Metropolitan Boston s Contaminant Monitoring System Tuning and Planning for Response

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1 Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Metropolitan Boston s Contaminant Monitoring System Tuning and Planning for Response David Gottshall Senior Program Manager, Quality Assurance June 12, 2014

2 MWRA is a Regional Water and Wastewater Wholesaler MWRA provides wholesale water and wastewater services to over 2.5 million customers in 61 communities On average, MWRA delivers an average of 200 million gallons per day to its water customers, with a peak demand of 350 million gallons MWRA collects and treats an average of 350 million gallons of wastewater per day, with a peak capacity of 1.2 billion gallons

3 Objectives Introduction System Overview Start Up Baseline Conditions Source Water Treatment Storage and Distribution Event Characterization Alarming Strategies Critical Factors for Response Norumbega Covered Storage Cosgrove Intake Facility

4 MWRA Water Transmission System

5 MWRA Water System Overview MWRA Quick Facts: 150 miles of tunnel and 300 miles of pipe 11 storage tanks and 10 pump stations 890,000 households and 5500 businesses 63 local storage tanks No Retail Connections City of Boston

6 MWRA Monitoring System

7 MWRA Monitoring System s::can micro::station Hardware spectro::lyzer ph::lyzer redox::lyzer condu::lyzer con::cube Software moni::tool vali::tool ana::tool

8 MWRA Monitoring System Parameters monitored: ph Temperature Conductivity Turbidity Dissolved Organic Carbon Total Organic Carbon Nitrate-N UV 254 Oxidation-Reduction Potential Monochloramine Free Chlorine Total Dissolved Solids

MWRA Monitoring System Status monitored: Panel Pressure Panel Flow Alarm Condition Spectral Alarming Proprietary Algorithm Available Range 220-700 nm Fingerprint Parametric

9 MWRA Monitoring System Status monitored: Panel Pressure Panel Flow Alarm Condition Spectral Alarming Proprietary Algorithm Available Range nm Fingerprint Parametric Alarming Individual Parameter Alarming Pattern Alarming While accurate parameter readings are important, the critical function that is being monitored is CHANGE in water quality

10 Start-Up Issues Infrastructure Concerns for the Monitoring Space Environmental Controls Heating and Cooling Utilities Power Communication Test Stream Proximity to feed source Feed and return lines Drain Arlington Covered Reservoir

analog A new communication paradigm Integrated Wireless PIP network

11 Start-Up Issues Communication Concerns The need for redundancy Leverage existing network connectivity SCADA - unidirectional and analog A new communication paradigm Integrated Wireless PIP network Web-based bidirectional communication Verizon 3g EVDO - 24/7 Managed Service

12 Baseline Characterization - Source Water Quabbin Reservoir Swift River 412 billion gallons Wachusett Reservoir Nashua River Quinapoxet River Stillwater River 65 billion gallons Norumbega Covered Storage Quabbin Reservoir (Winsor Dam)

Baseline Source Water Variables Turbidity Meteorological influences Tributary flows and organic loading Stratification/Turnover Reservoir Interflow (Quabbin

13 Baseline Source Water Variables Turbidity Meteorological influences Tributary flows and organic loading Stratification/Turnover Reservoir Interflow (Quabbin Transfer) Flow established between the epilimnion and hypolimnion. Algae and its treatment Buoy and weather station data provide INSIGHT into our reservoirs

14 Baseline Characterization - Treatment Quabbin Disinfection Facility - Ware, MA Serving Chicopee Valley Area Communities Treatment UV Sodium Hypochlorite Norumbega Covered Storage

15 Baseline Characterization - Treatment John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant Marlborough, MA Serving Metro West and Metro Boston Communities Treatment Ozone Sodium Bisulfite UV Sodium Hypochlorite Hydrofluorosilicic Acid Sodium Carbonate Aqueous Ammonia Carbon Dioxide

16 Baseline Treatment Variables Planned Treatment Changes Plant Upsets Planned Maintenance Activities Treatment Chemical Issues Utility Outages You must be tied into plant operations and maintenance

Storage Facilities and Distribution System 11 Storage facilities Walnut Hill Tank Various designs Covered storage (flowthrough, multi-cell)

17 Storage Facilities and Distribution System 11 Storage facilities Walnut Hill Tank Various designs Covered storage (flowthrough, multi-cell) Standpipe/tank (single in/out) Wide range of capacities Million gallons Different feed mechanism Gravity Pump station Norumbega Covered Storage

18 Baseline Storage Variables Fill and draw cycle profiles Seasonal operating band changes Heavy draw down events Pump station activations Water Age Stratification Nitrification Norumbega Covered Storage Monitoring water quality in your storage facilities is CRITICAL

Baseline Distribution System Variables Hydraulic model and travel time estimations Valve and pipeline activities Hydroelectric turbine activity Local community

19 Baseline Distribution System Variables Hydraulic model and travel time estimations Valve and pipeline activities Hydroelectric turbine activity Local community usage patterns Customer usage (meters) Seasonal flushing Local community events Routine maintenance Pipeline Breaks Firefighting Local valve and pipeline activities

20 Event Characterization Steps to event characterization and response 1. Identify that an event is occurring 2. Attempt to identify the cause of the event 3. Evaluate findings 4. Determine course of action 5. Implement course of action 6. Review actions and modify as necessary Event characterization is a never ending study of your system

21 Event Characterization Identify that an event is occurring. Establish criteria for each location Type of location Parameters of interest Sensitivity Condition limits Duration of condition Commonwealth Avenue Pump Station You must establish your risk level and balance that against alarm fatigue

22 Event Characterization Identify that an event is occurring Attempt to identify the cause of the event Communications failure Power failure Instrumentation failure Normal water quality change Operational or maintenance activities Physical security Intrusion detection Community events

analysis Water Operation Recent site and area activities

23 Event Characterization Identify that an event is occurring. Evaluate findings Water Quality Assurance Data stream analysis Water Operation Recent site and area activities Security Intrusion and video surveillance Medford Firefighters in Action

24 Event Characterization OCCAM S RAZOR Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but in the absence of certainty the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.

25 Event Characterization Identify that an event is occurring. If the alarm can be explained, determine the course of action. Implement course of action Review results and modify as necessary If the alarm can NOT be explained Contamination event is POSSIBLE Implement Consequence Management Plan

26 Alarming Strategy Lesson learned No single parameter alarming Must study event duration data Must study inter-parameter dependences Must establish system expectation

27 Alarming Strategy General Goals Cover as many potential contaminant groups as possible Capture true unexplainable events Reject false positives Flexibility and configurability Utilizes existing SCADA infrastructure

Alarming Strategy Collect Alarm Data Turbidity Related 2014 Actionable Alarms By Cause Service Required - Pump Failure Criteria Location/Type Duration Cause Grouping Sensitivity Condition

28 Alarming Strategy Collect Alarm Data Turbidity Related 2014 Actionable Alarms By Cause Service Required - Pump Failure Criteria Location/Type Duration Cause Grouping Sensitivity Condition limits Duration of condition Service Required - Routine Maintenance Service Required - Software Related Service Artifact 33% 17% Service Required - Auto Brush Failure Hydraulic Event 17% 5% 17% 11%

29 Alarming Strategy Observations Many very short-term events (less than three measurement intervals) Turbidity in an unfiltered system Hydraulic activity Routine maintenance Additional uses for data streams Water quality notification Monitoring station service alerts

30 Tiered Response Strategy Low Priority Alarm Single alarm Short-term transient event Alarm can be clearly explained utilizing supporting data streams and operational information Response is to stand down Notification of event resolution provided via

31 Tiered Response Strategy Medium Priority Alarm Single alarm Lingering or intermittent event Alarm can be clearly explained utilizing supporting data streams and operational information Response is to address the lingering or intermittent condition the next business day Notification of event status provided via

32 Tiered Response Strategy High Priority Alarm Single alarm with NO security issues Alarm can NOT be clearly explained utilizing supporting data streams and operational information Field technician to respond to site to evaluate and confirm monitoring system response If confirmed, alarm elevated to Highest Priority. Senior management contacted If not confirmed, monitoring station maintenance and calibration performed

33 Tiered Response Strategy Highest Priority Alarm Single or multiple alarms Possible security issues Alarm can NOT be clearly explained utilizing supporting data streams and operational information Senior management contacted Contaminant event is POSSIBLE

34 Conclusions The key to the effective evaluation of alarms is INFORMATION You need to be able to pull together: water chemistry hydraulics operational activities community events You need to constantly review system status and evaluate resulting alarms The process NEVER ends

35 Thank You! David Gottshall Senior Program Manager Environmental Quality Water

36 Questions?

MWRA s Outfall Monitoring Overview 2014 Results

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Presentation to MWRA Board of Directors MWRA s Outfall Monitoring Overview 2014 Results October 14, 2015 MWRA Ambient Monitoring Moving discharge from Boston Harbor