Introducing Protector and understanding contamination threats

InfoWater Pro includes the Protector, a powerful app for conducting and ensuring the security of a water distribution system.

An image of the Protector app icon.

Used for water security planning, vulnerability assessment, and consequence management.

Help estimate the consequences of a crisis event on drinking water supply infrastructure.

Assists in formulating emergency response, recovery, remediation, and contingency plans, as well as preparing security upgrades.

Accessible from the InfoWater Pro Apps menu.

User interface is divided into several tabs, each with a Protector module:

Contamination Module:

Helps to determine the extent of a contaminant after its initial introduction to the system.

Example contaminants: pathogens, toxic metals, toxic organic compounds, and radioactive materials.

In the Protector, settings for the Contamination module, with the active Contamination tab highlighted in red.

The Isolation Module:

Identifies which pipes contain shut-off valves, and which do not.

Solution generated by Isolation simulation allows accurate identification of pipes that can and should be closed to isolate a node element from the rest of the water system.

In the Protector, settings for the Isolation module, with the active Isolation tab highlighted in red.

Breakdown Module:

Used to determine which pipes in a hydraulic network will need to be closed during the event of a pipe break.

In the Protector, settings for the Breakdown module, with the active Breakdown tab highlighted in red.

Fire Module:

Helps to determine if delivering fire flows is possible during a breakdown or isolation event.

In Fire simulation, can remove any portion of hydraulic system by specifying a facility set—via Isolation or Breakdown tabs—involved in contamination event.

Determines whether a fire can be extinguished if a portion of the system is closed.

In two side-by-side images, the Protector, with the active Fire tab and the Critical Node Searching Range drop-down highlighted in red, and in the second image, a fire flow report.

Event Trace Module:

Allows selection of any node or nodes to conduct a trace algorithm to determine the extent of contamination from a selected source node or nodes at a specific time.

In the Protector, Event Trace tab, the Edit Domain, Trace, Source(s) Identification, and Run options are numbered 1,2,3,and 4, respectively, to indicate steps to follow.

Vulnerability Module:

Conducts a criticality analysis:

Breaks selected pipes in the system, one at a time
Determines if pressures and flows can be satisfied with the pipe out of service
Generates report when complete, showing effects of each pipe break

In two side-by-side images, the Protector, Vulnerability tab, with settings for the Vulnerability module, and in the second image, a Vulnerability report.

Alert Module:

Used to quickly visualize and report the extent of an event.

Allows sorting—in order of increasing distance from the event location—all affected customers for priority notification.

In the Protector, the Alert tab, with settings for the Alert module.

Notification Module:

Enables use of GIS-based parcel information to notify customers who may be affected by a contamination, node isolation, pipe breakdown, or an event trace condition.

To generate list of customers for notification, must have an established GIS customer parcel base coverage.

In the Protector, the Notification tab, with settings for the Notification module, including a list of customers and contact information.

Protector Options Dialog:

Click Options from any Protector tab to access the Protector Options dialog box.

The Protector Options dialog box, with Customer Selection Method settings highlighted in red.

Where GIS-based layer for conducting customer notifications is assigned.

Can also invoke CityWatch to send customer notifications in the event of an emergency.

CityWatch:

Third-party notification server that governments or utilities may subscribe to
Provides ability to create, target, and send instant alert or notification messages to thousands of destinations within minutes
When activated, Protector automatically generates information required by CityWatch to send instant alerts and other notifications to telephones, cell phones, pagers (text/numeric), e-mail addresses, fax machines, wireless devices, PDAs, SMS devices, and more.
Can check status of CityWatch notifications on Message Log tab:

In the Protector, the Message Log tab, with a spreadsheet for viewing the status of CityWatch notifications.