City of Salem
City of Salem secures its drinking water with AVEVA CONNECT
The City of Salem, Oregon, experienced a harmful green algae bloom in one of its drinking water reservoirs, raising a major public health concern. To anticipate such events, the city needed to cross-reference many heterogeneous data sources and build a predictive capability to durably protect the water delivered to its residents. Deploying AVEVA CONNECT data services brought algae levels, water depth, weather data, turbidity, satellite imagery and lab samples together in a single cloud information hub. On this basis, city teams use data science to forecast future harmful algal blooms and cyanotoxin activity. Salem can now take preventive action before any health incident occurs, ensuring the safety of the community's drinking water and strengthening the utility's resilience to emerging environmental risks.
Testimonials
FAQ
How does AVEVA CONNECT help the City of Salem anticipate harmful algal blooms?
After an algal bloom in a drinking water reservoir, the City of Salem (Oregon) deployed AVEVA CONNECT to centralize heterogeneous data in a single cloud: algae levels, depth, weather, turbidity, satellite imagery and lab samples. On this basis, city teams use data science to forecast future blooms and cyanotoxin activity. This predictive capability makes it possible to trigger preventive measures before any health incident occurs, ensuring the long-term safety of the drinking water supplied to residents.
Why is centralizing data in the cloud strategic for drinking water safety?
Anticipating health risks related to drinking water requires cross-referencing very heterogeneous data sources (in-situ sensors, weather, satellite, laboratory). AVEVA CONNECT provides a single cloud repository where this data converges in real time, accessible to municipal teams and scientific partners. This centralization speeds up analysis, facilitates collaboration and democratizes access to critical indicators. It is a modern data management model for public utilities facing complex, evolving environmental risks.
How does data science protect public health in water distribution?
The City of Salem combines AVEVA CONNECT with AI-powered predictive models to anticipate the appearance of cyanotoxins before they contaminate the water supply. This data-driven approach transforms drinking water management: it moves from a reactive approach (analyzing after the fact) to a preventive one (acting before the incident). The benefits are health-related (protecting residents), operational (anticipating treatment) and economic (avoiding the costs of major incidents). It is a standard for the future of public utilities.
What emerging environmental issues are affecting municipal drinking water management?
Climate change is amplifying toxic algal blooms, one-off pollution events and pressure on water resources. For municipalities like Salem, these emerging risks require continuous monitoring and stronger predictive capabilities. AVEVA CONNECT provides this operational resilience by aggregating multi-source data and feeding forecasting models. This modernization of data management is becoming essential to ensure drinking water safety in the face of the growing environmental challenges of the coming decades.
How does AVEVA CONNECT facilitate collaboration between municipal and scientific stakeholders?
Managing water-related health risks involves many stakeholders: reservoir operators, testing laboratories, health authorities and municipal teams. AVEVA CONNECT offers a secure cloud platform where each partner accesses the data relevant to its scope. This controlled sharing speeds up joint decision-making, streamlines technical exchanges and captures the lessons of each event. For the City of Salem, it is a key tool for orchestrating the collective response to health challenges related to water resources.