Water & Wastewater Treatment

The Knowledge: innovation zone Q. What is legionella and why is it so dangerous? JF: "Legionella is a water-borne bacte- rium that can exist in any water system, particularly within public buildings where the water may stand still for a period of time within a specific temperature range. It can then get into the lungs by inhaling microscopic droplets. This can cause a type of pneumonia called Legionnaire's disease, which is particularly danger- ous to the elderly or young. In a major outbreak, around 10 per cent of cases can be fatal." Q. Is Legionnaire's disease on the increase and if so why? FM: "The number of confirmed cases of Legionnaire's disease has increased substantially over the last 10 years or so. For example, the figures for 2018 (the last full year available), show an increase of over 40 per cent when compared with 2015. Some of this may be due to better data, but it is not limited to the UK. The Institute for Hygiene and Public Health at University Clinic Bonn recently sug- gested that climate change is likely to be a contributory factor towards an increase in pneumonia caused by legionella." Q. What was the reason for the formation of Remote Tech? JF: "I've worked in the water industry since I qualified as a hygiene engineer 13 years ago. I met Florin, who's from a technology background, by chance in our local gym. I told him about the challenges faced by the industry due to legionella. He said: 'Give me a week and I'll design you the world's best sensor.' In fact, he came back with a great concept the very next day." Q. What is the Remote Tech S1 sensor and how does your system work? FM: "In order to reduce risk, you should ideally monitor for temperature anoma- lies in real time, but that would normally involve transferring a lot of data to a server on a constant basis. We do it dif- ferently. When temperatures are normal, takes just a few minutes for us to install to any site and there is no waiting around for phone calls whilst it is activated. It's good to go from day one." Q. Can you tell us about the techni- cal specification of the S1? FM: "The Remote Tech S1 sensor has an IP67 case rating and its monitoring perfor- mance far exceeds the current regulatory requirements in the UK. The radio can travel up to 22km line of site between a sensor and a gateway. Furthermore, our use of 'Internet of Things' technology conserves energy, ensuring a battery life of 10 years or more. The client can view their data 24/7 via a portal." Q. What are the cost advantages of the Remote Tech system? JF: "There's no up-front cost for the hardware to the client, who pays an af- fordable monthly fee. Remote monitoring is cost effective: it saves the client money from the moment it is installed. Plus, it's carbon-friendly because it eliminates the need for constant site visits, which many clients would otherwise find inconvenient or intrusive. If there is a problem, the sen- sor alerts you straight away so that you can take the necessary action in order to keep your system safe, by flushing or by other appropriate measures." Technology expert Florin Mangu (FM) and water hygiene engineer Joe Finn (JF) from Remote Tech have developed a smart sensor to provide affordable and safe protection against Legionnaires disease. Their new Remote Tech S1 intelligent sensor uses Internet of Things technology to monitor the risk of the legionella bug in UK water systems. WWT caught up with the pair. our sensor is in live-sleep mode and only communicates with a server every three hours. However, in the meantime the sen- sor continues to pulse every two seconds. If there is any inconsistency in tempera- ture, the sensor detects this straight away and wakes itself up. It then sends out an immediate alert." Q. What are the advantages of the Remote Tech sensor to the client and how is it installed? JF: "The client has the peace of mind of round the clock monitoring. That's very important because legionella bacterium can multiply by millions in a single day. It needs two things to thrive: still water and a temperature close to that of the human body, around 37-degrees centigrade. It 34 | MARCH 2020 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Protecting water systems Joe Finn and Florin Mangu from Remote Tech.

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