THE ROLE OF ICT AND WEB 2.0 IN THE MANAGEMENT OF WASTE WATER AND DRINK WATER TREATMENT PLANTS: A NOVEL PARADIGM FOR COLLABORATIVE WORK AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

In this paper a survey of the impact of current web technologies in the water cycle is presented. The main focus of this work is to explore and outline the novel possibilities that the so-called Web 2.0 concept enables when applied to the human controlled parts of the water cycle, specially in its critical parts, mainly sewage water treatment and grey/black water purification for human consumption.

A number of recent and current water R&D projects are described in detail as application examples, focusing on those functional and educational aspects that are remarkably promoted or improved due to the inclusion of this novel, fully interactive networked paradigm.

In addition, the increasing number of technological advances in telecommunication network solutions is also explored in the paper, spanning from recent wireless sensor technologies such as ZigBee, evolved network protocols for reliable, high speed communications such as Modbus or Profibus and security enhanced protocols for data acquisition such as the OPC (Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) for Process Control) standard, to currently operating remotely controlled hierarchical SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems with online control and monitoring capabilities through XML data schemes.

In a global sense, these technologies give rise to a novel all-connected paradigm that can be used throughout the human-controlled part of the water cycle, mainly for quality supervision, monitoring and control procedures in waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) and water purification plants. Moreover, this global scheme enables complete system and plant integration, thus providing plant technicians and analysts with more powerful tools in order to improve their knowledge of water purification
processes from wastewater to drinking water.

This connected scheme also gives rise to a new set of possible sceneries where humans and machines co-operate over each element of the cycle. E. g. a waste water plant can be remotely supervised, monitored and controlled by means of different levels of intelligent agents, automated or not, which can be conveniently trained, advised, managed and controlled by both human experts and expert systems, thus providing with new information systems that outperform classic hierarchical exploitation of the water cycle, regardless of the population scale.