This article from the Internet of Things Institute discusses how cooling towers that are part of the IoT can be more efficient and pathogen-free.
Since the 1976 outbreak that gave Legionnaires' Disease its name, cooling towers have been breeding grounds for the deadly bacteria. Fighting micro-organisms like the Legionella bacterium with harsh chemicals can lead to an entirely different set of health risks.
But using short bursts of electricity to kill water-bourn pathogens opens new possibilities. According to Max Martina, president of Griswold Water Systems (GWS), an IoT-based approach provides four benefits:
First, it enables the company to ensure water savings takes place by tracking the efficiency of the cooling towers. Second, it enables the GWS service team to respond immediately if there is a system upset, thus reducing system downtime. Third, the technology can track whether the equipment is effectively treating the water. Lastly, the technology gives the company data to counter incorrect claims from competitors with real-time data.