Infrastructure monitoring system and method

A method of disseminating information, the method comprising:

• obtaining information about at least one infrastructure from an infrastructure monitoring system, wherein the infrastructure monitoring system is a fluid flow monitoring system, the infrastructure monitoring system comprises an operations center,
• a plurality of monitoring devices communicatively coupled to the operations center, each of the plurality of monitoring devices comprising
• at least one sensor sensing at least one condition within an infrastructure,
• a data storage device storing data sensed by the at least one sensor,
• a first communications device adapted to transmit and receive data, and
• a first processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, the data storage device, and the first communications device, and
• a plurality of control devices communicatively coupled to the operations center, each of the plurality of control devices comprising
• a second communications device adapted to receive and transmit data,
• at least one output port, and
• a second processor communicatively coupled to the second communications device and the at least one output port,
• wherein, at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a first aspect of the infrastructure sensing a first condition, at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a second aspect of the infrastructure including sensing a second condition, and at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a third aspect of the infrastructure including sensing a third condition, the first aspect being contamination and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitoring contamination, the second aspect being leakage and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors for leaks, and the third aspect is pressure and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitor pressure;
• evaluating the information about the at least one infrastructure from the infrastructure monitoring system and determining if a sensed at least one the first sensed condition, the second sensed condition, and the third sensed condition of the at least one infrastructure indicates a problem within the infrastructure;
• and
• determining, by the operations center whether the first, second, or third condition respectively relating to the first, second, or third aspects of the infrastructure detected by the plurality of monitoring devices indicates an amount of contamination determined to be a problem within the infrastructure, an approximate source location of the contamination, and flow direction of the contamination.

An infrastructure monitoring system comprising:

• a plurality of monitoring devices, each of the plurality of monitoring devices comprising
• at least one sensor sensing at least one condition within an infrastructure,
• a data storage device storing data sensed by the at least one sensor,
• a first communications device adapted to transmit and receive data, and
• a first processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, the data storage device, and the first communications device;
• a plurality of control devices, each of the plurality of control devices comprising
• a second communications device adapted to receive and transmit data,
• at least one output port, and
• a second processor communicatively coupled to the second communications device and the at least one output port;
• and
• a remotely hosted operations center, the operations center communicatively coupled to each of the plurality of monitoring devices and each of the plurality of control devices,
• wherein the remotely hosted operations center comprises a plurality of networked computers, servers, and data storage devices, wherein, at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a first aspect of the infrastructure and senses a first condition and at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a second aspect of the infrastructure and senses a second condition and at least one of the plurality of monitoring devices monitors a third aspect of the infrastructure and senses a third condition,
• wherein the infrastructure monitoring system is a fluid flow monitoring system, the infrastructure monitoring system evaluates the first sensed condition, the second sensed condition, and the third sensed condition, and determines if at least one of the first sensed condition, the second sensed condition, and third sensed condition indicates a problem within the infrastructure,
• wherein the plurality of control devices are coupled to a plurality of output devices and the plurality of output devices are associated with a plurality of systems,
• wherein the first aspect is contamination and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitor the contamination,
• wherein the second aspect is leakage and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitor for leaks,
• wherein the third aspect is pressure and at least two of the plurality of monitoring devices monitor pressure, and
• wherein the operations center is configured to determine whether an amount of contamination detected by the plurality of monitoring devices indicates a problem within the infrastructure, an approximate source location of the contamination, and flow direction of the contamination.