CEDAR RAPIDS, IA, Aug. 10, 2006 -- The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will be working with VizAbility LLC to provide wireless water quality monitoring services in a new pilot program. The service provides real-time monitoring of water quality equipment with immediate alarm notification via almost any communications device, including pagers, cell phones, or e-mail. The real-time monitoring will help the department maintain water quality on Iowa watersheds while saving costs normally associated with manually monitoring the state's hundreds of lakes, rivers and streams.
Dr. Mary Skopec, supervisor, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Water Monitoring and Assessment Section, spearheaded the department's decision to work with VizAbility.
"The DNR is excited to take advantage of remote monitoring devices and the technology that VizAbility EM represents," said Skopec. "The agreement will help the state better monitor our valuable watersheds and maintain water quality throughout the state, without disruptions in the communication with equipment, while reducing the cost of doing so."
Governor Tom Vilsack's Condition of the State address in January noted "These (water quality) efforts must be continued and expanded this year, with an additional $50 million commitment to improve water quality."
The funding commitment for maintaining water quality, an $18 million appropriation, was recently announced, and tools such as VizAbility EM will help those dollars go further. Traditional water quality monitoring was accomplished by having workers physically drive to watersheds, often located many miles from facilities, collect samples and return those samples to labs for testing. VizAbility EM customized solutions install monitoring devices at the source, where the water quality can be monitored in real-time, reducing the need for workers to travel to remote locations. The cost savings are significant and can save users thousands of dollars per location.
Coupling proprietary wireless technology with environmental testing equipment, VizAbility is able to provide departments of natural resources, watersheds and municipalities the ability to monitor environmental levels, alarms and static controls in real time.
"We have the ability to offer many watersheds and conservation programs our consulting services in order for these entities to utilize their scarce financial resources more effectively," said Don Tyler, president of VizAbility.
In addition to monitoring lakes, rivers and streams, the company's systems can also be used for monitoring municipal water systems, including water plant lift stations, retention ponds, water towers and other key components of water-works infrastructure.
