Woodward I.T. SWARM 2.0

Woodward IT is a partner of:

SWARM (Septic Waste and Reticulation Management) is an application designed to register, approve and monitor on-site septic waste systems according to the Septic Safe Handbook produced by the Department of Local Government in New South Wales.

SWARM has been developed with an extremely easy to use interface. You can easily add information about a septic system, register a system, approve a system, record inspections, maintenance or record samples such as water quality, soils or above ground irrigation.

In a sense, SWARM forces some integrity constraints on the data you enter. It's purpose is to ensure that you can accurately record information about septic systems, whilst making it easy to obtain flexible reports.

The Application works on a single PC with Microsoft Access (or even without MS Access installed) or with Microsoft SQLServer. The database can also be configured to be shared among many computers.

For more information and a complete list of all SWARM functionality continue to SWARM Page 2

Quick Navigation

SWARM has been developed with ease of use as its first priority. All of the data entry screens can be accessed from a single click on a picture, which allows the user to rapidly familiarise themselves with navigation of the software.

The SWARM workspace allows the user to have multiple windows open at one time while providing the flexibility of swapping between those windows and maintaining data integrity. All of the searching in SWARM has been made so that only partial values are required.

Account Management

In SWARM, each septic system is addressed as a septic account. The concept of an account allows for a broader range of data entry as opposed to just the system itself.

This allows a septic system to be indentified by an account number, property address, land owner name or plan number.

The account management window is a jump station to smaller parts of information which comprise the account. This allows the user to address smaller manageable pieces of information without being struck by "GUI-Overload".

Septic Systems

At the heart of SWARM is the ability to record details about the septic systems in use. The recording of the specifics of a septic system is just one component of an account.

You can record the following about a septic system:

System type and description
Manufacturer
Capacity
Installation date
Black & grey water separation
Regular maintenance required

Map Window

The Map Window is one of the most powerful components of SWARM because it allows users to have a pictorial overview of the septic systems that you administer.

As well as viewing the spatial locations of septic systems, you can also map water quality sites, soil sample sites and complaint locations. This graphical overview can then be used to analyse potential problems.

The features of the map window are:

Existing GIS data can be used. SWARM displays both ESRI shape files and MapInfo tables.
Standard layer management and map navigation
Septic system locations can be captured and edited easily
Features can be queried directly from selections
The map window can be loaded directly to a septic system
Distance measurement

Property & Environment

As well as recording details about a septic system, you can also record other details about the property where the septic system is located. This allows you to build a case-history for each septic system.

The following is a summary of the information that can be recorded:

Dwelling use: purpose, building use, number of people, bathrooms and bedrooms, WC flush capacity, year of construction
Property area, GIS reference, rates assessment
Lengths and areas of absorption trenches, evapotranspiration areas and irrigation coverage
Water supply to the property and source, flood information
Environmental: soil types, topography, geology, hydrology, vegetation, land activities
Distances to: groundwater, watercourse, intermittent water, environmentally sensitive areas, dwelling, boundary, shellfish growing area

Continue to SWARM Page 2 ->