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UBCO looks at smart technology to safeguard drinking water

Research Excellence | Strategy 10: Research Culture
Theme: Innovation
UBCO engineers are teaming up with TELUS and the Regional District of North Okanagan to investigate how smart technology can help monitor drinking water quality.

Delivery of safe and high-quality drinking water is an essential public service, but it’s not easy to monitor water quality in real-time close to customers’ homes. Thanks to a new research partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, TELUS and the Regional District of North Okanagan, researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus will begin to address this gap by leveraging new sensors to wirelessly monitor water quality in the distribution system.

This new smart monitoring solution aims to improve how municipalities monitor water and its quality at the tap for thousands of residents across the Okanagan.

“Our eventual goal is to improve drinking-water-system-management and enhance the safety of residents across British Columbia,” says Dr. Nicolas Peleato, Assistant Professor with UBCO’s School of Engineering. “Through the use of these sensors, water providers such as municipalities and regional districts will be able to identify water quality issues more accurately and faster than what is currently feasible.”

Please visit the UBC Okanagan News website to read the full story.

Through Strategy 10: Research Culture, UBC is working to fostering a strong and diverse research culture that embraces the highest standards of integrity, collegiality and service.