Davis County expands air monitoring with TELUS sensors, launches calibrated countywide map

Davis County Health Department staff described a new countywide air quality monitoring project that combines locally hosted sensors with TELUS analytics to create a cleaned, calibrated heat map of particulate and gaseous pollution.

Jay (environmental health staff) told the board the county purchased and installed a mix of monitors, integrated existing PurpleAir devices and contracted with TELUS to process and model the data. The processed results are presented in a public “AirView” map on the department website so residents and institutions can view localized air quality in near real time.

Randy Olson, deputy director of environmental health, described how the network fills gaps left by a single state monitor and gives officials and residents a view of microclimates across the county. "It presents a heat map where you can see wherever you are within Davis County what the projected air quality is in real time," Olson said during a media clip played for the board.

Staff said the county has placed multiple sensor types: higher‑capability AirU Pro devices (used to collect PM2.5, PM10 and additional pollutant data) and lower‑cost AirU Plus units (PM2.5). The department described installing about two dozen TELUS‑compatible sensors so far and said the program plans to expand the network to roughly 41 sensors when fully deployed. TELUS’s process includes calibrating raw monitor data using environmental factors such as elevation and temperature before modeling and displaying results.

Department staff said monitors are being sited in three categories: locations near the Great Salt Lake and gravel operations to capture larger dust (PM10), monitors along mobile‑source corridors such as I‑15 and Highway 89 to capture NOx and ozone trends, and smaller PM2.5 units distributed through cities and at school locations. Staff noted the project’s usefulness for school recess decisions and targeted local responses to pollution events related to lakebed dust or mobile sources.

Staff said sensor hardware can be purchased by residents directly from TELUS for about $300 and that the county has some deployed units it could host at willing residences or municipal buildings. A Wi‑Fi connection is required for many placements; the county offered to work with school districts and cities to site monitors on public buildings. Board members asked about maintenance; staff said sensors require occasional sensor element replacements and that service arrangements anticipate component replacement every two to five years depending on the sensor type.

The department has publicized the initiative with local media and nonprofit partners, including Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which posted an endorsement of the effort. Staff invited board members and others to host monitors and to access raw and modeled data for individual locations through the county’s portal.

There was no formal board action required; staff said the project will continue to expand and that additional units will be budgeted in coming years.