Digitalisation of soil & groundwater data

Related theme: Data Intelligence Solutions

Arkema is a worldwide company producing specialty material for a wide range of applications including paintings, coatings, insulation, transportation, electrical devices and mechanical tools. Under EU and national regulations, the company has to monitor soil and groundwater quality. Arkema needs a reliable database in which to collect and store its vast amount of environmental data and a digital platform to automate visualization.

Challenge – From data complexity to clarity

With environmental legislation becoming stricter, regular assessments are required during a site’s lifetime into environmental, ecological and societal pollution. Firstly, the company has over 50 production sites across Europe and therefore generates an enormous amount of data. Secondly, that data is stored in a variety of locations and in different document formats, which proves a particular challenge to digitalise in the database standard. The quality of the data also varies: data from smaller sites with fewer reporting obligations was collected decades ago, when modern measuring techniques were not yet available. That makes it harder to compare historical and recent data. And lastly, the company relies on a small team of remediation experts to harmonize data and perform internal/external reporting. That poses the risk of a potential loss of knowledge during sickness or job changes.  A centralised database and visualization tool is needed to overcome these challenges. In order to evaluate the potential solution provided by TAUW, a pilot phase was contracted.

Solutions - Unifying the past to protect the future

TAUW has developed a database platform with a viewer functionality to convert data into tables, graphs, and maps. During this pilot phase, soil and groundwater data measured in a specific area undergoing remediation of a site was supplied in a range of formats from digital documents in Word or Excel formats to handwritten reports or notes. 

The first step in the digitalisation process was to provide an overview of all the data contained in 57 documents. The document review being a time-consuming process, TAUW has developed an automated tool to scan the documents. In the current pilot phase, we checked and recalibrated the tool for accuracy and where necessary conducted thorough manual checks into the contents of the documents. During that initial process we identified which steps could be automated to 90% accuracy (for example : data type, measurement units, validity check, etc.) and which still required manual checks (for example : detailed soil texture attribution, data interpretation, etc.). Once completed, this initial phase allowed us to automate the data digitalization steps as efficiently as possible, so the database could be filled quickly.

Impact – Future safe

The client’s data is now stored in one place, in the same format and is therefore easier to access, with less risk of data loss. The client’s remediation experts are now reviewing the quality of data interpretation and the various data visualization tools, such as colour-coded concentration results (table and map), concentration trends with time (table and graph), and area contouring (hydraulic potential contours or contaminant plumes). 

Based on this pilot phase, the client is now able to verify if TAUW’s solution answers all technical and digital security requirements, how to enhance it, and if it contributes to securing the company’s data management process as a whole. For the follow-up phase, TAUW foresees the implementation on all sites of interest for the client and potential additional functionalities such as automated reports. The client will be able to generate reports at the press of a button for authorities or company management.

Partnership – Taking the time to get it right, on time.

TAUW worked closely with Arkema, particularly in the initial stages of the project. The preparation phase was a time-consuming and slow process. We purposely made the pilot stage difficult to ensure reliable and transparent results. Once we completed the pilot successfully, we were able to automate the data collection process and finish the project within the deadline.

"A long but crucial process of critical analysis and consistent reformatting of the data, transforming it into a usable working tool." — Project Leader, Arkema