IBM in the Water: Monitoring H2O Quality in Ireland

By Michael Kanellos

To help solve the world's water problems, we're going to need data first.

As part of its water initiative IBM has created a portal with An Taisce, the national trust of Ireland, to monitor water quality, pollution levels, tides, weather and other factors at 130 beaches and lakes. The plan is to then roll this out to other regions and nations. The portal, called Splash, is open to the public.

While Ireland is obligated to collect the data under EU directives, the goal of the program is not just to obtain localized information. Ultimately, IBM hopes to mine the data to see if it can discern trends in storm water runoff, pollution percolation and other issues.

"It is more of a predictive tool," said Cameron Brooks, director of Big Green Innovations at IBM.

While IBM has begun to conduct research and assume projects in smart grid and solar, expect to see Big Blue increasingly identified with water. Water represents one of those sprawling, under-researched problems that will take time, government grants, logistical know-how and scientific expertise to fix. Thus, it's ideally suited for conglomerates like IBM, General Electric (GE) and Siemens (SI).

The projects and issues vary widely. In the Netherlands, IBM is engaged on flood control projects, which involve creating computerized simulations for various levee and storm water scenarios for Rotterdam and other cities. In Malta, IBM is trying to figure out if there are ways to increase water use efficiency and reduce the power associated with delivering water: Malta now heavily relies on desalination. In Dubuque, Iowa, it is working on a system that can more accurately predict leaks in the delivery system.

"30 percent of the water that is treated (on average in the world) does not make it to the tap," he said.

Another project in Northern China revolves around pollution analytics. IBM is also experimenting in the labs with materials to see if anything it has devised for semiconductors can be used for desalination or producing power through osmotic pressure.

Scary fun facts: The earth pretty much has the same amount of water – 1.4 billion cubic kilometers – as it did a few billion years ago. Only about 0.75 percent of that, however, consists of readily accessible groundwater or freshwater, according to the World Water Council. The rest is frozen (2.25 percent) or salty (97 percent.).