Environmental Information Management | Page 14 of 38

Top 10 cool features in Locus Mobile

Maybe you’re already using Locus’ iOS app for field data collection, or maybe you’re just curious about how it integrates with Locus’ cloud software. Either way, we’ve put together a list of the ten coolest features of Locus Mobile.

1. Locus Mobile works with both EIM and Locus Platform applications

The full-featured version of the Locus Mobile iOS application works for either Locus EIM or Locus Platform. This means that customers using both our key products can manage their work in a single, unified mobile application.

2. Get temporary coordinates for new sampling locations using the mobile device’s GPS

Locations can be added to EIM without coordinates (Latitude/Longitude or Northing/Easting). If a location without coordinates is used in a Provision File, the location will have a symbol associated with it (a symbol if coordinates are known). When a location with a triangle is selected, the user is prompted with the option to ‘Set Location’ – capture the current coordinates (Lat/Long) of where the user is located. When the provision file is loaded to EIM, the data manager will have the option to update the location in EIM with these coordinates. The accuracy of these mobile captured coordinates are below survey grade, but can be updated another time.

3. In EIM, more than one user can be assigned to a provision file– the data synced (uploaded) to EIM is separated based on the user that collected the data

If you’re not sure who will be sampling on a given day, you can assign multiple users to your provision files. Later, you can easily see who is responsible for certain sample collection data.

4. Locus Platform’s custom data type icons are displayed in Locus Mobile

Has your Locus Platform been customized to use specific icons and colors? These icons are also used in Locus Mobile, so if you use both Locus Platform and the mobile app, you’ll instantly recognize your data types while out in the field.

5. Check your sampling progress at any time during the sampling event, without having to search through your locations to see what locations you sampled and when

Although you can see the status on your map and location list, sometimes those lists are very long, and the map gets crowded when large field events are taking place. Tap the icon to see a log of the collected samples for the day.

6. You can set valid field data ranges with warnings or validation stops to help ensure you have not entered bad data

For EIM Locus Mobile users, when you’re collecting a lot of field data, the “fat finger” problem can make for some colorful data entry errors. That’s why we built in the ability to specify valid data ranges for any parameter— and provide a warning when you’re about to enter a bad value during field data collection.

7. Locus Mobile works offline

We know that not every field location is served by wireless or a strong cell signal, so Locus Mobile is built to keep working whether you’re online or offline. This gives you the flexibility to collect field data from anywhere, then sync back to Locus EIM or Locus Platform when you can.

8. You can configure default fields in Locus Mobile that will track with the dataset, but won’t show up in the field forms— making your forms less cluttered but still capturing all the information you need

Choose which required fields you want to be visible in Locus Mobile. You also have the option to include your optional field information without displaying them. This gives you control over which fields you see while in the field.

9. Search and filter for locations in a provision file

Dealing with a long list of locations? The search field above the location list lets you start typing the Location ID or Location Description to filter the list. Even better, the extent of the map will adjust to zoom to the matching selections!

10. Switch locations quickly with the QR code scanner

Locus Mobile can access your device’s camera and scan QR codes for quick and efficient retrieval of individual locations included in a given provision file.

Our product teams are constantly working to improve and add new functionality to Locus Mobile. If you’re a current user, please let your Locus Account Manager know if you have any ideas for how we can make your field data collection workflows faster and easier. If you’re not using Locus Mobile yet, please ask them for a free demo!

Can your EHS software vendor share SaaS system performance statistics in real time? Across all customers?

EHS SaaS Multitenancy explained and why it matters.

There is a considerable degree of (intended) confusion in the EHS software space when it comes to cloud computing and multitenancy. If your software vendor cannot share statistics in real time like shown in the figure nearby, most likely they do not run on a multitenant SaaS platform.

The real-time information on system performance and security of SaaS cloud platform is the most important element that frequently gets overlooked during EHS software selection process. Success in the cloud is built on trust. Trust starts with transparency.
Our real time status monitoring (ran by an independent provider of web monitoring services) provide transparency around service availability and performance for Locus’ EHS SaaS products.
Just as with airlines that fly through clouds, our entire business is built on trust and security of our cloud offerings. Over 700,000 locations around the globe trust Locus to safeguard their data in the cloud.

Cloud Computing
Since the turn of the millennium, cloud computing has revolutionized the landscape of the computing world because it provides enterprise-grade computing resources that are affordable and instantly available. Clouds provide straightforward access to IT resources—you just access as many resources as you need when you need them, and never have to deal with the complexities of managing all of the underlying infrastructures that provide those resources. EHS manager job is suddenly a lot simpler and easier with cloud computing. You don’t even need help from IT department (if you don’t want it).

Multitenancy

Multitenancy is the fundamental technology that clouds use to share computing resources cost-efficiently and securely. Just like a bank—in which many tenants cost-efficiently share a hidden, common infrastructure, yet utilize a defined set of highly secure services, with complete privacy from other tenants—a cloud uses multitenancy technology to share IT resources securely among multiple applications and tenants (businesses, organizations, etc.) that use the cloud. Some clouds use virtualization-based architectures to isolate tenants; others use custom software architectures to get the job done. The multitenant design of a cloud service can have a dramatic impact on the application delivery and productivity of an IT organization, yet most CIOs, CTOs, system architects, and developers who use clouds don’t give it a second thought because it’s all magic that transparently happens behind the scenes.

Locus Platform is the proven cloud application development platform that powers popular Locus cloud EHS and Sustainability applications as well as custom applications that customers build to satisfy their specific EHS+S requirements.

Celebrating 55 years of improving spatial thinking with GIS technology

Today, November 15, is GIS Day—an annual celebration established in 1999 to showcase the power and flexibility of geographical information systems (GIS).

Not only is GIS more powerful than ever before—it is also vastly more accessible. Anyone with Internet access can create custom maps based on publicly available data, from real-time traffic conditions to environmental risk factors, to local shark sightings. Software developers, even those at small companies or startups, now have access to APIs for integrating advanced GIS tools and functionality into their programs.

As the Director of EIM and GIS Development at Locus, I lead efforts to integrate GIS with our software applications to deliver our customers’ spatial data using the latest GIS technology. Let us take a look at how far GIS has come since I started working with it and at some of the new and exciting possibilities on the horizon.

Origins of GIS

Before you can understand where GIS is today, it helps to know how it started out. This year is the 55^th anniversary of the work done by Roger Tomlinson in 1962 with the Canada Land Inventory. We consider this the birth of GIS, and Mr. Tomlinson has been called the “father of GIS”.

The original GIS used computers and digitalization to “unlock” the data in paper maps, making it possible to combine data from multiple maps and perform spatial analyses. For example, in the image shown here from the Canada Land Inventory GIS, farms in Ontario are classified by revenue to map farm performance.

An early GIS system from the Canada Land Inventory, in Data for Decisions, 1967
Photo: Mbfleming. “Data for Decisions (1967).” YouTube, 12 Aug. 2007, https://youtu.be/ryWcq7Dv4jE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

In 1969, Jack Dangermond founded Esri, which became the maker of, arguably, the world’s most popular commercial GIS software. Esri’s first commercial GIS, ARC/INFO, was released in 1982, and the simpler ArcView program followed in 1991. That year, 1991, is also the year I started working with GIS, although I used the TransCAD system from Caliper before starting with Esri software a few years later.

Back then, GIS work required expensive software packages installed on personal computers or large mainframe systems. There was no Google Maps; all map data had to be manually loaded into your software. Getting useful data into a GIS usually required extensive file manipulation and expertise in coordinate systems, projections, and geodesy.

While the government, utility, and resource management sectors used GIS heavily, there was not much consumer or personal use of GIS. As for me, I spent a lot of time in my first job digitizing paper maps by hand or trying to figure out why the map data I had loaded into a GIS was not lining up properly with an aerial photo.

Esri’s ArcView 3.2 for desktop computers (from the 1990s)
https://map.sdsu.edu/geog583/lecture/Unit-3.htm

The Google Revolution

How much has changed since those early days! After the release of OpenStreetMap in 2004, Google Maps and Google Earth in 2005, and Google Street View in 2007, GIS has been on an unstoppable journey—from only being used by dedicated GIS professionals on large computers in specific workplaces, to be accessible to anyone with an internet browser or a smartphone. High-quality map data and images—often the most expensive item in a GIS project in the 1990’s — are now practically free.

Just think how revolutionary it is that anyone can have instant access to detailed satellite images and road maps of almost anywhere on Earth! Not only can you perform such mundane tasks as finding the fastest route between two cities or locating your favorite coffee shop while on vacation—you can also see live traffic conditions for cities across the globe; view aerial images of countries you have never visited, and get street level views of exotic places. Back in 1991, such widespread access to free map data would have seemed like something straight out of science fiction.

Traffic conditions in London, 3:30 pm 10/16/2017, from Google Maps

South Base Camp, Mount Everest, Google StreetView

Mashups in the cloud

Obviously, the amount of spatial data needed to provide detailed coverage of the entire globe is far too large to be stored on one laptop or phone. Instead, the data is distributed across many servers “in the cloud.” Back in the 1990s, everything for one GIS system (data, processing engine, user interface) needed to be in the same physical place—usually one hard drive or server. Now, thanks to the internet and cloud computing, the data can be separate from the software, creating “distributed” GIS.

The combination of freely available data with distributed GIS and the power of smart phones has led us to the age of “neogeography”—in which anyone (with some technical knowledge) can contribute to online maps, or host their maps with data relevant to their personal or professional needs. GIS no longer requires expensive software or cartographical expertise; now, even casual users can create maps linking multiple data sources, all in the cloud.

Google’s MyMaps is an example of a tool for easily making your maps. Maps can range from the playful, such as locations of “Pokemon nests,” to the serious, such as wildfire conditions.

Google MyMaps of Pokemon Nest Locations
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1anyDs-H7hOtGQaxaTwuLjulUrVM&hl=en&usp=sharing

These online maps can be updated in real time (unlike paper maps) and therefore kept current with actual conditions. Such immediate response is instrumental in emergency management, where conditions can change rapidly, and both first responders and the public need access to the latest data.

Map showing wildfire and traffic conditions in northern California, 10/16/2017
https://google.org/crisismap/us-wildfires

Furthermore, software programmers have created online GIS tools that let non-coders create their maps. These tools push the boundaries of distributed GIS even further by putting the processing engine in the cloud with the data. Only the user interface runs locally for a given user. During this period of GIS history, I created several mashups, including one for viewing natural hazard risks for my hometown. For this application, I combined several data types, including property lines, flood plains, landslide vulnerability, and wildfire risk.

Floodplain data for Buncombe County, NC
https://buncombe-risk-tool.nemac.org

Programming GIS with APIs

Another significant advance in GIS technology is the ability to integrate or include advanced GIS tools and features in other computer programs. Companies such as Google and Esri have provided toolkits (called APIs, or application programming interfaces) that let coders access GIS data and functions inside their programs. While neogeography shows the power of personal maps created by the untrained public, computer programmers can use APIs to create some very sophisticated online GIS tools aimed at specific professionals or the public.

During my 10 years at Locus, I have helped create several such advanced GIS tools for environmental monitoring and data management. One example is the publicly-available Intellus application that Locus Technologies developed and hosts for the US Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory. It uses an Esri API and distributed GIS to provide access to aerial images and many decades of environmental monitoring data for the Los Alamos, NM area. Users can make maps showing chemical concentrations near their home or workplace, and they can perform powerful spatial searches (e.g., “find all samples taken within one mile of my house in the last year”). The results can be color-coded based on concentration values to identify “hot spots”.

Map from Intellus showing Tritium concentrations near a specified location
https://www.intellusnmdata.com

Locus Technologies also provides more sophisticated forms of analysis in its EIM cloud-based environmental management system. For example, contour lines can be generated on a map showing constant values of groundwater elevation, which is useful for determining water flow below ground. With such powerful spatial tools in the cloud, anyone at the organization, from facility managers to scientists, can easily create and share maps that provide insight into data trends and patterns at their site.

Groundwater contour map where each line is a 10 ft. interval, from the Locus EIM system

There’s a (map) app for that

One particularly exciting aspect of GIS today is the ability to use GIS on a smartphone or tablet. The GIS APIs mentioned above usually have versions for mobile devices, as well as for browsers. Programmers have taken advantage of these mobile APIs, along with freely available map data from the cloud, to create apps that seamlessly embed maps into the user experience. By using a smartphone’s ability to pinpoint your current latitude and longitude, these apps can create personalized maps based on your actual location.

A search in the Apple AppStore for “map” returns thousands of apps with map components. Some of these apps put maps front-and-center for traditional navigation, whether by car (Waze, MapQuest, Google), public transit (New York Subway MTA Map, London Tube Map), or on foot (Runkeeper, Map My Run, AllTrails). Other apps use maps in a supporting role to allow users to find nearby places; for example, banking apps usually have a map to show branches near your current location.

What’s really exciting are the apps that allow users to enter data themselves via a map interface. For example, HealthMap’s Outbreaks Near Me not only shows reports of disease outbreaks near your location, but it also lets you enter unreported incidents. The GasBuddy app shows the latest gasoline prices and lets you enter in current prices. This “crowdsourcing” feature keeps an app up-to-date by letting its users update the map with the latest conditions as they are happening.

The Outbreaks Near Me app for phones (left) and the GasBuddy app for tablets (right)

Here at Locus Technologies, we use the power of GIS in our Locus Mobile app for field data collection. Users can enter environmental data, such as temperature or pH measurements from a monitoring well, and upload the data back to the EIM cloud for later review and analysis. The Locus Mobile app includes a map interface for navigating to data collection points and tracking visited locations. The app also lets users create new data collection points “on the fly” simply by clicking on the map.

The map interface in the Locus Mobile app; blue dotted circles indicate locations that are not yet started.

Looking to the future

Where will GIS go from here? It’s possible that augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D visualization will continue to expand and become as ubiquitous as the current “2D” maps on browsers and phones. Also, the “internet of things” will surely have a GIS component because every physical “thing” can be tied to a geographical location. Similarly, GIS can play an important role in “big data” by providing the spatial framework for analysis. It will be interesting to see where GIS is when we celebrate the 20^th GIS Day in 2019!

Thanks to the GIS Timeline for providing some of the history for this article.

About guest blogger— Dr. Todd Pierce, Locus Technologies

Dr. Pierce manages a team of programmers tasked with development and implementation of Locus’ EIM application, which lets users manage their environmental data in the cloud using Software-as-a-Service technology. Dr. Pierce is also directly responsible for research and development of Locus’ GIS (geographic information systems) and visualization tools for mapping analytical and subsurface data. Dr. Pierce earned his GIS Professional (GISP) certification in 2010.

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Interested in Locus’ GIS solutions?

Introducing Locus GIS+. All the functionality you love in EIM’s classic Google Maps GIS for environmental management— now integrated with the powerful cartography, interoperability, & smart-mapping features of Esri’s ArcGIS platform!

Learn more about GIS+

Carollo Engineers selects Locus SaaS for water quality management

Locus SaaS will streamline entire continuum of water activities for one of the largest water firms in the US that specializes in the planning, design, and construction of water and wastewater facilities

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 24 October 2017 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in multi-tenant SaaS EHS and water quality management software, is pleased to announce that Carollo Engineers (Carollo), one of the largest firms in the country focused exclusively on water projects, selected Locus EIM SaaS as its water quality management software. Carollo also subscribed to the Locus Platform SaaS for mobile-enabled asset management.

“Managing water quality data is critical to our clients’ projects,” said Justin Sutherland, Manager of Carollo’s Water Applied Research Center (Water ARC). “Water ARC is a new service provided by Carollo that integrates and enhances our capabilities to collect this data through field analytical, pilot testing, and laboratory-based treatability testing services. Key parts of this new service will be our improved management of field analytical and pilot testing equipment, nationwide, with Locus Platform and streamlined collection and analysis of various data sources with Locus EIM. Incorporating these innovative tools in our project work will help us achieve a higher level of efficiency in managing quality data for our clients.”

Locus EIM is a comprehensive water quality management software, designed to manage mission-critical water quality and related subsurface and surface data by helping organizations gather, organize, manage, report, and visualize sampling, analytical, and subsurface data for compliance and assurance reporting. Locus’ software serves a variety of vertical markets including water, oil and gas, power-generating utilities, and food and beverage. Locus EIM and Locus Mobile pair together to create a viable modern cloud platform that is particularly well suited for water markets.

“Our mission is to help organizations like Carollo achieve their water quality management and environmental stewardship goals, by providing them the centralized software and tools to control and manage data and complex workflow process for water-related projects,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus. “Our EIM cloud-based software for water quality management provides our customers with a highly scalable and a feature-rich application. It gives water companies strong analytical power, streamlined field sampling capabilities, and mobile collection tools, as well as compliance management and reporting. We are pleased Carollo will be utilizing EIM, Locus Mobile, and Locus Platform to ensure that their customers are provided with the highest quality water projects possible.”

“Corporations today want to invest into one environmental and sustainability solution that offers scalability, system flexibility, and user friendliness, while at the same time, achieve operational cost reductions and improve their environmental stewardship,” said Jennifer Peterson, Vice President of Commercial Accounts at Locus. “Our mission is to help organizations like Carollo advance their innovative technology desires for streamlining data collection and reporting goals by providing them with the software tools that help control overall environmental compliance activities and yet provide efficient, easy-to-use, scalable solutions that will grow with Carollo.”

ABOUT CAROLLO ENGINEERS

At Carollo Engineers, water is our focus, our business, and our passion. For more than 80 years, Carollo has provided a full range of innovative planning, design, and construction management services to meet the water and wastewater needs of municipalities, public agencies, private developers, and industrial firms. To learn more about how Carollo is “Working Wonders With Water®,” visit www.carollo.com.

Can a radical new invention by an 11-year-old girl help to avert another water crisis like in Flint, Michigan?

Gitanjali Rao, an 11-year-old budding scientist from Tennessee

Photo: Rao, Gitanjali. “DE3MYSL Submission – Tethys: The Water Lead Contamination Detector” YouTube

Girl’s device uses nanotubes to test lead contamination in water instantly and cheaply

Gitanjali Rao, an 11-year-old budding scientist from Tennessee, has developed an innovative and radical device using nanotubes to test for lead contamination in water. Named ‘Tethys’, this innovative method to test lead in water could prove to be an effective solution in averting water crises like in Flint, Michigan. The device is linked to a smartphone app for instant visualization of results.

The young scientist was shocked when she learned about the water crisis in Flint and was inspired to find a solution to detect water contamination by speedy analysis of lead in water. She is currently one of the top ten finalists in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, one of the most distinguished science competitions in the U.S.

How ‘Tethys’ works

When her device is dipped in water, the lead-sensitive material in the nanotube indicates if the water is contaminated with lead. The result is then sent to a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone that shows if the water has safe levels of lead or has concentrations of concern. When the device detects lead levels higher than 15 parts per million, the device warns that the water is unsafe.

“There are over 5,000 water systems in the U.S. alone with lead contamination issues,” says Rao in her entry video. “Timely detection and preventative action can help mitigate the problem, but today it takes a long time because of chemical labs and expensive equipment. My solution addresses a core issue of speedy detection of lead contamination, allowing preventative action and even saving lives!”

Gitanjali is currently working with a mentor at 3M for possible commercialization.

[sc_youtube aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_id=”7UR6epdce-o” style=”default” position=”below”]

Gitanjali is truly an inspiration to the rest of us as we look for better solutions to the environmental challenges we face today. Here at Locus, we believe that with great ideas like these and the resources and drive to pursue them, many of these challenges can be solved!

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Environmental Department selects Locus Technologies for its environmental data management system software

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 1 August 2017 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in cloud-based EHS software, is pleased to announce that Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (PLPT) Environmental Department selected Locus EIM SaaS as its environmental data quality management and reporting software solution.

PLPT was looking for a way to streamline their current data management and reporting activities for the environmental data collected at their Reservation. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribes’ Reservation is located thirty-five miles northeast of Reno, Nevada, in a remote desert area and includes the surface of a terminal desert lake, Pyramid Lake. Pyramid Lake is one of the most valuable assets of the Tribe and is entirely enclosed within the boundaries of the Reservation. Much of the economy on the Pyramid Lake Reservation is centered around fishing and recreational activities at Pyramid Lake. PLPT monitors and reports to US EPA on the environmental status of their natural resources under their Tribal Water Quality Standards. They are required to submit electronically via the Water Quality Exchange, or WQX framework, which is the mechanism for submitting data to the EPA STORET Data Warehouse.

PLPT needed a robust data system to manage a wide range of manual and automated sampling, the ability to seamlessly import internal and external analytical laboratory data, and, most importantly, a way to create push-button submittals in the exacting WQX format.

Locus EIM will automate environmental data management activities for PLPT and improve data reporting and visualization needs for their users, simplifying their current manual processes and meeting their complex compliance and regulatory submittal requirements. PLPT will also use Locus Mobile to capture field data at the source, streamlining data collection and processing for their key lake and river sampling.

Locus EIM is a comprehensive SaaS solution designed to manage critical environmental and sustainability data, helping all types of organizations to organize, manage, report, and visualize sampling, analytical, and subsurface data for compliance and assurance reporting. Locus EIM, teamed with Locus Mobile field application, is a viable solution well suited for the unique demands of natural resource environmental monitoring.

“Our mission is to help organizations like PLPT achieve their environmental stewardship goals by providing them with the software tools to control and streamline the overall process for management of all environmental data”, said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus. “With our recently released WQX export functionality, we have added yet another key tool that greatly and efficiently simplifies the complex process of required EPA reporting, while providing a robust software solution that will meet their needs for years to come.”

ABOUT PYRAMID LAKE PAIUTE TRIBE
The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is governed by 10 Tribal Council members who are elected bi-annually in December and on staggered two-year terms. The tribe operates under the Indian Reorganization Act Constitution and By-Laws approved on January 26, 1936 by the Department of Interior.

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe has a Government-to-Government Relationship with the Federal Government. Therefore, the Tribe contracts with or receives grants directly from Federal Agencies or the State of Nevada, to provide services to the Tribal members and residents of the Reservation. The revenue generated by the Tribe is used to support local Tribal government activities and to supplement the programs that provide direct services to the Tribal members or residents.

Top 10 cool features in EIM (that you probably didn’t know about)

1. “Show locations on map” from a grid

In many locations in EIM, you can make a map directly from your query results. Click on the “folded map” icon on a results grid anywhere in EIM to open the GIS application, where you can then view and save your results as a map query layer.

So if you’re looking at TCE in specific locations, you can quickly map them and see what other parameters are present.

2. Save custom grid configurations

When you see a pushpin icon below a grid, that means you can name and save your current configuration in the grid, including column visibility, column order, sorting, and column width.

So if you use certain grids all the time, and prefer to view the data in a specific way, just click the pushpin and save your configuration for future use.

3. Save and share maps and reports on the dashboard

You can share saved maps and formatted reports with your colleagues and team members on the Project Manager Console dashboard. Saved maps and quick reports will show up under the sections “Quick Reports” and “Quick Maps”.

See Tip #4 to learn how to make this dashboard your default homepage.

4. Set your homepage and your preferred default grid row count

EIM user options includes some very cool features. You can access your user options from the EIM menu: just click [your username] > Manage Profile.

Here, you can set your preferred homepage, enable filter options for easier login, and— our favorite— the option to adjust the default number of records to display in all EIM grids (20 is just never enough!)

5. Lab Invoice Tracking

Full invoice tracking down to the parameter delivered level, to help you confirm that the lab gave you what you ordered, and that they’re charging you for exactly what they gave you.

You can find these forms at Input > Analytical > Lab Invoices.

6. Simple or complex query building in a drag-and-drop interface

For users wanting to go beyond the standard “out-of-the-box” queries, EIM has an advanced query builder that lets SQL lovers go wild and share their results with other. You can even query data across multiple EIM sites to which you have access.

7. Easy data preparation for annual Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs)

If you have the Locus EIM Water configuration, you will be able to prepare data tables for the CCR reports that all water providers are required to prepare annually. This is a huge timesaver compared to manually preparing these data summaries that are required by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

8. Send your sampling plan directly to your mobile device

With EIM’s integration with mobile, you can create a sampling plan in EIM and send that plan to one or more people to perform field sampling. This saves mountains of time and ensures your field teams have the correct information they need to collect their field data.

The sampling team can sync anytime to have team members back in the office review the interim data.

9. Create NetDMR submittals directly from EIM

If you have to submit EPA NPDES DMRs, EIM can create the electronic NetDMR output, saving you time and effort and banishing (hopefully) those old, complex, and overly difficult paper forms.

10. Support menu alerts you when new user guides, cheat sheets, training videos, or FAQs are posted

Locus is always busy creating new guide documents and help materials for our users, but it was hard to know when we added some new content. Now, our Support menu itself will flag you as soon as something new is posted so you can check it out!

Locus Technologies adds EPA WQX export capability to Locus EIM

Submitting to EPA’s Water Quality eXchange (WQX) from EIM just got easier

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 25 April 2017 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and sustainability management software, is excited to announce the release of the WQX Export Tool for EIM. The tool, exclusively in Locus’ EIM environmental information management software, provides users with simple intuitive interface to load data with the EPA’s Water Quality eXchange (WQX) into the EPA Storage and Retrieval (STORET) data warehouse, following the standards and protocols of the National Environmental Information Exchange Network.

Locus customers that need to share water quality data with EPA via WQX and STORET, such as Tribes, States and their data partners, now have an easy way to translate EIM data to WQX-compatible formats for simplified data submission. This allows customers to take advantage of the many benefits of a sophisticated environmental data system and still easily provide data to EPA per their agreed upon requirements. They can use EIM to seamlessly integrate laboratory deliverables, manage time series field data, complex analytical data, spatial data, and also take advantage of Locus Mobile for field sampling.

“We are pleased to add this export capability to EIM to expand its utility to a wider range of customers”, said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies. “By taking a defined set of export requirements and simplifying the submission process, we have enabled a range of new customers to be able to use EIM for all their regulatory reporting needs.”

Locus celebrates 20 years of innovation in EHS cloud software

Silicon Valley’s oldest EHS cloud software company reaches a major milestone

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 11 April 2017 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the multi-tenant Software as a Service (SaaS) environmental compliance and sustainability management company, today celebrates the 20-year anniversary of its founding and, with it, 20 years of customer success. Two decades ago, Locus was founded with a bold vision to lead the EHS software space. Today, the company’s cloud computing model has enabled new levels of success. Locus has more net paying subscribers in its single instance multi-tenant SaaS platform than any competitor and has over 600,000 locations around the world.

Locus was founded in 1997 with a vision for three new revolutionary models: a new technology model where customers access EHS services via the cloud rather than buying and installing software; a new subscription-based business model where customers pay as they go; and integrating mobile technology in its cloud offering from the get-go.

As a result, Locus is largely responsible for the creation of the emerging technical sector of EHS&S management software at the intersection of two major trends at the time of the company’s creation: the rise of the Internet and corporate attention to environmental compliance management. Locus not only defined and pioneered the new space of environmental information management in the cloud, but it also became a leader, leaving many well-funded startups with borrowed ideas and established ERP software companies behind. The company introduced many industry firsts, including: first cloud-based EHS system in 1999; first EHS mobile application in 2000; first integrated EHS portal in 2001; first web-based GIS in 2003; first user-configurable, drag-and-drop platform (Locus Platform) in 2013, and first IoT (Internet of Things) integration in 1999, before it was called “IoT”.

Locus’ distinction comes both from harnessing the cloud and from a unique perspective on how to address the complex issues of environmental compliance and information management. Multi-tenant SaaS technology offers Locus’ customers numerous advantages such as improved data collection, aggregation, visualization, business analytics, advanced analysis, and the cost reduction inherent in multi-tenant web-based software. These features translate into a competitive advantage and increased profitability for customers.

As the industry continues to evolve, competitors merge or disappear, and new markets emerge and grow, Locus continues to stay independent and lead innovation in a space littered with failures.
“Twenty years is a major milestone for Locus,” said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies. “I have watched our software evolve and expand to cover all aspects of environmental information management— from our latest configurable platform where customers can design any application, to integrated mobile apps that truly streamline field data collection. I can’t predict the next 20 years of technological innovation, but I am sure Locus will continue to innovate and push the envelope to serve a market we understand so well.”

“I’d like to thank our customers, who have created an unprecedented record of success and inspired our best innovations, and our employees to making it all possible,” said Neno Duplan, founder and CEO at Locus. “As we look forward to the next decade, we see not only applications, but integrated platforms, powered by AI and running in the cloud. The age of enterprise multi-tenant cloud EHS computing is here.”

Locus adds Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) module to Locus EIM Water

Streamline and simplify annual CCR preparation with powerful and intuitive tools

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 28 March 2017 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and sustainability management software, is excited to announce the release of the Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) module as an addition to Locus EIM Water.

The Locus EIM Water configuration is designed for water system owners and operators to simplify the sampling, management, tracking, and regulatory reporting of drinking water data. With the addition of the CCR module, the system now streamlines a complex and often tedious process of preparing the annual calculations required for the report.

The module guides the user through the steps of calculating the required statistics for the various analytical groups, as specified in the regulations. This tool also provides access to both the raw data that was used in the construction of the report as well as various intermediate calculations. Additionally, it addresses contaminant groups not sampled in the current year, making complying with the requirements significantly easier.

The EPA Safe Water Drinking Act requires that water system owners and operators annually prepare the Consumer Confidence Report for their customers. This report is something most water consumers are very familiar with throughout the U.S., as in most cases the local water provider directly provides a copy of the report to consumers. By design, the CCR is simple and easy to read, and conveys a detailed view of drinking water quality for consumers. What is not apparent in the report that consumers see is the complex process behind creating the report, including a structured review of one or more years of compliance data. This is where Locus EIM Water makes a difference for water system owners and operators.

“We are excited to add this key module to Locus EIM Water”, said Wes Hawthorne, President of Locus Technologies. “We know that Locus EIM Water is a great tool for managing the routine sampling and reporting needs of water system owners and operators, but we knew the CCR was one area where our customers often requested help. With our simple and intuitive module, the CCR preparation process will be greatly streamlined, which is a win-win for the water system owners/operators and consumers.”