SENTRY & C.E.C. Innovations Help Municipal Water Utility Improve Influent Monitoring & Identify Problematic Industrial Discharge Sources

Phil Streets
11 hours ago
3 min read

Combining the industry’s first real-time wastewater event monitoring with smarter sampling & analysis allows Town of Cobourg’s Water Pollution Control Plant #1 to proactively manage influent variability, protect biological treatment systems, ensure compliance & fine-tune their pretreatment programs

P.E.I., Canada (Sept 25, 2025) – Today, real-time wastewater quality monitoring pioneer, SENTRY Water Monitoring and Control (SENTRY^TM), and C.E.C. Innovations (C.E.C.), announced that they have successfully combined their unique sensing, sampling, and rapid analysis technologies.

Building on the Town of Cobourg’s successful installation of a SENTRY real-time wastewater quality monitoring system at the headworks of their treatment plant, SENTRY recently turned to C.E.C. to integrate its event-based auto sampler to improve on the Town’s traditional sampling and remove the guesswork tied to disruptive events. This additional “sample when it counts” approach combined with C.E.C.’s proprietary analytical methods trained on a database of tens of thousands of unique wastewater samples allowed the Town for the first time to define exactly which compounds were present and responsible for each upset event and what was the specific industrial source of each one.

“The combined SENTRY-C.E.C. solution has greatly reduced excessive sampling efforts for our wastewater personnel. We are now able to have a sample collected immediately when the plant is hit with an industrial discharge identified by the SENTRY probe. This has transformed how our facility monitors and responds to industrial discharge events. Based on C.E.C.’s innovative compound-based analysis it has allowed us to not only identify the industrial source, but it has identified industrial dischargers that were not even on our radar,” explained Town of Cobourg’s Environmental Compliance Officer, Jennifer Leno. “In the past being proactive regarding Industrial discharges was very labour intensive and time consuming but now with the real-time monitoring and detection by the SENTRY sensor combined with the sample-related data, we can easily and confidently continue to provide consistent treatment plant performance and upstream regulatory compliance.”

Added SENTRY Founder and CEO, Patrick Kiely, “In August of 2022 we installed our initial wastewater sensor providing the Town of Cobourg with its first ever real-time insights into their wastewater quality and event detection. Extending the functionality of our sensor system through our partnership with C.E.C. means we can now help municipalities enhance their pretreatment programs. We can now combine low maintenance, reliable wastewater quality monitoring with smart sample collection and the most powerful analytical characterization of the wastewater. This puts the power back in the hands of the wastewater treatment professionals. They now have the data they need not just to know when problem wastewater is arriving to the plant, but they can also tell what specific industries are contributing to these problems. Smart wastewater quality monitoring is here!”

"At C.E.C., we believe that every meaningful water management decision starts with the right sample. By pairing our event-based auto-sampling technology and proprietary analytical methods with SENTRY’s real-time monitoring, we’ve shown that municipalities don’t just have to react to problems - they can anticipate them, pinpoint their sources, and respond with precision,” said Dr. Paul Westlund, CEO & Founder of C.E.C. “This collaboration with the Town of Cobourg demonstrates the power of a single high-quality sample to unlock actionable insights, strengthen pretreatment programs, and protect both infrastructure and community well-being."

For treatment plants wanting a data-rich, evidence-based strategy when it comes to improving influent monitoring and identifying problematic industrial dischargers, the combined SENTRY sensor and C.E.C. sampler solution is now available through SENTRY. It will also be highlighted at booth #7655 at WEFTEC in Chicago running September 29^th through October 1^st in Chicago.

About SENTRY Water Monitoring & Control (SENTRY)

SENTRY has developed the first and only real-time biological activity and water quality monitoring platform that provides minute-by-minute snapshots of the quality and treatability of wastewater at locations never possible before. From variable, untreated wastewater influent at a treatment plant’s headworks to biomass health changes in anaerobic digesters (AD), the company’s robust biofilm-based sensors provide early-on, always-on insights into biological processes that exist wherever water is used, stored, or treated. This means SENTRY’s municipal, industrial, and standalone AD customers around the world now have the data they need – when they need it - to optimize treatment and improve outcomes. For more information, please visit www.sentrywatertech.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.

About C.E.C. Innovations C.E.C. Innovations (C.E.C.) adopts a holistic perspective on water and wastewater management offering a range of services stemming from a single high-quality sample. From its patented water sampling technologies to its customized analytical methods and rapid testing platform, C.E.C. has redefined water sampling and analysis, opening possibilities for accessing and utilizing water data for stronger, healthier communities. To C.E.C., water is more than a resource and the Company’s “One Health Through Water” commitment lies in understanding the profound impact of a single drop of water and the interdependence of water quality with the well-being of people, nature, and animals. For more information, visit www.cecinnovations.com.