal priority you might not get any physical water. During droughts in Colorado, water becomes almost unobtainable at any price.

So how can these smart meters, IoT and the “cloud” be used to help with the challenge of scarcity? Two specific uses come to mind. While similar in purpose, these two uses function differently in the water supply scheme.

The first use is by the water supplier. Having more data faster allows the water supplier to operate the water infrastructure with increased efficiency. These increased efficiencies can be seen in everything from billing the consumers for water used to the physical operation of valves and fire hydrants. Technology can be used, as noted by Dave Eifert, to monitor such things as chlorine residuals to keep the water in the system safer. It can also be used to make sure all areas of the supply system have the correct pressure and availability of water or to detect high flows in the water mains or even customers homes.

In addition, using these smart meters and the “cloud” allows the water supplier to take advantage of newer and more efficient computer technology to monitor the water supply system in less time. This is an extremely valuable benefit for the majority of small water supply systems, such as the one I am involved with, as it saves time and effort for the very small staff involved with operating and monitoring the system on a daily basis. We use Badger Meters and National Meter and Automation, Inc. as our suppliers for the hardware and software technology.

The second, and more important, use is the identification of leaks in the system. This can manifest itself by a drop in pressure in a length of line, or an increased flow rate through a house meter. Leaks, which often do not show up on the surface of the ground can be discovered by flow and pressure data sensors in the metering system itself.

Leaks in the supply system take on increasing importance during a drought. The scarcer the resource, the more valuable it becomes. Conserving the amount of water which is available to your water supply system becomes critical, especially to small districts like the one I am involved with.

It’s obvious that fewer leaks in a water supply system makes more water available for consumers for a multitude of uses including drinking, cooking and even fire and wild fire protection. If the staff has more data, faster, then leaks can be detected sooner. This is the significant benefit to installing and using these “smart meters” and the “cloud.”

However, there is a more important benefit across the system. Using these new IoT systems, not only the water supplier staff can get the data, but the consumer can as well. Using a simple cell phone “app” or a laptop or desktop computer, the individual consumer can check usage on a daily or even hourly basis. They can even use email or text alerts to be notified when usage exceeds a certain rate. In effect, there are more “eyes” monitoring the system.

If the consumer is interested in saving money, they can monitor their own water use on a daily or weekly basis with these cloud-based systems. As more consumers monitor their water use, it takes the strain off the staff of water supplier. Consumers, as they monitor their usage, will typically notice unusually high flows and request help from the supplier. Leaks will be detected sooner, and repaired with less water loss to the system and cost to the consumer. The entire water supply system and all of the customers are the beneficiaries.

Understanding how critical water is to humans and our planet is the reason that I wrote my books about water. They are available on Amazon in downloadable digital format. Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition explains in easy to understand language the concepts and challenges of supplying a scarce resource to an increasing population. Understanding Water and Terrorism explains how vulnerable our water supply system is to disruption from not only humans but also natural events, such as earthquakes, and hurricanes.

As you can see, there is a significant benefit to using the “IoT” and the “cloud” to monitor and manage our water supply systems. As the small district I am involved with found out, the process of implementing new technology is challenging and expensive. But in the end, it is very rewarding for all water users involved.

We all need to think and act as if water is our most precious resource, because in reality, it is.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self-publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung
Phone: 303-726-8320
Email: tmcco@msn.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hcourtyoung
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoung
Blog: http://hcourtyoung.blogspot.com

Unprecedented Drought Risk and Climate Change

 

 

You hear a lot about the subject of “climate change” today. The issue, in my opinion, seems to center around “the right to make money or have a job” i.e. greed (use as much as “I” need), rather than taking the responsibility to act as a good steward, i.e. a longer term view of what is good for my neighbor, and the world as a whole.

As the debate rages, our “leaders”, especially in the United States Congress seem to act in a more and more irrational, short term manner regardless of whether they have an “R” or “D” behind their name. For example, one of the current issues being pursued by Congressional Republican Rohrabacher (R-CA), a senior member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, is whether NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are “tampering with temperature data to create an artificial warming trend. Such data is then used to justify regulations aimed at curbing fossil fuel use and other industrial activities” (http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/20/republicans-to-investigate-climate-data-tampering-by-nasa/).

So, what does this have to do with the topic of unprecedented drought risk? I am glad you asked.

Most people, including “the experts” in the “climate change” debate on either side stop short of paying anything but lip service to the issue of water resources and short term water use. Water seems to be an afterthought. The attitude appears to be, “it has always been there (at our faucet or in our toilet) and it always will be there.” Having water in the developed world has effectively become “a right.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of my life has been spent with the private development of water resources and water rights in the western United States both for private and public system consumption. Using and providing clean drinkable water in an arid and semi-arid part of the North American continent (or any other water challenged region) is very technical and complex because of the challenge of distributing a scarce resource to an increasing population.

Two articles come to mind when the subject of drought is mentioned to me. One is an article from 2009 which discusses a tree ring study (dendrochronology) done by Colorado State University. This article, in the Denver Post, entitled “Current Drought is a Wimp.” The second is a recent article and referenced paper on the internet entitled “Unprecedented 21^st Century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains,” B. I. Cook, T. R. Ault, J. E. Smerdon, Sci. Adv. 1, e1400082 (2015).

Based on these articles and the research behind them, the following quotations give a good synopsis of what the water supply future for the western United States portends. What we consider as “normal” over the last 40 years may have been an aberration.

Dr. Neil Grigg, Professor of civil and environmental engineering, Colorado State University notes:

“Tree-ring studies and climatic data show that Colorado experiences wet and dry cycles. The great Colorado drought of 1276-1299 apparently drove the Anasazis from their homes in southwestern Colorado. Eight periods of severe and long- lasting drought have occurred since about 1700. The period from 1875 to about 1890 seen1s to have been very dry. The 1890- 94 drought in Eastern Colorado brought disappointment to newly- arrived dryland farmers, as described by author James Michener in Centennial. The 1898-1904 drought was the worst on record in Durango. The 1900- 1930 period was wetter- than- average. Drought returned from 1930 to 1940, and in 1939, several Front Range gages recorded their driest single year in history. West Slope droughts seen1 to coincide with those on the East Slope more often than not, but not always. The 1950- 1956 drought affected the whole state, and was worse in general along the Front Range than the 1930s drought. The 1974-1978 drought featured the driest winter in history, in 1976- 1977 (McKee, Doesken, Kleist, Shrier, and Stanton, 2000; Woodhouse, 2002).” - Drought and Water Policy: Implications for Colorado, Neil S Grigg, Hydrology Days 2003

The second study entitled “Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America", published on 29th July, 2012 in Nature Geoscience notes:

“North American 2000-2004 drought worst in 800 years”

“A new scientific study indicates the 2000-2004 drought in the North American West was the worst of the last millennium, with major impacts to the carbon cycle, and hints of even drier times ahead.

The study, titled “Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America", published on 29th July in Nature Geoscience, shows that the major drought that struck western North America from 2000 to 2004 severely reduced carbon uptake and stressed the region's water resources, with significant declines in river flows and crop yields.

The research group determined that carbon taken up by Western forests dropped by 30 million to 298 million metric tons per year. In normal conditions the forests would take up between 177 million and 623 million metric tons of carbon.

Researchers found that the four-year drought was the most severe region-wide event of its kind since the last mega drought 800 years ago.

“The 2000-2004 drought may be the wetter end of a new climatology that would make the 21^st century climate like mega-droughts of the last millennium,” said Christopher Schwalm, the research leader from Northern Arizona.” 30 July 2012, TerraNature Trust, http://www.terranature.org/2000-2004NorthAmericanDrought.htm

If the paleo climactic data is correct, and the current droughts are truly “wimps” compared to the norm, what does that mean to us? It means that we, as water consumers, can no longer afford to remain “ignorant” of water issues. We must start impressing on our “leaders”, especially those in charge of our water supply systems, to face the issues and challenges. They need to come up with long term solutions, on a regional or even continent wide scale, not just “feel good”, “reward the large public/private users because of their money and influence” type policies of the past.

Clearly, if our current water supply systems are designed to survive a five, or even, ten year drought, and the coming drought is a thirty or fifty year drought, we are not prepared. A significant number of us living through those circumstances would probably be very thirsty.

We cannot allow the “experts” to continue to dictate water policy without getting involved. I have seen this first hand while being involved with a small water district west of Denver, Colorado for many years. More and more the District Board of Directors (of which I was one) are getting their consumers involved through education and out-reach. While this takes time and effort, it is worth it because the District Board gains support and effective input for the direction the District is going to upgrade the water supply system and develop policies for the future. The consumers understand why certain actions are necessary and they act as “eyes” and “ears” watching over the water infrastructure by which they derive their most precious resource – clean, potable water.

In 2003, I wrote a book entitled Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition. This book, published by BurgYoung Publishing, gives an overview of the physical use, legal availability and multiple use of water in the western United States (a typical arid to semi-arid environment). Available now in EPub (digital) format, it presents information critical to becoming an informed water consumer, as the main stream media is increasingly trumpeting the “party-line” with respect to water issues. This “party-line” is more and more reflected in policies and directions which benefit the very wealthy private and public corporations, including residential developers, agricultural interests, and most recently energy developers (i.e. fracking).

These large entities, and large water consumers, do create jobs, produce homes, food and energy, all of which we need. However, how does the average water consumer weight the cost of those jobs, food and energy against their way of life and their children’s future without some understanding of the issues and consequences? Because the issues are complex, education and knowledge are the only way to get an idea of what current policies may lead to in the future.

Another book, available in EPub (digital) format is World Collapse or New Eden, Your World in 2011 -101 Expert Predictions about Your World and What the Trends Are – 2015 Edition. In this book, I explore a number of issues including water, drought and energy. Written to explore how major global issues between 2006 and 2008 were predicted to impact your world in 2011, I updated it with a follow-up as of 2015. It is a fascinating view of where we thought we would be, where we were in 2011 and where we are today with respect to the original issues. As you might expect, we have not made much progress, in my opinion.

As someone involved in water and water issues for the last thirty years, and as a geologist, I have followed the climate debate for many years. First, I must point out that the climate and weather patterns are not static. They have been changing for millions of years due to a dynamic Earth in an ever changing Universe. I find the debate whether humans are the prime cause of “climate change” based on the last 10,000 years of record to be absurd, when the geologic record is billions of years old. That being said, I do hold humans primarily responsible for “climate change” based on their short sighted, greedy, “me first” approach to policy making and goal setting. If this were not the case, there would be a long term plan (10 to 20 years) for energy development and use on a national, if not global, scale, which would involve all forms including conservation,  renewables, nuclear, oil and gas.

Effectively we have let “greed” and “complacency” overrule our ability and responsibility to be good stewards, both with “climate issues” and with “water issues.” It is a real probability that both climate change and drought will force an unprecedented change to our way of life, our future and that of our children and grandchildren.

Sincerely,

H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self-publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung
Phone: 303-726-8320

Email: tmcco@msn.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoung

Water is our most precious resource - Understand why/how to protect & preserve it – Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition

Is 2015 the year of World Collapse or will it be a New Eden?

 

There is not a day which goes by that we don’t hear about some economic, political or environmental crisis around the globe. Ebola, ISIS and the drought in California are but a few that raged in 2014.

In 2008, a friend of mine and I had the following discussion over a cup of tea at the local bookstore. Does the discussion sound familiar?

Does it seem as if life is going to hell in a hand-basket? You are not alone. Many people today feel the same way. The news is bad and just seems to get worse all of the time.

Is all of this mere coincidence or is this all a part of the cosmic plan? This is the question Court and I have been asking over the last year. Why is it that people from every walk of life and many different disciplines and viewpoints are all predicting catastrophe sometime within the period of 2010 to 2012?

This 2008 discussion was in reference to the year 2011. As you may remember, there were many predictions of calamity and collapse on a global scale centering on 2011.

It was for that reason I wrote my book World Collapse or New Eden, Your World in 2011. This book included 101 expert (and not so expert) predictions from the years between 2008 and 2011. At that time, it seemed like 2011 was the year the world as we knew it was going to collapse into chaos.

Jumping to 2015, does it seem that things are worse than they were 4 years ago (to paraphrase a presidential campaign slogan)? While the stock market is at all an all-time high, our financial markets are in a mess. Global economies are limping along. In the background, environmental disasters like the reactor meltdown at Fukishima Japan because of the 9.0 earthquake and Tsunami in March, 2011 are still very problematic.

You are intelligent enough to realize that our world is in a period of dramatic change. The price of a barrel of oil fluctuates wildly from above $100 down to $40. Food and energy prices are soaring. Medical breakthroughs occur almost daily. Currency, bond and stock markets fluctuate hourly. Around the world it is estimated that 1 billion people have access to the internet making communication truly global.

In my research, I discovered many predictions involving the period 2010 to 2012. I was astonished that so many predictions seemed to center on 2011. I started to call this time period, “the great convergence”. These predictions came from experts in many fields of study including, but not limited to energy, finance, business, science, education, travel and economics. Four years after 2011, are these predictions still “on-track”? What was predicted and what has taken place?

As you probably know, predictions come from many sources. Some are from very dubious sources which make very sensational news stories. However, the majority of the predictions come from very serious experts willing to put their reputations on the line by putting them in print. What does all this mean for you?

My original book, entitled World Collapse or New Eden? Your World in 2011, provided an insightful look at a future that was imminent in 2008. With the 2015 edition, you will learn how things have changed since then. Included are all of the original 2011 predictions and comments, as well as, my updated 2015 comments for each. Subjects which impact your life such as energy, the environment, climate change, natural disasters, finance, business and politics. You will find out if these predictions are still “on-track” and hopefully discern trends that could impact your life going forward.

This digital eBook/EPub presents each prediction, source and author and many active web links. It presents a fascinating look at the not too distant past and the future going forward.

I hope you enjoy reading the research and analysis in the 2015 Edition as much as I did finding it. Spot trends, and get a sense of where the world is going from sources other than the "mainstream media". To get your digital copy visit: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RSNCDW0

H. Court Young

Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self-publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung