The water coming from faucets in one Bay area county should be a bit cleaner now.
- Pasco water now cleaner thanks to new device
- Utility employees develop device to improve water quality
- Device to test water in real time, provide better results
Crews in Pasco County have invented a new device that gives them a faster and easier way to improve water quality.
The county said they needed to check water faster and in more real time, so a few employees got together and actually invented something. They call it Neptune--and it's changing the way water quality works in Pasco County.
"So when folks turn on their water back home, they know they're getting good, clean water. Good pH in their water and proper water pressure," Darryl Gibson with Pasco County Utilities said.
Gibson was on the team that developed the mobile unit. He said they can take it anywhere in Pasco County and get instant water quality results.
"Before that, a person would have to go out, take maybe 3 samples a day. This machine will take anywhere from 14 to 16 hundred samples a day," he said.
Neptune analyzes water as it goes in, then sends those results to computers around the county. It gives utility crews a real time look at what is in the water and what it may need.
"We needed something that would give us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week samples so we can make better informed decisions," Rob Marin with Pasco County Utilities said.
Neptune also uses solar panels for power. Overall, county officials said it's saving them money on labor, travel, and water waste.
The county is also looking at getting a patent for Neptune since they developed it themselves.