Real-time monitoring of water quality in drinking water catchment areas

Natural environment & water resource protection

Context

After  the passage of the storm Alex in the South of France, infrastructures and facilities in the Vésubie Valley were severely damaged by flooding. In order to monitor the water quality of the Vésubie River which supplies drinking water to the city of Nice, Eau d’Azur (local drinking water governance) wishes to reinforce its water quality monitoring system to protect its drinking water production.

 Eau d’Azur wishes to :

•Detect potential pollutions that could affect the production of drinking water ;
•Assess the influence of upstream civil engineering works on the river water quality. 

Solution & Results

NODE Solutions was installed at the inlet of the drinking water production plant, next to the river. By measuring physicochemical parameters (pH, ORP, conductivity, temperature), organic load and potential pollution events, online and in real-time, the solution provided :

•Online monitoring, allowing detection of variations in all the parameters ;
•Detection and qualification of pollution events (significance, duration, intensity) ;
•Real-time information to the local water authority ;
•Assessment of the impact of civil engineering works on the river water quality ;
•Additional information provided by the biosensor to detect pollution ;
•Better protection and optimization of water resources management.

Feedback & Perspectives

Eau d’Azur is going to invest in the complete solution in order to permanently reinforce the monitoring of the drinking water catchment in the Vésubie River. The main objective of the customer is to increase its capacity to protect the water resource and to early detect the potential impact of human activity on the quality of drinking water.