Submitting incomplete DMRs wastes time and creates compliance issues. Discovering missing data after submission means resubmissions, explanations to regulators, and extra work. NetDMR data view in Operator10 is a pre-submission checklist—a single screen showing all DMR parameters with calculated summaries, so you verify data completeness before generating NetDMR files.
Why create a DMR-specific data view?
Standard data views include all location parameters: lab data, process control readings, chemical feeds, SCADA values—hundreds of parameters. Finding DMR parameters among all that noise is tedious. NetDMR data view isolates only the 10-20 parameters you report monthly: effluent flow, BOD, TSS, pH, ammonia, fecal coliform, etc. Open this view at month-end, and you see only what matters for DMR submission. Missing data jumps out immediately instead of hiding among unrelated parameters.
How to create a NetDMR data view
Go to View > Data View > New. Name it “DMR Data” or “NetDMR Check.” Add location parameters that appear on your DMR: Effluent Flow, Effluent BOD, Effluent TSS, Effluent pH, Effluent Ammonia, Effluent Fecal Coliform, Influent Flow, Influent BOD—whatever your permit requires. Arrange them in the same order as your NetDMR report for easy cross-referencing. Set the display range to Full Month so you see all data for the month. Save the data view.
Add summaries that match DMR requirements
DMRs typically report monthly averages, daily maximums, and daily minimums (for pH). Configure your NetDMR data view summaries to match. For each parameter, enable summary calculations: Average for monthly average reporting, Maximum for daily max reporting, Minimum for pH low reporting. Position summaries at the bottom of the data view. Now when you open the view, you see daily values in the grid and calculated summaries at the bottom—exactly what the DMR requires.
Open the data view before generating DMR
On the last day of the month (or first few days of the next month before your DMR deadline), open the NetDMR data view. Set the date range to the reporting month. Review the data grid: are there blank cells where data should be? Did the lab forget to enter Friday’s TSS result? Did the operator skip pH readings for the weekend? Blank cells in critical parameters mean incomplete DMRs. Fix missing data before proceeding.
Verify summaries match expectations
Check summary values at the bottom of the NetDMR data view. Does the monthly average BOD look reasonable given daily values? If daily BOD ranged 10-15 mg/L but the average shows 50 mg/L, something’s wrong—maybe a typo (150 entered instead of 15). Does the daily max match the highest value you see in the grid? If not, investigate. Summaries should align with your intuition from daily operations. Anomalies require investigation before submission.
Compare to permit limits
Your NetDMR data view shows calculated values. Compare them to your permit limits mentally or add conditional formatting (if Operator10 supports) to highlight values approaching limits. Monthly average BOD limit: 30 mg/L. Calculated average: 28 mg/L. You’re compliant but close—worth noting in operator logs for process adjustments. Daily max TSS limit: 45 mg/L. Calculated max: 52 mg/L. Exceedance detected—requires explanation, corrective action, and flagging on the DMR.
Use for quarterly or annual parameters
If your permit requires quarterly toxicity tests or annual metals scans, include those parameters in the NetDMR data view even though they’re blank most months. When it’s a reporting month (March for Q1 toxicity, December for annual metals), those parameters populate with data. The data view reminds you they exist and prompts you to check if they were sampled and entered. Without this reminder, it’s easy to forget low-frequency parameters until after the DMR deadline.
Catch data entry errors
Typos happen: 0.5 entered as 5.0, decimal points misplaced, units confused (mg/L vs µg/L). The NetDMR data viewwith summaries helps catch these. If one pH reading shows 70 instead of 7.0, the daily max summary shows 70, which is obviously wrong. If ammonia spikes to 50 mg/L one day but is normally 2 mg/L, the max summary shows 50, prompting investigation. Summaries amplify outliers, making errors visible.
Train staff to use the data view
Make checking the NetDMR data view a standard procedure in your DMR submission workflow. Document it: “Before generating monthly DMR, open DMR Data view, verify all data present, check summaries are reasonable, confirm no blanks in required parameters.” Train operators and lab staff to use this view as their quality control step. Over time, they’ll internalize what “good” data looks like and catch issues before they reach regulators.
Save time on DMR day
Without a NetDMR data view, DMR preparation means opening the full database, scrolling through hundreds of parameters, checking each DMR parameter individually, manually calculating or trusting summaries you haven’t verified. This takes 30-60 minutes. With a NetDMR data view, open one screen, scan 10-20 parameters and summaries in 5 minutes, verify completeness, and proceed to report generation. The data view is a force multiplier for DMR efficiency.
Update the view when permits change
When your facility receives a permit modification adding or removing parameters, update the NetDMR data view to match. Add new parameters, remove obsolete ones. Keep the data view synchronized with your active permit and NetDMR report. This ensures your pre-submission checklist always reflects current reporting requirements.
Why this step prevents submission failures
Most DMR submission problems stem from incomplete or erroneous data, not software failures. NetDMR data view is your quality gate—catching issues before they become compliance problems. A five-minute data review beats a multi-day resubmission process every time.
Next Steps: Streamline DMR preparation with Operator10 data views →
