What you see is what you get: Water flow management made easier with visualization technology

IBM has snagged another green-tech project related to project management, this time along with the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority.

The focus of the project, being managed by the IBM Global Business Services and Research arms, is to create a map of the system (including pipes, valves, collection valves, meters and fire hydrant) using asset management software from IBM and mapping and visualization technology from its partner, ESRI.

"The work of water relies heavily on our ability to monitor our infrastructure," says George Hawkins, general manager of the DC water authority, in an IBM press release. "We can now manage almost every component from central, computer-based systems."

The information will be shared with other public agencies in the district, such as the fire and emergency medical services agencies.

The information HAD been shared on maps and documents originally created in the 1800s.

The second project I was made aware of by Wolfram Research, which makes the Mathematica visual analytics applications. This YouTube video testimonial outlines a groundwater "recharge and discharge" monitoring application that was built by a scientist using Mathematica.