03-25-2011 New York City officials see CSOnet demonstration

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Pg. 2 Work first began in 2005 when South Bend became a real-world laboratory in a pilot study to demonstrate the economic feasibility of the concept. In 2008-09, the City and EmNet deployed 105 wireless sensors underneath manhole covers citywide. Through an embedded radio mesh network, these small computers enable crews to monitor monitoring points, data from sensors is transmitted by radio to a nearby gateway, which uploads the depth and flow of storm water and sewage in the 500-mile sewer network. The small computers enabled City crews to monitor 110 strategic points in the City sewer system in real time. In the first full year of monitoring in 2009, CSOnet reduced South Bend’s dry-weather overflows of the sewer system by 66 percent. It allowed the City to achieve several objectives:  Monitor 36 CSO outfalls, 42 locations throughout major trunk lines, five retention basins and 27 locations along the interceptor – the primary line that conveys outflow along the river to the wastewater treatment plant.  Provide an early-warning and prevention system for dry-weather overflows to the combined sewer.  Discover potential areas for inline storage in larger sewer lines.  Find locations of possible bottlenecks in the interceptor and trunk lines.  Determine the effective storage capacity of retention ponds. With support from the federal stimulus, crews installed nine “smart valves” with motorized controls and overflow reservoirs at key locations throughout South Bend in 2010. “This enables us to use capacity in existing sewer pipes and retention basins to store excess water until rain stops,” said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “It maximizes the flow of wastewater to the interceptor sewer line leading to the wastewater treatment plant and minimizes combined sewer overflows into the St. Joseph River.” Over the long term, CSOnet is expected to have a significant impact. A study conducted by Malcolm Pirnie, an environmental engineering firm, determined that a citywide installation would reduce CSOs by up to 24 percent, according to Luis Montestruque, president and primary research investigator of EmNet L.L.C. That’s not all. “For a $6 million investment, we’ll save about $120 million by using existing assets to achieve the same level of benefit as conventional solutions,” said Gary Gilot, director of the Department of Public Works for the City of South Bend. “This will give us real-time control to maximize the storage capacity of our conveyance system. It gives us a new tool to prevent basement backups.”