Why data is critical in ground and surface water monitoring
By Eric Coulombe
Van Essen Instruments’ aims to support our world-wide customers and partners to effectively and comfortably manage their water resources in every way possible as we design, develop, and deliver innovative and cost-effective technology and solutions for the ground and surface water monitoring industry.
The importance of groundwater in times of scarcity
Groundwater often serves as a reliable source of supply during times of drought and shortage of surface water resources. Beyond that, groundwater storage capacity can be managed artificially to store additional supplies of water. The data collected by monitoring groundwater can be used to determine the amount of groundwater that can safely be withdrawn before no more water is pumped. In this way, local water managers can prevent wells from going dry, and prevent the movement of poorer quality groundwater into the aquifer.
Groundwater refers to the water present deep inside earth’s surface in soil, pore spaces and fractures/fissures of rock formations. Rock unit or an unconsolidated deposit when yields a usable quantity of water is called an aquifer. The quality and quantity of groundwater is monitored by governments and municipalities.
Common applications for water level monitoring
As well as time-saving benefits, water level monitoring has a variety of environmental benefits, such as improved visibility regarding potential flooding by utilizing water level monitoring systems, this provides easier and quicker countermeasures if water levels become too high or too low.
Water dataloggers are highly sensitive pressure sensors which detect small changes to water levels and can send alerts to end users.
Water level monitoring is commonly used in the following applications:
- Flood monitoring
- River level monitoring
- Wetland studies
- Tidal studies
- Groundwater monitoring
- Surface water monitoring
Groundwater and surface water monitoring
One of the most common uses of a water level monitoring device is the measurement of groundwater and surface water.
When groundwater levels present less visible signs, low flow groundwater sampling becomes extremely beneficial and offers solutions in the detection of possible changes in water flow or increased or decreased levels of water volume. This data can be used to identify and alert flow path changes, or potential surface level flooding.
In the short-term, surface water monitoring and water level monitoring can be used in lakes, rivers and coastal waters and provide alerts to potentially dangerous levels of water so that remedial actions can be taken. In the long-term, monitoring water levels can provide even greater insights into patterns of water dispersal in the area and measure the effects of other factors such as global warming.
Measuring water levels to prevent flooding
The effects of flooding can be disastrous to communities and homes and very quickly cause irreparable damage to property, lives and the local economy.
Remote water level monitoring provides early warning data detection regarding the threat of flooding and valuable time is secured in order to put mitigation plans in place.
In summary
Water level monitoring is critical for a variety of applications and industries. Van Essen Instruments’ suite of Diver products and services provide accurate, cost-effective, long-term solutions.
Divers provide:
- Remote water level monitoring
- Record surface water levels
- Ground water levels
- Immediate and real-time data
About me
- Trained and educated Environmental Technologist
- 18 years of sales experience working with customers and their projects in Canada and the USA
- 15 years of project and product knowledge working with Van Essen and still learning every day!
- Enjoys finding solutions to customer challenges and consulting on key projects
Some of my favorite projects!
- Source water applications
- Long-term monitoring with water supply agencies
- Wetland, estuary and seawater monitoring impacting the environment
- Mining applications, specifically lithium, coal and metals
For more information about our products and services explore our website or contact me directly at ECoulombe@vanessen.com.
Thanks for reading this blog post – Let’s start a conversation!
Eric Coulombe, Business Development Manager USA West
