Water Watcher

  • The platform completed in 2019, comprised of 3D printed parts and custom circuit boards, integrates sensors for quantifying turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), and water temperature.
  • The turbidity and TDS measurements are made using signal processing in the frequency domain which allows for more accurate measurements
  • Concomitant GPS measurements allows for geolocation of data in a stream, lake or reservoir.  
  • A on-board cellular modem sends data back to a base station so that water quality is measured in near-real time. 
  • The sensor will be useful for quantifying water quality near storm water outflows and small reservoirs.
  • The first deployment was in the spring of 2020 at the Northeast Swale, City of Saskatoon, Canada, with continued lab testing through 2021. 
  • The system allows for testing of established and new water quality measurement sensors.
  • The design files and source code are provided under permissive licenses to encourage design re-use and innovation.
  • An updated version of the WaterWatcher will be deployed in urban reservoirs to provide an IoT (Internet of Things) network for spatial characterization of water quality data.
  • The development of the sensor was a partnership between the Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan and the Smart Water Systems Laboratory. 

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(a) CAD software rendering of the sensor structure, (b) Initial tank testing, (c) Buoyancy and stability testing

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Deployment at the Aspen Ridge Forebay, Northeast Swale, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2020

 

 

Citations and Further Information