Tracking a chemical spill or testing a new landfill design normally would require a complex computer program and an expert to run it. But a program called KYSPILL, developed by UK's Sergio Serrano makes the job easier.
KYSPILL makes groundwater pollution analysis a simple procedure. The program allows its' users to simply input basic data, while the program does all the dirty work.
For example, the program could determine whether a chemical spill caused by a truck wreck could contaminate a nearby water source. The program will simulate the progress of the spill over time after information such as chemical concentration, annual rainfall, and temperature and soil composition is entered.
"We are getting a warm response from the environmental community," Serrano said. "It's very nice, very friendly."
Serrano, a UK civil engineering associate professor, worked 10 years to develop KYSPILL. Initially, he used the program to teach his students, but after 1993 he developed it for commercial uses.
Now, as president of HydroScience, he is marketing KYSPILL to businesses and environmental groups.
"I did it because it is what I think I should do," Serrano said, "because of a philosophical sense that I am doing something useful rather than just theoretical."
Serrano offers KYSPILL to non-profit groups for one-third the normal cost. He has sold KYSPILL to organizations in the United States, Germany, Norway and Japan.