Hydrometric Data Management

Tarmac is required to operate a hydrometric network at one of its sites in South Wales in order to monitor the effects of its quarrying operation on the local hydrological regime.  The monitoring requirements include groundwater levels, groundwater quality, surface water flows, quarry discharges and rainfall.  ESI was commissioned to operate the data management and reporting functions of the monitoring programme, and developed a bespoke data management system to assist with this task.

The data management system is designed to:

• maximise efficiency in data handling and data storage;
• maintain data integrity;
• ensure the quality of the data;
• provide a fully scalable system (multi-site, multi-user);
• Automate data processing and reporting procedures.
  

The data management system comprises a Microsoft SQL Server database with a user interface programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic.  Microsoft SQL Server is a server-based relational database, which allows large volumes of data to be stored and manipulated and enables multi-user access.
Loggers at the quarry record data at intervals ranging from 5 to 15 minutes from a large number of sites.  These data are emailed to ESI and loaded into the data system.  The data import module converts each individual data format to obtain a generic data import format.  These data are automatically uploaded into the database along with some calculated fields, resulting in considerable time saving on these repetitive tasks.  

Queries can be applied to the database using a simple user interface to allow data to be output to Microsoft Excel. The system can produce daily and monthly average values allowing manageable datasets to be output.  Graphs of raw data, calculated data or daily average data can be produced automatically and additional queries can be easily incorporated into the system as required.  The system also automatically integrates these data with manual water readings.

The monitoring data are reviewed by ESI on a monthly basis, on receipt of monitoring data, to ensure data integrity and QA.  Factual reporting of the monitoring data and the performance of the monitoring network is undertaken quarterly, and a full review and interpretation of the data is undertaken annually.  This advanced data management system, in combination with ESI’s data checking and reporting protocols, ensures that the quality and integrity of the monitoring data can be ensured in a time efficient manner.

Please contact ESI (01743 276100 / email) for more information on 'Hydrometric Data Management'.