Multiparameter Water Quality Monitoring System for Continuous Monitoring of Fresh Waters

TL;DR

This paper introduces an economical, wireless, multiparameter water quality monitoring system capable of continuous, real-time data collection for fresh waters, including a novel spectrophotometer and coliform detection, to enable early pollution warnings.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, low-cost, wireless multiparameter water monitoring system with integrated spectrophotometry and coliform detection, suitable for long-term, real-time freshwater quality assessment.

Findings

System is low power and submersible for long-term use

Includes a novel heuristic to mitigate water impurity effects on coliform detection

Capable of early pollution warning through real-time data transmission

Abstract

Due to the global water crisis there is a strong need for real-time water quality monitoring with high temporal and spatial resolution. This paper presents an economical multiparameter water quality monitoring system for continuous monitoring of fresh waters. It is based on a sensor node that integrates turbidity, temperature, and conductivity sensors, a miniature eighteen-channel spectrophotometer, and a sensor for the detection of thermotolerant coliforms, which is a major novelty of the system. Due to the influence of water impurities on the measurement of thermotolerant coliforms, a heuristic method has been developed to mitigate this effect. Moreover, the sensor is low power and with an integrated Long Range Wide Area Network module, it comprises a system that is wireless sensor network ready and can send data to a dedicated server. In addition, the system is submersible, capable of long-term field operation, and significantly cheaper in comparison to existing solutions. The purpose of the system is to give early warning of incidental pollution situations, thus enabling authorities to take action regarding further prevention of such occasions.