Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), a Virginia wastewater utility, employs various components of the PI system to support our organization in ways that help us be proactive and strategic in our everyday operations. This presentation will demonstrate two examples of how we use the PI System to mitigate catastrophic events on both our wastewater infrastructure as well as our technological infrastructure.

Hampton Roads, Virginia is a unique part of the United States. Most of the 7 cities that make up this region are below sea level and located amidst the rising Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. During hurricane season, the region can be impacted by heavy rainfall, intensified storm surges and strong winds that sometimes leaves the area inundated for days at a time. The PI System provides insight into storms in real-time to allow HRSD’s critical emergency response personnel to react efficiently and mitigate damage to our infrastructure and public safety.

Another important aspect of any organization is the data center. The data center is the critical hub of operations, from housing IT equipment to storing, managing and disseminating data. Although data center designs are unique from one organization to another, the importance and criticality is universal. Due to the critical nature of an IT data center, several components are put into place to help monitor and assess what is happening at any given time. The PI System provides real-time monitoring of temperatures in the data centers and allows for quick response to thermal events