Case Studies

Water Quality Sondes

Hydrolab Series 5 with Hach LDO Helps Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Assess Post-Katrina Situation
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, when the levies broke around New Orleans, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LADEQ) was pressed into service. The agency relied on its inventory of water quality monitoring instruments to track where water was, and what areas were contaminated. The department owns as many as 80 separate Hydrolab water quality monitoring instruments between all of its divisions, and they have typically been able to use Hydrolab instruments for 8 to 10 years. The instruments in the department's inventory include Minisonde 4a and Series 5 instruments with Hach LDO. Read More.

Hydrolab DS5

OTT and Hydrolab Provide Integrated, Turnkey Solution for the River Tyne
In August 2003 Posford Haskoning, a leading Engineering Consultancy in the UK, contracted OTT Hydrometry Ltd (OHL) to design, deploy, and manage a system of four water quality monitoring buoys on the lower tidal reach of the River Tyne in northeast England. The system is based on an integrated solution that combines the strength of products from Hydrolab and OTT to provide a complete turnkey solution for the site. Read More.

Protecting Drinking Water in Central Taiwan
When the Taiwan Environment Protection Agency needed to build two real-time, long-term monitoring stations on the Sun Moon Reservoir, it looked to Hydrolab for the critical measurement instruments. Read More.

Hydrolab MS5

Hydrolab MS5 with Hach LDO Helps Notre Dame Research Team Link Salmon to Healthy Forests
Professor Gary Lamberti, Associate Professor Jennifer Tank, and Research Assistant Professor Dominic Chaloner from the University of Notre Dame's Department of Biological Sciences had a research team monitoring water quality this past summer in Alaska as part of a project to determine how the management of the nation's forests affects salmon production, and also how salmon affect the nation's forests. Read More.

Water Quality Sensors

Chlorophyll a by Turner Designs

Real-Time Data Helps Facility Combat Algae
During the severe drought of 2001 and 2002, the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission pumped more than 32 billion gallons from the Passiac and Ramapo rivers and stored it in the Wanaque Reservoir. While siphoning off the nutrient-rich river water ensured a steady water supply for the people of northern New Jersey, it also increased the likelihood of a serious algae bloom that could make the water supply unsafe. Read More.

Vermont Agency of Natural Resources uses Hydrolab Equipment with Turner Designs‘ Chorophyll a Sensor
Turner Designs has designed a Chlorophyll a sensor specifically for integration into the Hydrolab DataSonde. This sensor is based on the CYCLOPS-7 technology, and offers the most accurate Chlorophyll a measurement available on a multi-parameter instrument. Read More.

Blue-Green Algae by Turner Designs

Public Water Systems Benefit from Real-Time Monitoring for Chlorophyll and Cyanobacteria Using Hydrolab DataSonde and Turner Designs Fluorometers
Each PWS should modify its traditional algae monitoring program to include fluorometric analyses in the field, on-line, and in the laboratory for both chlorophyll a and cyanobacteria pigments. Read More.

Surface Water Level Sensors

Bubbler Level Sensor

Using the OTT Nimbus in the Potomac River
The ICPRB recently embarked on a program to monitor the water level using automated sensors and real-time modem communication. They chose the OTT Nimbus bubbler sensor with Hydras 3 software to accomplish this task. Read More.

Ground Water Level Sensors

Pressure Sensor and Logger

OTT Orpheus Mini and ITC Provide Remote Access to Water Level Data Critical to Monitoring Levee Repairs
In late August of 2005, the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina damaged two sections of the back levee near Braithwaite and Scarsdale, two towns located Southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. The substantial damage to the Caernarvon outfall area and the Breton Sound estuary prompted the Interagency Advisory Committee and the Caernarvon Technical work group to discuss changes to the operational plan that would benefit the affected area. The changes need to allow for discharges up to 7,500 cubic feet per second for 20 days during a portion of the year. Read More.

Meteorological Sensors

Weighing Precipitation Gauge

Proven OTT Precipitation Gauge Chosen for Critical Applications Nationwide
Several U.S. government agencies have recently designated OTT as their official precipitation gauge following extensive testing and evaluation. Read More.

Integrated Systems

Lake Oswego, Oregon – Storm Water Runoff
For the City of Lake Oswego, Oregon, quantifying the effects of watershed urbanization upon Oswego Lake – an important local fresh water reservoir – is instrumental for proving the future success of up-stream pollution prevention programs. Hach Environmental supplied the instrumentation that allowed Lake Oswego to create two compact and unobtrusive water quality monitoring stations that leave a small footprint and have low impact to the surrounding natural environment. In addition, the Hach Environmental instruments deliver data in a repeatable, low-cost way that was necessary for the long-term success of the monitoring program. Read More.

Harlan High School Monitors Local Iowa Watersheds
It's no typical chemistry class at Harlan High School in Harlan, Iowa, where a class project monitors two local watersheds, thanks to a grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and a Hach Environmental solution incorporating both Hydrolab and OTT products. Read More.