With continual constraints being placed on budgets and resources, people are now starting to look closer at what these systems can do. Remote water monitoring has become more attractive, offering savings in labour, costs and can provide increased compliance.
Examples of current monitoring technologies include flow sensors to detect stagnation, automatic flushing of taps and automatic pipework temperature checks. In the future it is likely we will see microbiological sensors that can measure levels of live microbial activity inside the pipework. Inline Legionella biosensors could also become cost effective.
One of the main advantages promoted by these systems is improved compliance evidence. Remote monitoring can provide continuous timestamped data which is fully traceable. This eliminates the possibility of human error or a weak audit trail of paperwork. Automatic flushing and temperatures aim to provide greater control of a system with constant data. Costs could also be reduced with less site visits needed.
However, some of this technology is still in its early stages of adoption. Therefore, installation costs are inconsistent and can be significant, as well as maintenance and calibration. Continuous streams of information require good data handling, alarm thresholds and filtering to avoid alert fatigue and wasted responses.
Overall, these systems do have the potential to change the way compliance monitoring of water systems takes place and provide valuable, additional data.
The use of water temperature monitoring and automatic flushing is already widely in use, with other technologies being constantly developed. However, choosing ‘fit for purpose sensors’, as well as defining parameters, and what to react to, is important to make sure that the data is used correctly and can ease the burden of water compliance.