The Town of Zionsville Wastewater and Technology Departments, in collaboration with WeatherSTEM based out of Tallahassee, Florida, have installed two new weather monitoring stations.
The two weather stations upload current weather data to the WeatherSTEM Weather Network each minute of the day. The information is available to the public through the WeatherSTEM network at http://boone.weatherstem.com.
From this site, users can access current weather conditions, archived weather conditions, radar and satellite and upcoming forecasts. In addition, users can access lifestyle forecasts, including anything from driving conditions to watering needs. Another helpful feature is the nearby lightning reader, which could help determine whether or not a local event needs to be moved indoors for safety.
A customizable notifications system allows users to sign up for notifications sent to their phone and email.
Powered by a solar panel, WeatherSTEM stations have a variety of sensors including amounts and rate of rainfall, wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, ultraviolet radiation and solar radiation. The newly installed stations have cloud cameras installed to document the sky conditions each day and a video is produced at the end of the day showing a time-lapse of the minute by minute view.
The data from these stations will be used by various Town departments to help daily planning and operations. The Wastewater Department uses the information gathered each day to plan for additional flow into the department’s system and eventually what will be processed at the treatment plant. This tool also helps the department with daily rainfall tracking, a requirement from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
“With treating water that is in pipes underground, any additional water especially from rainfall can make a big difference in the total amount of water that the treatment plant can handle,” said Wastewater Department Superintendent Barry Cook. “It is helpful to see hourly rainfall so I can better prepare the plant for increases in the flow from different parts of the collection system.”
Each station sends out live updates and forecasts on Facebook (Zionsville Northwest, Wastewater Plant) and Twitter (Zionsville Northwest,Wastewater Plant), and data is available through the WeatherSTEM app.