Leveraging Big Data Tools and Technologies: Addressing the Challenges of the Water Quality Sector
Leveraging Big Data Tools and Technologies: Addressing the Challenges of the Water Quality Sector
复制标题
DOI：
10.3390/su9122160
复制
发表时间：
2017-11
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
J. M. Romero;S. Hallett;S. Jude
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. M. Romero;S. Hallett;S. Jude
水务部门受到严格的立法的约束，寻求解决化学/制药行业内实践的演变和环境保护的保障，并了解利益攸关方的意见。公众环境意识的提高与部门内责任的公平分配相平衡。这种高度复杂和动态的环境给水务公司带来了挑战，他们试图管理来自不同来源的各种化学品，这些化学品到达污水处理厂，包括住宅，商业和工业起源点，以及扩散来源，包括农业和硬地表水径流。废水含有广泛的有机和无机化合物、除草剂、杀虫剂、磷、药物和新出现的化学品。这些潜在的污染物可能以溶解形式出现，或与有机物一起出现，相关的风险构成重大的环境挑战。本文探讨了采用新的大数据工具和计算技术如何为水务部门应对这一挑战提供巨大优势。大数据方法有助于行业、监管机构和公众更好地理解和洞察这些挑战。我们讨论了如何使用大数据方法来改善水行业目前使用的工具的输出，如SAGIS（源ApporgeGIS系统），帮助揭示化学品，环境和人类健康之间的新关系，从而更好地了解废水中的污染物（来源，途径和持久性）。我们强调了该行业如何利用大数据工具为传统数据集增加价值，例如英国的化学品调查计划，结合当代数据源，延长数据的使用寿命，关注监测策略，并帮助用户更有效地适应和规划。尽管大数据技术相对成熟，并在许多更广泛的行业中得到采用，但到目前为止，水务行业的采用仍然有限。与大数据在其他行业的广泛应用相比，重点是如何改进以充分发挥该技术在水务行业的潜力。
The water utility sector is subject to stringent legislation, seeking to address both the evolution of practices within the chemical/pharmaceutical industry, and the safeguarding of environmental protection, and which is informed by stakeholder views. Growing public environmental awareness is balanced by fair apportionment of liability within-sector. This highly complex and dynamic context poses challenges for water utilities seeking to manage the diverse chemicals arising from disparate sources reaching Wastewater Treatment Plants, including residential, commercial, and industrial points of origin, and diffuse sources including agricultural and hard surface water run-off. Effluents contain broad ranges of organic and inorganic compounds, herbicides, pesticides, phosphorus, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals of emerging concern. These potential pollutants can be in dissolved form, or arise in association with organic matter, the associated risks posing significant environmental challenges. This paper examines how the adoption of new Big Data tools and computational technologies can offer great advantage to the water utility sector in addressing this challenge. Big Data approaches facilitate improved understanding and insight of these challenges, by industry, regulator, and public alike. We discuss how Big Data approaches can be used to improve the outputs of tools currently in use by the water industry, such as SAGIS (Source Apportionment GIS system), helping to reveal new relationships between chemicals, the environment, and human health, and in turn provide better understanding of contaminants in wastewater (origin, pathways, and persistence). We highlight how the sector can draw upon Big Data tools to add value to legacy datasets, such as the Chemicals Investigation Programme in the UK, combined with contemporary data sources, extending the lifespan of data, focusing monitoring strategies, and helping users adapt and plan more efficiently. Despite the relative maturity of the Big Data technology and adoption in many wider sectors, uptake within the water utility sector remains limited to date. By contrast with the extensive range of applications of Big Data in in other sectors, highlight is drawn to how improvements are required to achieve the full potential of this technology in the water utility industry.