In order to provide effective early warning of a contamination event in drinking water, the technology used must produce credible and timely information that supports the decision making process of the operator. Recent testing and evaluation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has shown that it is feasible to integrate technology solutions to monitor multiple parameters that define water quality. Extrapolating this concept to practical use in the field has resulted in a complete integrated water quality remote monitoring system that detects and reports to an operations center the evidence of contamination in real time on a continuous basis. In drinking water systems with a limited number of sources of water, the water quality should remain predictable, but where the system is served by multiple and diverse sources, it may be normal for the water quality in certain areas to vary daily. The value of the information gleaned from a baseline monitoring approach will be greatly enhanced by saturating (providing complete coverage of) the distribution system with water quality monitoring systems. There is no single device that can provide all the desired contamination information (chemical, biological, and radiological), so an integrated, economical, and modular “early warning” system to monitor and analyze water quality remotely has been designed. This cost-effective solution will provide complete coverage of the area of concern by designing and installing the remote monitoring system in “tiers”.

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