Sparse data environmental equipment threshold compliance alarm system and method

• US 20070106527A1
• Filed: 11/03/2006
• Published: 05/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jerry L Mckinney 2002 Trust
• Original Assignee: Jerry L Mckinney 2002 Trust
• Inventors: McKinney, Jerry
• Granted Patent: US 8,386,303 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2209/008 comprising telecommunication features, e.g. modems or antennas
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2303/14 Maintenance of water treatment installations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06395 Quality analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/823 where the data is sent when the measured values exceed a threshold, e.g. sending an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 10/37 using solar energy

Abstract

A sparse data system is provided for verifying operational compliance of a plurality of environmental systems. To reduce operational costs to a minimum, the quantity of data transmitted is minimized and the data is only transmitted at certain times. If systems are compliant, then information is preferably not sent. If systems are non-compliant, then notices are sent to parties of interest at effectively the same time as the noncompliance occurs. Subsequent alarm detection level may also be sent after detection of an operational threshold to provide notice for continued ongoing or severe noncompliance.

Claims

1. A sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental systems, said environmental systems being serviced by service personnel, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental systems, a plurality of responsible parties being responsible for one or more payments related to respective ones of said plurality of environmental systems, said regulatory body designating a threshold for an amount of wastewater to be treated within a period of time for each of said plurality of environmental systems, said environmental systems being serviced by service personnel, said method comprising:

providing at least one wastewater flow sensor at each of said plurality of environmental systems;

programming at least one processor for each of said plurality of environmental systems for receiving data from said at least one wastewater flow sensor and for determining when said threshold is reached;

providing an electronic connection from each of said plurality of environmental systems to at least one server computer; and

programming said at least one processor for reporting over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer only after said step of determining that said threshold has been reached.

2. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 further comprising programming said at least one processor such that after said step of reporting then not reporting again until a particular period of time during which said threshold is reached has ended.

3. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 wherein said permitted threshold is described as a specified number of gallons of wastewater to be treated during any one day.

4. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 further comprising programming said at least one processor such that after said step of reporting then not reporting again during a particular period of time in which said threshold is reached unless at least one additional threshold for an additional amount of wastewater is reached during said particular period of time.

5. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 further comprising programming said at least one processor to accumulate said data received from said wastewater flow sensor to provide an accumulated count of said amount of wastewater to be treated within a particular period of time, and to subsequently delete said data from said accumulated count after said particular period of time.

6. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 wherein said at least one processor is not programmed for receiving incoming electronic queries on said electronic connection that query the amount of wastewater that has been processed during any particular one of said specified period of time.

7. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 wherein said wastewater flow sensor detects pump operation.

8. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 further comprising programming said at least one processor to accumulate said data received from said wastewater flow sensor to provide an accumulated count of said amount of wastewater to be treated within a particular period of time, and to reset said accumulated count to zero when said particular period of time has ended such that said accumulated count for any particular period of time begins at zero.

9. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 1 further comprising electronically notifying at least one of said service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties when said permitted threshold has been reached.

10. The sparse data method of claim 1 further comprising programming said at least one server computer to electronically contact a respective receiving device of at least one of said service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties when said permitted threshold has been reached.

11. A sparse data threshold monitoring system operable for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental systems, said environmental systems being serviced by service personnel, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental systems, a plurality of responsible parties being responsible for one or more payments related to respective ones of said plurality of environmental systems, a threshold for a flow rate of wastewater to be treated for regulatory compliance for each of said plurality of environmental systems, said system comprising:

an electronic connection from each of said plurality of environmental systems to at least one server computer accessible by at least one of said regulatory body, said service personnel, and said plurality of responsible parties;

at least one wastewater flow sensor at each of said plurality of environmental systems;

at least one processor for each of said plurality of environmental systems, said at least one processor being programmed for receiving data from said wastewater flow sensor for determining whether said threshold is reached, said at least one processor being programmed for initiating electronic communication to report over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer only after detection of said threshold being reached.

12. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 11 wherein said at least one processor is programmed for initiating communication after said report to subsequently report at least once more over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer, but only after said at least one processor determines that an additional specified amount of wastewater is received during a particular period of time in which said threshold was initially reached.

13. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 11 wherein said at least one processor is programmed to create an accumulated count of said wastewater to be treated based on said data received from said wastewater flow sensor and to remove data from said accumulated count when said data from said wastewater flow sensor is older than a specified period of time.

14. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 13 wherein said specified period of time is a one day period of time.

15. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 14 wherein said at least one processor is programmed to reset said accumulated count of amount of wastewater to be treated at a beginning of each respective one day period of time.

16. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 11 wherein said at least one processor is not programmed to receive incoming electronic queries on said electronic connection that query whether said threshold has been reached.

17. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 11 wherein said at least one wastewater flow sensor comprises a pump operation sensor.

18. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 11 wherein said at least one server computer is programmed to electronically contact a respective receiving device of at least one of said service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties only after said threshold has been reached.

19. A sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental systems, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental systems, a plurality of responsible parties being responsible for respective ones of said plurality of environmental systems, said method comprising:

providing at least one sensor at each of said plurality of environmental systems;

programming at least one processor for each of said plurality of environmental systems for receiving data from said at least one sensor and for determining when an operational threshold is reached;

providing an electronic connection from each of said plurality of environmental systems to at least one server computer; and

programming said at least one processor for reporting over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer only after said step of determining that said operational threshold has been reached.

20. The sparse data method of claim 19, wherein said operational threshold is predetermined and is selected to indicate when said environmental system requires servicing.

21. The sparse data method of claim 19, wherein said operational threshold is predetermihed and selected to indicate when a functionality of said environmental system is significantly reduced.

22. The sparse data method of claim 21, wherein said environmental system is a wastewater system and said functionality of said environmental system is significantly reduced when flow through said wastewater system is greater than a predetermined flow capacity of said wastewater system.

23. The sparse data method of claim 21, wherein said environmental system comprises a drainage control system and said functionality of said environmental system is significantly reduced when at least one debris filter in said drainage control system requires servicing.

24. The sparse data method of claim 19 further comprising programming said at least one processor such that after said step of reporting then not reporting again until a particular period of time during which said threshold is reached has ended.

25. The sparse data method of claim 19 wherein said operational threshold is a specified limit to a number of gallons of wastewater to be treated by said environmental system during any one day as determined by said regulatory body.

26. The sparse data method of claim 19 further comprising programming said at least one processor such that after said step of reporting then not reporting again during a particular period of time in which said threshold is reached unless at least one additional threshold for an additional amount of wastewater is reached during said particular period of time.

27. The sparse data method of claim 19 wherein said environmental system comprises a wastewater treatment system for treating wastewater and further comprising programming said at least one processor to accumulate said data received from said sensor to provide an accumulated count of said amount of wastewater to be treated within a particular period of time, and to subsequently delete said data from said accumulated count after said particular period of time.

28. The sparse data method of claim 19 wherein said at least one sensor comprises at least one of a float, a strain gage, and a flow meter.

29. The sparse data method of claim 19 wherein said environmental system comprises a drainage control system and said operational threshold comprises monitoring said at least one sensor to determine whether a water level of a retention pond is maintained for a predetermined period of time whereupon said at least one processor reports over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer that at least one debris filter requires servicing.

30. The sparse data method of claim 29 further comprising not reporting again unless said water level is maintained for a second predetermined period of time whereupon said at least one processor makes a second report over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer.

31. The sparse data method of claim 30, wherein said at least one sensor comprises at least one strain gage, said at least one sensor further comprising at least one of a float and flow meter

32. The sparse data method of claim 31 further comprising comparing a strain placed on a debris filter utilizing data from said at least one strain gage and fluid data comprising a level of a retention pond to determine whether said debris filter requires servicing.

33. The sparse data method of claim 32 wherein said servicing comprises at least one of replacing said debris filter and cleaning said at least one debris filter.

34. The sparse data method of claim 19 further comprising utilizing a respective strain placed on respective ones of a plurality of debris filters for determining whether said respective ones of said plurality of debris filters requires servicing.

35. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 24 wherein said at least one processor is programmed in a manner that said at one processor does not receive incoming electronic queries on said electronic connection that query the amount of wastewater that has been processed during any particular period of time.

36. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 19 wherein said sensor detects pump operation.

37. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 19 wherein said environmental system comprises a wastewater treatment system and further comprises programming said at least one processor to accumulate said data received from said sensor to provide an accumulated count of an amount of wastewater to be treated within a particular period of time, and to reset said accumulated count to zero when said particular period of time has ended such that said accumulated count for any particular period of time begins at zero.

38. The sparse data method for determining regulatory compliance of claim 19 further comprising electronically notifying at least one of service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties when said operational threshold has been reached.

39. The sparse data method of claim 19 further comprising programming said at least one server computer to electronically contact a respective receiving device of at least one of service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties when said operational threshold has been reached.

40. The sparse data method of claim 19, wherein said environmental system comprises a wastewater treatment system and further comprising said regulatory body designating said operational threshold for an amount of wastewater to be treated within a period of time for each of said plurality of environmental systems.

41. A sparse data threshold monitoring system operable for determining regulatory compliance of a plurality of environmental systems, there being a regulatory body for monitoring said plurality of environmental systems, a plurality of responsible parties being responsible for respective ones of said plurality of environmental systems, said system comprising:

an electronic connection from each of said plurality of environmental systems to at least one server computer accessible by at least one of said regulatory body, at least one service personnel, or said plurality of responsible parties;

at least one sensor at each of said plurality of environmental systems;

at least one processor for each of said plurality of environmental systems, said at least one processor being programmed for receiving data from said sensor for determining whether an operational threshold is reached, said at least one processor being programmed for initiating electronic communication to report over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer only after detection of said operational threshold is reached.

42. The sparse data monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said operational threshold comprises a threshold for a flow rate of wastewater to be treated by said environmental system as determined by said regulatory body for each of said plurality of environmental systems.

43. The sparse data monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said operational threshold comprises determining that at least one debris filter for a water drainage control system requires servicing.

44. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 42 wherein said at least one processor is programmed for initiating communication after said report to subsequently report at least once more over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer, but only after said at least one processor determines that an additional specified amount of wastewater is received during a particular period of time in which said threshold was initially reached.

45. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 44 wherein said at least one processor is programmed to create an accumulated count of said wastewater to be treated based on said data received from said sensor and to remove data from said accumulated count when said data from said sensor is older than a specified period of time.

46. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 45 wherein said specified period of time is a one day period of time.

47. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 46 wherein said at least one processor is programmed to reset said accumulated count of amount of wastewater to be treated at a beginning of each respective one day period of time.

48. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said at least one processor is not programmed to receive incoming electronic queries on said electronic connection that query whether said threshold has been reached.

49. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said at least one sensor comprises a pump operation sensor.

50. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said at least one server computer is programmed to electronically contact a respective receiving device of at least one of said service personnel, said regulatory body, or said plurality of responsible parties only after said threshold has been reached.

51. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 41 wherein said environmental system is a drainage control system and said processor is programmed to determine whether a debris filter to filter trash requires replacement.

52. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 51, wherein said at least one sensor comprises at least one strain gage, said at least one sensor further comprising at least one of a float and flow meter

53. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 52 wherein said processor is programed to compare a strain force placed on a debris filter utilizing data from said at least one strain gage and fluid data comprising a level of a pond to determine whether said debris filter requires servicing.

54. The sparse data threshold monitoring system of claim 41 further comprising a plurality of debris filters and wherein said processor is programmed to determine whether a respective strain force placed on respective ones of said plurality of debris filters indicates whether said respective ones of said plurality of debris filters requires servicing.

55. The sparse data system of claim 41 wherein said environmental system comprises a drainage control system and said processor is programmed to monitor said at least one sensor in and determine whether a water level of a retention pond is maintained for a predetermined period of time whereupon said at least one processor reports over said electronic connection to said at least one server computer that at least one debris filter requires servicing.

56. The sparse data system of claim 51, further comprising said at least one processor being programmed to send information regarding fluid flow from a respective retention pond, programming for said at least one server for utilizing a database to determine the amount of water flowing from a plurality of retention ponds into a drainage system.

57. The sparse data system of claim 56, further comprising software for predicting water levels in said drainage system.