Multi Sensor Systems Blog

For years, residents living near Ballona Creek and environmentalists have complained of mysterious sheens of oil and grease in the western Los Angeles County waterway, often blaming industrial dumping, urban runoff or other man-made causes for the pollution.

The tar pits, in Wilshire Boulevard’s Miracle Mile neighborhood, overflow during heavy rains, overwhelming the devices that separate oil from water. Polluted runoff then gets into the storm drain system, spilling into the creek and emptying into the ocean, according to county planners.

The Page Museum and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County have paid regional water regulators $15,000 in fines for releasing polluted water into the storm drains in 2006. And in 2002, the Page Museum paid $3,000 to a coastal cleanup project to settle a stormwater discharge violation.

Since 2009, the county has pumped excess water from the area into the sewer system, where it is treated before being released into the ocean. The measure was designed to be only temporary, and Los Angeles County supervisors voted earlier this month to spend $2 million to build a new system that will clean the water before it is deposited into the sewers.

For further details please see the LA Times website

About 5,000 gallons of oil has spilled into the River Lark in Bury St Edmunds, polluting a 2.5 mile stretch.

The Environment Agency said they were alerted on Monday evening and found red diesel entering the river near the Eastern Way Industrial Estate.

It has affected the waterway downstream to the Suffolk Golf & Country Club.

The Agency said it was carrying out an investigation and would take any appropriate enforcement action.

For full details visit the BBC News Website

5th December 2011

Multisensor Systems Ltd are pleased to announce the appointment of MISCOwater, as our official distributor for the south western states.

MISCOwater will be handling all enquiries relating to California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. The agreement covers the full current range of Multisensor Systems Products, including the highly successful VOC monitor MS1100 and our revolutionary new THM monitor, the MS2000.

For more information on MISCOwater, please visit their website or contact Chris McCampbell P.E. on (+1) 949 458 5555

28th November 2011

Multisensor Systems Ltd are pleased to announce the appointment of WJF Instrumentation of Calgary, as our official distributor for Western Canada.

WJF Instrumentation will be handling all enquiries relating to Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The agreement covers the full current range of Multisensor Systems Products, including the highly successful VOC monitor MS1100 and our revolutionary new THM monitor, the MS2000.

For more information on WJF, please visit their website or contact Sheldon Wrubleskj on (+1) 877 291 5572

An ongoing court case, claiming that toxic hydrocarbon pollutants leaked from the neighboring property onto the Plaintiffs’ property. Plaintiffs, in their lawsuit, have alleged that its soil has been contaminated by oil and other hydrocarbon products as a result of years of leaks emanating from storage tanks maintained by the neighbouring company.

Court documents state that Plaintiffs claim their damages are in excess of $30,000,000 and that remediation may cause the shut down of their business. Plaintiffs are engaged in on-going testing and monitoring of their site to insure that the pollutants are not contaminating the ground water.

see the full article here

Environment Agency officers will be visiting 43 companies on the Dunkirk Industrial Estate near Nottingham to carry out pollution prevention and hazardous waste visits between 7th. and 9th. September 2011.

The main aim of these visits is to work with the companies on the Dunkirk Estate to prevent any pollution incidents, such as fuel and oil going down surface water drains and ending up in the nearby Tottle Brook. Tottle Brook has also suffered from various other environmental incidents in the past which have included fly-tipping and illegal waste.

See the full story here

The source of oil which polluted Aberystwyth harbour has been found, says Environment Agency Wales.

The red diesel oil spill has been traced to a nearby company, which has not been named, but the investigation into the cause is continuing.

Officials said the pollution had stopped but “residue” in the sewerage system could still get flushed out and enter the harbour.

Traces of the pollution have also been reported on Aberystwyth South beach.

On Monday, Public Health Wales and Ceredigion County Council were advising people who were staying on boats in the area to seek alternative accommodation.

They also said it might be advisable for residents to keep doors and windows closed.

The oil caused a “visible sheen” on the water, and odour problems had persisted in the area but officials expected the situation to improve.

for the full story go to BBC news website

Manchester, UK – 16^th August 2011 – Multisensor Systems Ltd has announced the launch of the MS2000, an on-line Trihalomethane (THM) in water monitoring instrument, based on advanced gas sensing techniques. The instrument is designed to measure THM concentrations down to less than 10 ppb.

Unlike other methods of measuring THMs the Multisensor product does not require laboratory facilities nor does it employ any chemicals in its implementation. This reduces costs and time in monitoring THMs at the output of water treatment works or in the distribution network.

The Multisensor THM Monitor works by passing gas, from the headspace above the water, across a sensor array. The data from the sensors is subsequently processed to provide concentration levels and statistics. There is no direct contact with the water being monitored and therefore servicing is only required every 6 months, minimising cost.

The instrument reports concentrations of THMs using a variety of communications interface options, including wireless, digital wired interfaces such as Profibus and a 4 – 20mA analogue current loop for SCADA systems. Historical data is stored within the monitor and this can be downloaded for further analysis via the wireless interface or by connecting a PC to the USB port. This method is also used for firmware upload and reporting of instrument status.

Working with power supplies from 100V to 240V AC or 24V DC over a temperature range of 0 – 40C the product provides accuracy of +/- 5% using the sample presentation system which is provided.

-ENDS-

Press Contact: Brad Weaterton.  Tel 0161 491 5600

Email brad.weaterton@multisensor.co.uk

Multisensor Systems Ltd (www.multisensor.co.uk) is a privately funded developer and supplier of highly sensitive instruments for the detection of environmentally harmful contaminants in water and air. Multisensor Systems specialises in the development and supply of products using advanced gas sensing technology. Using a variety of different sensor types the company designs signal processing and interfacing hardware and software, to provide cost effective solutions to monitor and protect a variety of clean and waste water installations, conduct air monitoring and detect harmful organic chemicals .

Multisensor are pleased to welcome Mark Brown, a new addition to our growing business here in Cheadle

Mark will complement the team with his knowledge and experience in his role heading up our sales department.

We are all looking forward to working with Mark and wish him all the best in his new role.

The EPA has set up a trihalomethane assessment program to fully review THM issues nationally.
Since 2007, the number of public water supplies failing to meet recommended minimum THM concentrations, has been increasing.

Full details can be found here