It's been raining for eight days straight with no let up in sight. The water treatment plant, 15 miles across town, is just one of the potential problems you're watching. If there's a spill it could be an hour or more before someone makes the rounds and reports it. That would be a very costly hour.

There are gauges and monitors to measure water levels, check for compliance on environmental issues and respond to spillage and other hazards. But how do you know the event is taking place if you're on the road checking another site? How fast can your team respond?