System Architecture for Kentucky Division of Water Auditing and Certification
2nd Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Junior
2nd Student Major
Computer Science
Institution
Kentucky State University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Dr. Chi Shen
Department
Computer Science
Abstract
The Kentucky Division of Water is responsible for the auditing and record keeping for over 800 drinking water and wastewater labs across Kentucky and surrounding states. These records currently amount to over 80,000 pieces of data — with more accumulating annually. The Agency’s data management has been a collection of simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Data entry and retrieval was by and large done manually. This system was inefficient and time consuming as the data and responsibilities of the Agency continue to grow.
The Authors obtained State data through FOIA, designed, and developed a ground-up web system to serve as a more sophisticated tool for the Agency. Data is stored within a relational database using SQL as the principle language. A website interface allows Division of Water auditors to update and quickly access information according to their most common searches. Laboratory certification is also tracked, and automatic alerts inform auditors as to if and when any laboratory fails to pass regular PT study trials. There is potential for a publicly accessible site, which would allow anyone to also perform searches of the data and become informed as to the quality of their municipal waters.
System Architecture for Kentucky Division of Water Auditing and Certification
The Kentucky Division of Water is responsible for the auditing and record keeping for over 800 drinking water and wastewater labs across Kentucky and surrounding states. These records currently amount to over 80,000 pieces of data — with more accumulating annually. The Agency’s data management has been a collection of simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Data entry and retrieval was by and large done manually. This system was inefficient and time consuming as the data and responsibilities of the Agency continue to grow.
The Authors obtained State data through FOIA, designed, and developed a ground-up web system to serve as a more sophisticated tool for the Agency. Data is stored within a relational database using SQL as the principle language. A website interface allows Division of Water auditors to update and quickly access information according to their most common searches. Laboratory certification is also tracked, and automatic alerts inform auditors as to if and when any laboratory fails to pass regular PT study trials. There is potential for a publicly accessible site, which would allow anyone to also perform searches of the data and become informed as to the quality of their municipal waters.