EnviDat

Overview

EnviDat is a client/server system which works on the platforms Microsoft Windows 2000, XP or Windows 7 and works with all current market Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), such as, Oracle, MS-Access, MS SQL Server. Although EnviDat was developed for applications in the area of environmental protection, it is a developer environment with which information systems and management systems can be also structured for quite different purposes and be run successfully, for example, for the management of dates and addresses or for knowledge management.

Design

EnviDat can be combined with all known RDBMS, and can, at any time, easily be transferred into a new system or linked up to an additional system. In EnviDat data management and program user interfaces are held strictly separated. Data is organised in class-object structure. The objects not only contain properties, but also methods for processing them. For practical data maintenance the necessary programs for word processing, table processing (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel), vector or pixel graphics (e.g. Coral Draw), are opened directly from EnviDat making it possible to enter and edit complicated information such as procedure descriptions, in a user friendly way.

Areas of application

Currently the following areas are covered by EnviDat:

• Waste water management including STOAT-sewage treatment plant simulation
• Plant management BImSchG
• Federal state emissions register (sewage, exhaust air, waste, noise)
• Plant management VAwS
• Laboratory information and laboratory management systems
• Production of substance flow balances and plant sheets for BImSchG applications

The data model and necessary basic functions are easily configurable in EnviDat. The flexibility of the data model allows selected settings to be changed any time, even while in use. When making the basic configuration it will need to be checked whether some of the information is already available in a database system such as Informix, Microsoft Access or Oracle, and therefore directly usable. Generally all data which is already in tabular form can be entered. EnviDat is therefore not necessarily a substitute for existing database systems, but can be used as a supplement to them. As long as data is stored in so called Flat files, for example Microsoft Excel or dBASE, they can be transmitted by means of a parser into EnviDat. To configure the system for the various requirements, the appropriate balance limits must be considered.

Integration with the sewage treatment plants simulation software STOAT

Sewage treatment plant simulation is made possible with the software package STOAT (Sewage Treatment Operation and Analysis over Time) from the company Water Research Centre. With STOAT, the reduction and restraint performances of the waste water treatment of many different plants can be more dynamically simulated. EnviDat prepares the necessary entry data for the respective models, STOAT computes the subsequent discharge values of the plants to be examined. It can also carry out very complicated "What would happen if...?" calculations, for example for a planned new plant or temporary changes to an existing plant. Last but not least, the use of EnviDat in connection with STOAT also offers decided improvements for the management of operational disturbances at the plant location. By the application of STOAT we closely work together with the company EnviaTec GmbH (www.enviatec.de).