Development of low-cost continuous electronic water quality sensors

Starting with the boat-lab project in 2016, a platform of sensors that monitor water quality has been under development by CCS. Currently, this project has been continued in cooperation with st Paul's university who want to monitor the water quality at the fish and fresh water shrimp ponds on their farm. The goal of the project is to develop low-cost sensors that can measure various variables important for marine and fresh water quality. These sensors will be combined into a single platform that records the values and sends them to a central server where they can be part of a monitoring application and possibly a decision support system.

Useful links:

• Public Lab Collaborative Water Sensors List
• The Hackteria Open Source Biological Art, DIY Biology, Generic Laboratory Infrastructure wiki

Water Quality Parameters

The following parameters are under investigation:

pH

• Atlas Scientific pH Sensor kit ($149.95)
• Vernier pH sensor ($78.95) (only available in US)

Dissolved Oxygen

• Atlas Scientific Dissolved Oxygen kit ($275)

Nitrates

Phosphates

Turbidity

• DIY turbidity meters using spectroscopy

Electro-conductivity

• DIY Arduino EC sensor ($3)
• Atlas Scientific Electrical Conductivity Kit ($199.95)
• Vernier Conductivity Probe ($122)

Water Temperature

• Waterproof 1-wire temperature sensor ($9.95)

Ambient Temperature

• BME 280 humidity/temperature/air pressure/altitude sensor ($29.95)

Barometric Air Pressure

• BME 280 humidity/temperature/air pressure/altitude sensor ($29.95)

Humidity

• BME 280 humidity/temperature/air pressure/altitude sensor ($29.95)

Materials Budget

Power Supply

Power Consumption