The Challenge
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP) are responsible for managing the health of the environment to protect Queensland’s unique ecosystems, including its landscapes and waterways, as well as its native plants and animals and biodiversity.
Site DEHP licences restrict stormwater discharge when certain physiochemical parameters exceed set limits. During non-rain events, moisture leaching from stockpiles flows into the stormwater discharge pits and must be monitored in order to determine whether discharge is allowed.
Without monitoring in real time, the site must rely on sample grabs and manual monitoring which results in delays in water release or fines from the DEHP.
The Solution
Acoem provided an online system which monitors both the intake and outtake discharge pits. Mounted on floats in the pits, sensors transmit the data to a single analyser. This analyser is used to trigger valves allowing discharge automatically once parameters are within site trigger limits. These limits are more rigorous then DEHP limits. Along with triggering discharge and notifying operators via a siren and strobe, the analyser logs the data for record keeping and historical analysis.
