Southern Nevada agencies begin pilot water testing program

Southern Nevada Water Authority and Las Vegas Valley Water District introduced a pilot program Tuesday that will monitor the region’s drinking water for hazardous toxins and heavy-metal compounds.

Powered by technology from San Jose, California-based startup Ketos Inc., the program helps improve water quality and safety through real-time monitoring of elements such as lead, chlorine and arsenic.

“While Southern Nevada maintains excellent water quality that meets or surpasses state and federal standards for safe drinking water, we recognize the value of improved water quality and monitoring for all water utilities,” Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager John Entsminger said in a statement.

Ketos will install its Shield Fabric water management system at SNWA’s pilot treatment plant before it’s deployed within municipal water treatment and distribution systems.

In addition to monitoring the region’s water, Shield Fabric can provide the authority with insights on when to repair pipes based on predictive maintenance capabilities as well as the best filtration methods.

The system also will reduce testing costs because it lowers the number of grab samples needed for water quality testing.

The pilot program was made possible through WaterStart, a public-private nonprofit that works with state agencies and groups to bring the water technology companies into the state.

“Thanks to this initiative, Las Vegas operators will be empowered to know exactly what’s in its water at any point in time,” Meena Sankaran, chief executive of Ketos, said in a release.

Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.