Homeland Security is at the forefront of every Public Water Utility in the USA. This is underpinned by the Federal Government’s 2002 Bioterrorism Act, which legislates that water supplies must be protected from potential terrorist threats. Following on from a recent security review, Northshore Utility District has deployed an IndigoVision site-wide integrated IP Video surveillance system using High-Definition (HD) cameras to help it combat terrorism and improve public and staff safety. The integrated solution was designed and installed by IndigoVision’s Partner, Reliable Security Sound & Data, who has also been the District’s designated security vendor of choice for many years.

Northshore Utility District is a special purpose water and sewer utility located at the Northeast end of Lake Washington in King County, WA. The District encompasses more than 17 square miles and serves over 65,000 people. With 263 miles of sewer pipe, 15 lift stations, 260 miles of water main, 3 water pumping stations and eight water storage facilities with a combined capacity of 29 million gallons, Northshore creates a demanding security environment. This requires a distributed solution that can stream high-quality surveillance video over large distances.

The new system replaced analog surveillance equipment that was end-of-life and delivered poor quality video, as Stephen Schommer, P.E., the District’s Information Systems & Technology Director explains, “There were a number of instances where the old surveillance system caught perpetrators close up on camera, but we still couldn’t get a clear picture for identification. In contrast, the new IndigoVision HD cameras provide us with amazing video quality – in some cases it’s like looking out of the window!”

A combination of 38 High-Definition and Standard-Definition cameras have been installed at the main site HQ and at 5 remote pumping station/reservoir sites, the furthest being over 5 miles away. Operators using ‘Control Center’, IndigoVision’s Security Management Software can view live and recorded video from any camera. Video is recorded on standalone RAID-5 Network Video Recorders (NVRs).

IndigoVision’s distributed architecture allows any camera, video workstation or NVR to be located at any point on the network. Video from the HQ and each of the remote sites is recorded onto locally installed NVRs. Live and archived video from the remote sites is accessed over a standard broadband link by operators at the main site. The ability to deliver HD video across low bandwidth network links is made possible because of IndigoVision’s class-leading compression technology.

“Since starting Reliable Security in 1980, I have waited 30 years to see video this good,” said Bill Miller, President, Reliable Security Sound & Data. “What makes it even better are the very low bit rates that the HD cameras are using, which range from around 1 to 2.5mbps depending on the amount of scene motion.”

Another important system needed for homeland security is electronic access control. Alongside the IP Video, Reliable Security installed a Maxxess access control system, which has been seamlessly integrated with IndigoVision’s solution over the IP network. This was achieved via an integration module in ‘Control Center’ and creates a more efficient and responsive operator environment. Through the advanced alarm handling facilities in ‘Control Center’, alarms from both security systems are consolidated into one universal operator interface. This allows alarms from one system to trigger events in the other. Cameras currently monitor all access control card readers and each card swipe is bookmarked with the recorded video, providing a complete visual audit of all people entering and leaving the various facilities.