Environmental Database ManagementThe purpose of an environmental database management system, or EDMS, is to give you a set of fully-integrated high-tech tools that help you conduct the business at hand. An EDMS can be infinitely valuable whether you’re operating a consulting firm, laboratory, government entity or even a private enterprise.

It’s equally useful whether your work involves investigating and remediating soil and/or groundwater contamination or day-to-day management of industrial or waste-related properties. Different environmental database management systems vary somewhat, but you can find a comprehensive range of components that match every aspect of your work.  If you would like to request an EDMS Demo then follow that link.

Key options fall into these categories:

Data gathering and storage

An environmental database management system enables you to collect and house an infinite amount of data in a central location. You can import information from any source, in any format, in real-time. The system automatically captures field data from remote monitoring devices as well as human input.

A central database provides 24/7 access to anyone who needs it, from any office or mobile location with internet access. You can build a legacy library, easily expanding it as you take on new projects. Your EDMS handles any volume of data, making it much easier to manage multiple large or far-flung projects concurrently.

Analysis and planning

An environmental database management system automates your workflow. It can convert units as you enter data, so your metrics always match. That’s faster and more accurate.

And it actively supports your mission-critical analytical processes. You can pose unlimited queries to evaluate potential remediation solutions or other “what if” scenarios, changing the variables as often as necessary and getting nearly immediate results. That’s faster and more accurate, too. You can develop better solutions and eliminate the hassle of working with multiple applications such as Access, Excel, etc.

Beyond facts and figures, your EDMS will generate customized reports for any purpose, from internal analysis and formal recommendations to regulatory reporting to courtroom presentations.

Third-party interface

One of the most useful options is enhanced visualization capability. An EDMS can smoothly interface with specialized programs, exporting data to quickly create multi-dimensional, full-color charts and graphs or site representations, in 2D, 3D, GIS, or other formats to illustrate contouring, surface and/or subsurface details. You can modify graphics quickly, and even instantly see the chemical composition of individual sampling locations.

Better visualizations enable everyone to see and understand the magnitude of any given situation, whether or not they’re an environmental scientist.

An EDMS also interfaces easily with other databases or formats necessary to communicate with laboratories or other partners. It may even be integrated with business management applications for Enterprise Resource Planning, personnel management, etc., helping you make better operational decisions and giving you broader data for both short- and long-term planning.

Compliance

With current data and past reports right at your fingertips, an EDMS makes it easy to comply with regulatory requirements. You can prepare mid-investigation reports and final recommendations, remediation plans and updates, annual inventory or other reporting submittals, permitting applications and renewals, etc. And you don’t have to start from scratch every time.

An EDMS can provide automated scheduling and tracking, to remind you when reports are due.

Facility and business management

An environmental database management system enables you to organize and sort information any way you want. That means you can retrieve and evaluate data using any parameters you need. You have the flexibility to analyze environmental data for site investigation, to develop remediation plans, to record day-to-day monitoring for daily operations or simply ongoing stewardship. You can track your own business performance.

Every one of these options streamlines processes and keeps you focused on the most important details of your work, with vastly improved collaboration and vastly improved results. When you can be more productive, your business can be more profitable. So, really, the features of an environmental database management system aren’t optional at all, are they?