Townsville Lab and qldwater Collaboration Leads to Streamlined Water Data Management
Date: 10-Sep-2024
In a significant step forward for water data management, qldwater has partnered with Townsville City Council's Laboratory to revolutionise the way water quality results are processed and reported. This collaboration aims to minimise the manual handling of data and introduce a more efficient, automated approach through the swimlocal data management tool.
A Leap Towards Automation
The new system represents a leap in efficiency, enabling lab results to be transferred directly from the laboratory into the swimlocal platform via a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) site. This process eliminates the need for manual entry of data—whether it’s hundreds of pesticide and herbicide results or weekly bacterial analyses—previously extracted from PDF files.
With this automation, the entire process—from sample collection to result analysis, display, and reporting—can now be almost fully automated. After a sample is taken and sent to the lab, the data will soon be accessible on the Council’s swimlocal WebReports Dashboard, all with full Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) measures in place to prevent errors.
Townsville Laboratory Services Commercial Manager Edgar Salvador said his team had made significant strides in upgrading its Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).
“By customising the system to support swimlocal-compatible data structures, we're not only enhancing its operational efficiency but also ensuring it aligns more closely with the needs of our local government clients,” Mr Salvador said.
“This upgrade will streamline data management, improve integration with other systems, and ultimately provide greater value and reliability in our water quality reporting processes."
Integration with Government Systems
One of the most promising aspects of this development is the anticipated integration between swimlocal and the Department of Environment and Science’s WaTERS system. Once operational, this connection will allow results to be sent directly to government systems, satisfying many of Council’s reporting requirements without the need for manual data handling. As always, robust QA/QC checks will ensure that the data’s integrity is maintained throughout the process.
The Role of swimlocal in Water Management
swimlocal is more than just a data management tool; it is a comprehensive system designed to handle water and sewerage data for Service Providers (SPs) and report it to government agencies via the SWIM system. The tool is designed to operate within each SP, allowing them to maintain ultimate flexibility in their water and sewerage data management while integrating with other local systems. Most importantly, it brings QA/QC procedures closer to the point of data capture, ensuring that the data’s accuracy is preserved from the start.
Collaboration and Innovation
The success of this project would not have been possible without the participation and feedback from our member councils. Several councils have partnered with us to directly guide the development and ongoing updates of the swimlocal tools, ensuring that the system meets the real-world needs of those who will be using it.
This collaboration with Townsville City Council's Laboratory is just one example of how qldwater is committed to enhancing water data management across the region. By continuing to innovate and collaborate, we are helping to ensure that our water management processes are as efficient, accurate, and reliable as possible.