High resolution data visualization and machine learning prediction of free chlorine residual in a green building water system

ABSTRACT

People spend most of their time indoors and are exposed to numerous contaminants in the built environment. Water management plans implemented in buildings are designed to manage the risks of preventable diseases caused by drinking water contaminants such as opportunistic pathogens (e.g., Legionella spp.), metals, and disinfection by-products (DBPs). However, specialized training required to implement water management plans and heterogeneity in building characteristics limit their widespread adoption. Implementation of machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) models in building water settings presents an opportunity for faster, more widespread use of data-driven water quality management approaches. We demonstrate the utility of Random Forest and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) ML models for predicting a key public health parameter, free chlorine residual, as a function of data collected from building water quality sensors (ORP, pH, conductivity, and temperature) as well as WiFi signals as a proxy for building occupancy and water usage in a “green” Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) commercial and institutional building. The models successfully predicted free chlorine residual declines below 0.2 ppm, a common minimum reference level for public health protection in drinking water distribution systems. The predictions were valid up to 5 min in advance, and in some cases reasonably accurate up to 24 h in advance, presenting opportunities for proactive water quality management as part of a sense-analyze-decide framework. An online data dashboard for visualizing water quality in the building is presented, with the potential to link these approaches for real-time water quality management.

Some Important results

Predictions of time series vs Insitu

The current work presents novel ML algorithms applied to predicting a key health-relevant variable for managing water quality in buildings, free chlorine residual. The ML models predicted free chlorine with reasonable accuracy (RMSE<0.042 ppm, accuracy>94 %) up to 24 h reliably in advance. A data dashboard for real-time water quality visualization was developed, showing 5-min data for water quality sensors on multiple building floors for pH, temperature, ORP, and free chlorine. The goal of the current analysis is to ultimately integrate the developed ML algorithms with the data dashboard for real-time water quality management, for example via notification of trained personnel, automated valve operation, or temperature setting control with a goal of some period of advance notice.