Using CANARY event detection software for water quality analysis in the Milwaukee River

Urban water sources are susceptible to various contamination events as a result of natural, accidental, and human-induced occurrences. An early warning monitoring system provides timely information on changes in urban water quality. In this study, an analysis was made with CANARY event detection software (EDS) to monitor water quality parameters in river water and to identify the onset of anomalous water quality periods. Water quality signals including pH, conductivity, and turbidity from the Milwaukee River over specified periods during the summer season of 2018–2020 were employed as inputs to event detection algorithms in CANARY. The data analysis results show that CANARY can be useful as an early warning system for monitoring contamination in urban water sources and help to identify abnormal conditions quickly. The sensibility of the model relies on optimizing the configuration parameters, which involves selecting the ideal set of parameters for the event detection algorithm and adjusting the BED parameters to increase or decrease the probability of generating an alarm. The number of events reported between the Linear Prediction Correction Filter (LPCF) and Multivariate Nearest Neighbor (MVNN) algorithms varied as a result of different residual calculation mechanisms. Climate factors that contributed to the abnormal water quality events in the river were examined. The analysis of rainfall on water quality was carried out using a statistical method by determining whether there is a significant difference (p-value) between the seasonal mean water quality data and the mean value of water parameters during the sampling duration. Regression analysis was also performed to estimate the best model that describes the relationship between each of the water quality parameters and temperature.