Remote water sensing technology with cloud-based platform to support environmental compliance monitoring during the COVID-19 pandemic

面对全球COVID-19疫情，环境合规监控受到限制，在某些情况下，由于社交距离要求以及航运服务、实验室分析和旅行选择的其他短缺而暂停。然而，如果没有这些必要的监测实践，环境机构，社区和供水公司将面临前所未有的挑战，以完成质量控制，防止污染和维护公共安全。例如，于二零二零年四月，阿尔伯塔暂停16个油砂项目的合规监察。包括土著社区在内的许多北方社区对大流行期间环境合规监测减少表示关切。对潜在水事件的担忧迅速增长，需要补充合规监测计划，该计划可以远程访问与水质变化相关的足够数据，并实时响应污染。开发这项技术的紧迫性很高，因为病毒爆发的风险可能会进一步推迟环境监测。 该项目的目的是调整该技术，以支持COVID-19大流行情况下的远程环境合规监测。一旦适应，我们将在高风险地区实施这种淡水分析仪，以使用基于云的数据系统，为利益相关者和监管机构提供与水质变化相关的实时综合趋势数据。我们目前正在温室、农业和油气田流域开展项目，这些项目将作为样本点。我们亦将研究一系列与持续的COVID-19疫情有关的新污染物，这些污染物可能已经存在或将通过废水排放或地表径流释放到流域。 通过基于云的平台进行远程实时监控，该项目的成果将使政府、保护部门和监管机构能够在社交距离措施期间有效地远程测量、监控和识别污染源。

In the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, environmental compliance monitoring has been limited and, in some cases, suspended because of social distancing requirements and other shortages in shipping services, laboratory analyses, and travel options. However, without these essential monitoring practices in place, environmental agencies, communities, and water utilities are facing unprecedented challenges to complete quality control, prevent pollution and maintain public safety. For example, in April 2020, Alberta suspended the compliance monitoring at 16 oilsands projects. Many northern communities, including indigenous communities, have raised concerns about the reduced environmental compliance monitoring during the pandemic. The rapidly growing concerns for potential water incidents call for a supplementary compliance monitoring program, which can provide remote access to sufficient data related to water quality changes and respond to pollution in real-time. The urgency of developing this technology is high with the risk of additional waves of virus outbreaks that could further postpone environmental monitoring. The purpose of this project is to adapt this technology to support remote environmental compliance monitoring under COVID-19 pandemic scenarios. Once adapted, we will implement this freshwater analyzer at high-risk locations to use cloud-based data systems that will provide real-time comprehensive trending data related to water quality changes to stakeholders and regulators. We currently have ongoing projects in greenhouse, agricultural, and oil/gas field watersheds that will serve as sample sites. We will also study a list of emerging contaminants related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which may have been in, or would be released into watersheds via wastewater discharge or surface runoffs. With remote real-time monitoring via a cloud-based platform, the project outcome will allow the government, conservation authorities, and regulatory agencies to effectively measure, monitor and identify pollution sources remotely during social distancing measures.