In most cities in the US, drinking water quality conforms with the norms of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires EPA to set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for potential pollutants. Besides, the EPA’s Consumer Confidence Rule (CCR) of 1998 requires most public water suppliers to provide consumer confidence reports, also known as annual water quality reports, to their customers.
PFAS stands for “perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” with the most important thing to know that this large group of synthetic chemicals includes perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).
Not Regulated by EPA
When it comes to drinking water from the tap in the US, the phrase that fits concerning PFOA and PFOS is “caveat emptor” (buyer beware). The EPA has not regulated these chemicals. There are no federal regulations for PFOA and PFOS in drinking water in the US.
In May 2016, the EPA established a drinking water “health advisory” of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for the combined concentrations of PFOA and PFOS. While that was a start, there’s a big difference between a health advisory and a regulation that has teeth. Moreover, many scientists consider 70 ppt too high a limit. Reportedly, the EPA is considering turning its 70 ppt health advisory into regulation.
Meanwhile, some states have stepped up to the plate to protect their residents and visitors better. In April 2019, for instance, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed maximum contamination levels (MCLs) of 14 ppt for PFOA and 13 ppt for PFOS in the state’s drinking water.
As a water consumer, you should be aware of this crisis, as it has the potential to affect both your health and wealth.
What are PFOA and PFOS?
This toxic couple has contaminated the drinking water supply in areas surrounding some industrial sites and military bases. They’re the most studied of the PFAS group because they’re the ones that have been produced in the most significant quantities in the United States, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
PFOA and PFOS, which repel water and stains of various types, have been used as coatings on fabrics and leather and in the production of stain-repellent carpeting and are found in firefighting foams — which have been used extensively on US military bases for decades — among other products. Moreover, some related polyfluoroalkyl compounds can be transformed into these chemicals in the environment, per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with the Environmental Working Group (EWG) stating that some perfluorinated chemicals not only break down into PFOA in the environment but also can do so in the human body.
While PFOA and PFOS are no longer made in the US, that hardly matters in our global economy. Both are still produced internationally, which means they end up in our country via imports of consumer goods such as carpet, apparel, textiles, and paper and packaging.
Why all the concern about PFOA and PFOS?
These chemicals — dubbed “forever chemicals” because they’re persistent in the environment and the human body — have been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, weakened the immune system and liver function, low infant birth weight, and other health problems, according to many sources.
And this is what the EPA says: “There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. If humans, or animals, ingest PFAS…the PFAS are absorbed and can accumulate in the body. PFAS stay in the human body for long periods. As a result, as people get exposed to PFAS from different sources over time, the level of PFAS in their bodies may increase to the point where they suffer from adverse health effects.”
https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/locus_photo_wastewater-discharge-Fos-Su-Mer-France_1280x960.jpg9601280Neno Duplanhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngNeno Duplan2019-05-27 15:08:012019-12-16 13:39:29Is PFAS Contamination in US Drinking Water Supply the Next Crisis?
On 12 April 2019, Locus’ Founder and CEO, Neno Duplan, received the prestigious Carnegie Mellon 2019 CEE (Civil and Environmental Engineering) Distinguished Alumni Award for outstanding accomplishments at Locus Technologies. In light of this recognition, Locus decided to dig into our blog vault, share a series of visionary blogs crafted by our Founder in 2016. These ideas are as timely and relevant today as they were three years ago, and hearken to his formative years at Carnegie Mellon, which formed the foundation for the current success of Locus Technologies as top innovator in the water and EHS compliance space.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Better EHS Compliance (original blog from 2016)
It is funny how a single acronym can take you back in time. A few weeks ago when I watched 60 Minutes’ segment on AI (Artificial Intelligence) research conducted at Carnegie Mellon University, I was taken back to the time when I was a graduate student at CMU and a member of the AI research team for geotechnical engineering. Readers who missed this program on October 9, 2016, can access it online.
Fast forward thirty plus years and AI is finally ready for prime time television and a prominent place among the disruptive technologies that have so shaken our businesses and society. This 60 Minutes story prompted me to review the progress that has occurred in the field of AI technology, why it took so long to come to fruition, and the likely impact it will have in my field of environmental and sustainability management. I discuss these topics below. I also describe the steps that we at Locus have taken to put our customers in the position to capitalize on this exciting (but not that new) technology.
What I could not have predicted when I was at Carnegie Mellon is that AI was going to take a long time to mature–almost the full span of one’s professional career. The reasons for this are multiple, the main one being that several other technologies were absent or needed to mature before the promises of AI could be realized. These are now in place. Before I dive into AI and its potential impact on the EHS space, let me touch on these “other” major (disruptive) technologies without which AI would not be possible today: SaaS, Big Data, and IoT (Internet of Things).
As standalone technologies, each of these has brought about profound changes in both the corporate and consumer worlds. However, these impacts are small when compared to the impact all three of these will have when combined and interwoven with AI in the years to come. We are only in the earliest stages of the AI computing revolution that has been so long in the coming.
I have written extensively about SaaS, Big Data, and IoT over the last several decades. All these technologies have been an integral part of Locus’ SaaS offering for many years now, and they have proven their usefulness by rewarding Locus with contracts from major Fortune 500 companies and the US government. Let me quickly review these before I dive into AI (as AI without them is not a commercially viable technology).
Big Data
Massive quantities of new information from monitoring devices, sensors, treatment systems controls and monitoring, and customer legacy databases are now pouring into companies EHS departments with few tools to analyze them on arrival. Some of the data is old information that is newly digitized, such as analytical chemistry records, but other information like streaming of monitoring wireless and wired sensor data is entirely new. At this point, most of these data streams are highly balkanized as most companies lack a single system of record to accommodate them. However, that is all about to change.
As a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon in the early eighties, I was involved with the exciting R&D project of architecting and building the first AI-based Expert System for subsurface site characterization, not an easy task even by today’s standards and technology. AI technology at the time was in its infancy, but we were able to build a prototype system for geotechnical site characterization, to provide advice on data interpretation and on inferring depositional geometry and engineering properties of subsurface geology with a limited amount of data points. The other components of the research included a relational database to store the site data, graphics to produce “alternative stratigraphic images” and network workstations to carry out the numerical and algorithmic processing. All of this transpired before the onset of the internet revolution and before any acronyms like SaaS, AI, or IoT had entered our vocabulary. This early research led to the development of a set of commercial tools and technological improvements and ultimately to the formation of Locus Technologies in 1997.
Part of this early research included management of big data, which is necessary for any AI undertaking. As a continuation of this work at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Greg Buckle and I published an article in 1989 about the challenges of managing massive amounts of data generated from testing and long-term monitoring of environmental projects. This was at a time when spreadsheets and paper documents were king, and relational databases were little used for storing environmental data.
The article, “Hazardous Data Explosion,“ published in the December 1989 issue of the ASCE Civil Engineering Magazine, was among the first of its kind to discuss the upcoming Big Data boom within the environmental space and placed us securely at the forefront of the big data craze. This article was followed by a sequel article in the same magazine in 1992, titled “Taming Environmental Data,“ that described the first prototype solution to managing environmental data using relational database technology. In the intervening years, this prototype eventually became the basis of the industry’s first multi-tenant SaaS system for environmental information management.
Today, the term big data has become a staple across various industries to describe the enormity and complexity of datasets that need to be captured, stored, analyzed, visualized, and reported. Although the concept may have gained public popularity relatively recently, big data has been a formidable fixture in the EHS industry for decades. Initially, big data in EHS space was almost entirely associated with the results of analytical, geotechnical, and field testing of water, groundwater, soil, and air samples in the field and laboratory. Locus’ launch of its Internet-based Environmental Information Management (EIM) system in 1999 was intended to provide companies not only with a repository to store such data, but also with the means to upload such data into the cloud and the tools to analyze, organize, and report on these data.
In the future, companies that wish to remain competitive will have no choice but bring together their streams of (seemingly) unrelated and often siloed big data into systems such as EIM that allow them to evaluate and assess their environmental data with advanced analytics capabilities. Big data coupled with intelligent databases can offer real-time feedback for EHS compliance managers who can better track and offset company risks. Without the big data revolution, there would be no coming AI revolution.
AI and Water Management – Looking Ahead
There has been much talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect various aspects of our lives, but little has been said to date about how the technology can help to make water quality management better. The recent growth in AI spells a big opportunity for water quality management. There is enormous potential for AI to be an essential tool for water management and decoupling water and climate change issues.
Two disruptive megatrends of digital transformation and decarbonization of economy could come together in the future. AI could make a significant dent in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by merely providing better tools to manage water. The vast majority of energy consumption is wasted on water treatment and movement. AI can help optimize both.
AI is a collective term for technologies that can sense their environment, think, learn, and take action in response to what they’re detecting and their objectives. Applications can range from automation of routine tasks like sampling and analyses of water samples to augmenting human decision-making and beyond to automation of water treatment systems and discovery – vast amounts of data to spot, and act on patterns, which are beyond our current capabilities.
Applying AI in water resource prediction, management and monitoring can help to ameliorate the global water crisis by reducing or eliminating waste, as well as lowering costs and lessening environmental impacts.
Parts two, three, and four of this blog series complete the overview of Big Data, Iot, AI and multi-tenancy. We look forward to feedback on our ideas and are interested in hearing where others see the future of AI in EHS software – contact us for more discussion or ideas!
Contact us to learn more about Locus uses IoT and AI
In most industrialized cities around the world, drinking water is readily available and safe. Safeguarding groundwater (aquifers), streams, rivers, reservoirs, and lakes is crucial to continue delivering clean water on the tap. So is testing and validated water quality data. There are several aspects of drinking water quality that is of concern in the United States, including Cryptosporidium, disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates, and pharmaceutical substances.
Recent headlines about water quality issues in cities like Flint, Pittsburgh, Asheville, or Rome and Capetown are motivating consumers to ask more questions about their water quality. Albuquerque’s groundwater is becoming seriously depleted; Fresno’s groundwater is highly susceptible to contamination; In Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Washington, D.C., source water is threatened by runoff and industrial or sewage contamination; Water supplies in Baltimore, Fresno, Los Angeles, New Orleans, San Diego, and several other cities are vulnerable to agricultural pollution containing nitrogen, pesticides or sediment.
Locus Technologies IoT Monitoring. Connected at all times.
In most cities in the US, drinking water quality is in conformity with the norms of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires EPA to set Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for potential pollutants. In addition, the EPA’s Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) Rule of 1998 requires most public water suppliers to provide consumer confidence reports, also known as annual water quality reports, to their customers. Each year by July 1 anyone connected to a public water system should receive in the mail an annual water quality report that tells where water in a specific locality comes from and what’s in it. Locus EIM automates this reporting and allows utilities to be transparent by publishing CCR online in real time so that consumers have access to their CCR at all times. Consumers can also find out about these local reports on a map provided by EPA.
Utilities must maintain good water quality records and manage them in a secure database with built-in alerts for any outliers so that responsible water quality managers can react quickly when there is exceedance of MCL or another regulatory limit.
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https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/locus-employee-with-tablet-field-data-2.jpg14782232Neno Duplanhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngNeno Duplan2019-04-19 07:23:462020-03-04 07:51:18EHS Digital Transformation: Managing Drinking Water Quality Data and Compliance: CCR in the Cloud
Locus Platform will provide “out-of-the-box” configurable software to streamline PSE&G’s regulatory compliance and spill management, tracking, and reporting.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 4 April 2019 — Locus Technologies, (Locus), the industry leader in EHS, sustainability, and compliance management software, is pleased to announce that the Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G), the largest provider of gas and electric service in New Jersey, servicing 1.8 million gas customers and 2.2 million electric customers in more than 300 urban, suburban, and rural communities, selected the multi-tenant SaaS Locus Platform to streamline its spill compliance and incident tracking and reporting programs.
“With Locus’ configurable solution, we can set up applications, dashboards and reports to align with our current compliance application and tailor the functionality to our specific business needs. We can continue to use our same data collection forms, but with more robust tracking tools to help our team keep on top of our EHS regulations and reporting requirements throughout PSE&G,” said Robert Pollock, Sr. Dir Environ Projects & Services.
“By using Locus Platform Compliance and Spill Management application, PSE&G is combining the advantages of off-the-shelf software with Locus Platform’s powerful configuration tools. This means PSE&G will get exactly the software solution they need to fit their business processes in the shortest time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.
Manage all those ops readings without spreadsheets or paper forms
I am constantly reminded by the number of calls we receive, that no matter how robust a SCADA and HMI system is, there is always a requirement for in-field O&M verification and documentation. It’s almost universal, and spans a myriad of industries, large and small, the need to monitor and record thousands of periodic (daily/per shift/weekly, etc.) routine readings/recordings at a prescribed frequency often recorded on pen to paper field forms. The same processes sometimes use “template” spreadsheets for data collection that are then emailed/placed on shared file servers or otherwise sent to some central location for review and post processing. These processes are antiquated and subject to data quality and record keeping challenges.
It’s time for an upgrade!
Why simple form builders are not a good software solution for ops data
Electronic forms are great for collecting data and almost every business entity has built such forms in spreadsheets, word processing or simple databases to collect the information. In addition, there is a software category of form builders and they can certainly build forms. The question becomes is it a good fit so solve your business process issues? Most customers have more sophisticated needs than simply collecting information on one or more custom forms – they want to do something with all the information collected far beyond what simple form builder tools can provide. Even customers with sophisticated spreadsheet forms, can’t manage them as they multiply exponentially or their Excel gurus retire.
Here are some examples of where you may require software tools beyond a simple form builder:
Collecting equipment readings on each shift at multiple locations and report the data to centralized management, who review the data, look for trends/ issues.
Verifying and validating data at the point of data entry to eliminate data entry errors.
Automatically visualizing (charts or tables) information in near real time to make operations decisions.
Sharing the information with others.
Scheduling activities related to periodic or infrequent data collection events.
Receiving notifications when actions are due.
Automatically creating regulatory reports in prescribed formats.
Creating complex work flows and audited approval processes.
Creating intelligent forms with calculations based on past data or other criteria
Forms with Benefits
Locus Platform is a configurable platform with standard applications that are easy to configure to customers unique requirements. One of its many strengths is its powerful form builder capable of creating simple or complex forms with simple or sophisticated logic. So for customers looking to move from paper and spreadsheet templates, it’s an excellent option to consider, especially if you require more than a simple “fill in the blank” form for transmittal using mobile devices. Best of all, the data are securely stored in a database structure for reporting and alternative business uses and analyses, compared to the almost impossible management of hundreds of spreadsheets or paper forms.
Here are some examples where sophisticated forms are integrated with a flexible database:
Water Utilities – Tracking chlorination and aerobic digestion processes with daily inputs/outputs with a monthly summary and chart, and tracking well production across well fields.
Water Utilities – Tracking periodic sewer discharges and water samples for permit compliance.
Agriculture – Monitoring food processing equipment for compliance with optimum equipment operating parameters for air permits.
Pharmaceutical/Chemical Manufacturing Facilities- Tracking EHS daily, weekly, monthly, etc. investigations and in-house audits.
Universities – tracking chemical inventories.
Facility Engineering – Documenting O&M activities for groundwater treatment systems.
Electric Utilities – Monitoring water/energy/gas usage from old style meters for sustainability reporting with data entry validation.
Refineries and Terminals – Collecting O&M, usage and wastewater data.
If you still rely on paper forms and template spreadsheets and are ready to streamline your process and enhance the value of your data, give us a call and we can show you a range of options that will retire the paper forms for good!
Contact us to learn more about Locus Platform
https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/data-is-complex-cover.jpg600900Locus Product Teamhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngLocus Product Team2019-03-18 09:17:222020-02-12 12:54:14A better way to manage all those ops readings
Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognized the firm for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology, customer diversification and IoT integration
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 5 March 2019 — Locus Technologies, a leading provider of multi-tenant, SaaS-based EHS software, was awarded its 13th consecutive award by Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) for growth and innovation in the field of Information Technology. EBJ is a business research publication providing high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. Locus received the award for its 2018 customer diversification along with pioneering IoT integration for its various platforms and taking a leadership role in water quality management software for water utilities. Locus’ flagship products Locus EIM, Locus Platform and Locus Mobile continue to resonate with the marketplace and attract a wide range of forward thinking customers who rely on Locus software to provide innovative, secure and scalable applications to solve environmental compliance challenges.
“Locus continues to influence the industry with its forward-thinking product set, pure SaaS architecture, and eye for customer needs,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.
“We are honored to receive the EBJ Information Technology award once again, and we shall continue to design robust solutions to meet diverse and complex EHS challenges with innovative cloud and mobile-based applications,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies.
https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ebj-award-2018.png10801080Brenda Mahedyhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngBrenda Mahedy2019-03-05 05:20:132023-04-12 15:04:13Locus Technologies receives the prestigious EBJ Award for innovation and growth for 13 consecutive years
Mobile apps for water and wastewater operation and
maintenance (O&M) activities have been around for some time now. Most users
are familiar with the benefits such as instant data collection and access to
reference information for better, more reliable O&M monitoring. However, as
new software tools are consistently becoming more powerful and more accessible,
that “ground-breaking” mobile app that you purchased five years ago
may now be looking a little dated. When
you are ready to upgrade, here are some of the features that are the new “must
haves”.
Unique and custom forms
For many O&M programs, you may have your own data
collection needs that are specific to your facility or industry. Mobile O&M apps now allow you to tailor
your input forms to add new data fields, remove unwanted fields, change some of
the logic like making certain fields required, and make certain fields tied
into established pick lists. Even
better, you can match the mobile form to the original paper form, making the
transition to mobile simple and intuitive for staff. And, the more the merrier, as modern mobile
apps let you have multiple forms on the same app so you have everything you
need in one place.
Real-time entry validation
It is not enough to just enter your O&M information into
a mobile device. You also want to make
sure you are entering correct data.
Current O&M mobile tools can check your entry as you enter it and validate
against whatever criteria are established for that data. So you make sure that you’re entering a pH
reading of 7.2, rather than 72. You can
also use configurable pick lists to limit data entry to your specific desired
entries and not have to correct misspellings or 16 different ways to say “out
of service”. Make sure that pick lists
are configurable and can be shared with each of your company’s devices.
Barcode and QR code scanning
You are probably already using your phone to compare prices
at your local store. It is amazingly
easy to simply scan a product’s barcode and instantly see the best available
price locally or online. Since virtually
every phone/tablet now has a built-in camera, you can use that to scan barcodes
or QR codes to associate data entry with a tagged sampling port or asset. This
can save you from possible mismatch errors that can occur when simply selecting
from a list or typing in data.
Use your voice
We are starting to use voice recognition technology in our
mobile devices to quickly send out text messages. Why not use it for recording inspection/audit
comments or field issues? Voice
recognition is improving every year, and can provide your comments onto a data
collection form much faster than typing and can be especially useful for
conditions where gloves are required and typing or stylus input is not
practical. Using the phone’s native
abilities, take advantage of voice feature to streamline note taking, knowing that
you can always fix up any issues back in the office.
Review, Sync, Repeat
Mobile apps should have a summary screen to review your data
before sending it back to your database, such as a summary form for all data
collected during a shift. And once you
do sync your data back to the main database (you have a main database
right???), instantly reset the form for the next day data collection event so
you are always ready.
No Internet? No Problem!
Mobile apps that won’t function when there is no connection
should be abandoned. You need to be able
to collect data no matter the location and the signal strength. Look for mobile apps that function with zero
connectivity, and save the data until a signal is found. Not every location at modern water and
wastewater facilities has a hot spot, so be prepared with the right app.
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https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iPhone-Xs-locus-mobile-LP.png13002400Locus Product Teamhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngLocus Product Team2019-02-28 08:00:382019-02-28 12:15:55Make your O&M mobile apps work harder for you!
The partnership will enhance Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task Management applications by providing real-time access to current regulations
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 12 January 2019 — Locus Technologies, the leader in enterprise EHS compliance and sustainability software, has partnered with RegScan, a trusted resource for up-to-date regulatory information, to enhance its Compliance and Task Management applications via its configurable SaaS Locus Platform. An integration from RegScan into the Locus Platform will give Locus users seamless real-time access to current EHS regulations. This will allow Locus users to customize a WatchList in RegScan to quickly and readily view relevant EHS regulations.
“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Locus, it’s important to be able to access all your regulatory information, legal registers and audit protocols in one place,” said Ned Ertel, President and C.E.O. of RegScan, Inc.
“By using Locus Platform’s Compliance and Task application with integrated regulatory content services, our customers can reap the benefits of using the out-of-the-box and configurable Locus Platform to build the exact solution that they need for their business process in a short time,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus.
https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/locus_logo_partner_regscan_500x180.png180500Brenda Mahedyhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngBrenda Mahedy2019-02-11 09:03:492023-04-12 15:03:38Locus Technologies partners with RegScan to provide EHS regulatory content and updates
EPA announced that it will no longer support its TANKS 4.09D emission calculation tool. Have you been researching various software options in the market? Look no further, Locus has a reliable, easy to use, scalable replacement Tanks Emission application for you!
Contact us to learn more about the Tank Emissions app
https://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/locus_graphic_tanks-cover.jpg375600Locus Product Teamhttps://www.locustec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/locus_logo_2x.pngLocus Product Team2019-01-24 13:13:212021-04-13 05:37:26Simple and reliable tank emissions calculation tool for accurate reports
Locus Platform provides the solution for managing and submitting fenceline monitoring data.
Locus handles all the EPA required environmental data collected at your refinery giving you a simple solution for all your data management and reporting needs. Our enhanced GIS+ mapping, data reports, formatted outputs, and charts help you streamline, consolidate, and take control of all your crucial environmental information.
Contact us to learn more about Locus’ Fenceline app
