In January 2022 IETG were appointed by United Utilities (UU) to inspect, install, and maintain 9 multiparameter sondes, 1 River Flow Monitor and 3 Rain Gauges to monitor water quality along the Sankey Brook, at St Helens. This was also supplemented with 10 autosamplers to capture 3 wet and 3 dry weather events for further lab analysis.
01
Client requirements
02
IETG Solution
IETG installed YSI EXO sondes with a telemetered outstation. The sondes measured the following parameters;
a) Temperature
b) PH
c) DO
d) Ammonia
HACH refrigerated autosamplers were used to obtain lab analysis against the following parameters:
a) Ammonia
b) Suspended Solids
c) BOD (Suspended & Dissolved)
The first part of this project was to work with United Utilities to establish who the landowners were for each location. Once this was done contact was made with the customers to discuss the project and obtain the permissions necessary to progress with the installations.
IETG initially carried out an inspection of all the different sites that United Utilities wanted to monitor. This involved one of our WQ Team Leader visiting each location to assess each site for suitability – in relation to hydraulics, security, site access, river depth, etc. From this site visit an inspection report was provided to United Utilities and sites selected to take the project forward.
After installation the sondes were connected to telemetered outstations with the data being logged on 5-minute intervals and the data being returned to an online portal daily.
On a daily basis our team of ‘in-house’ data analysts’ review the data from a ‘quality’ and ‘Communications’ perspective. On a weekly basis they also produce a report for United Utilities looking at the trending data.
IETG field staff would complete routine maintenance visits to primarily carry out Ammonia sensor swaps/calibrations but also to undertake handheld calibrations to confirm the sondes are performing as expected.
As well as the maintenance, IETG would liaise with United Utilities on upcoming weather forecasts to predict potential sampling events. Throughout the survey IETG were required to trigger and collect 3 dry and 3 wet weather events. This consisted of programming the Hach autosamplers though a telemetry system to trigger at specific points to capture the event over a 24hr period. For dry weather events we completed hourly samples over a 24-hour period and for wet weather events at 30min intervals over a 12 hr period. IETG would then deploy a field team to collect the samples and deliver them to the laboratory for analysis.
03
The Results
During the survey period IETG successfully collected 1,584 samples using our refrigerated auto-samplers and delivered to them UU approved labs. This work was managed by a dedicated water quality field and data team, supported by our in-house workshop and Xylem (UK distributors of the YSI Sondes).
Matthew Edwards
Project Manager - Water Quality
t: 01132 019700 | e: medwards@ietg.co.uk
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