Development of an automated wastewater holding pond monitoring system for early detection of unintended sub-surface discharge.

The goal of this project is to develop a stand-alone Automated Groundwater Contamination Monitor capable of collecting daily measures of soil and groundwater quality near the perimeter of earthen ponds used to store animal and industrial wastewater. Monitoring wells, mandated by most regulatory agencies, have been shown to be incapable of such rapid and reliable detection and do not offer producers the ability to be proactive in their wastewater management. AgraTek is developing an new electronic monitor that can be deployed at wastewater holding ponds to serve as an early-warning system for detecting unintended subsurface discharge that could threaten soil and groundwater quality. This will help animal producers (beef, swine, poultry and dairies) and other industries (petroleum, and mining) to monitor and manage their wastewater and enable them to quickly start remediation efforts in the event of a holding pond leak. To accomplish this, we are developing new electronic instrumentation to process data from low-cost probes near the surface Automated analysis of the data will create a digital "map" that shows soil conditions in a broad cross section that extends deep below the surface near waste water holding ponds. If a leak occurs, the system will detect the change within a few hours and send a warning message to the site manager, who can begin remediation quickly. This new technology will help federal and state environmental regulatory agencies in their efforts to minimize the risk of contamination of rural and municipal water supplies from animal and industrial waste. The significant economic benefit to meat animal producers and dairies is to avoid the high cost of installing and maintaing sampling wells. Widespread adoption of this system will do much to reduce the impact of decreasing supplies of safe water as population and food production increases.