Russian scientists find method to monitor water pollution in real time

New method of monitoring water pollution detects harmful substances in water without requiring experts to take additional samples .

Scientists from Volgograd State Technical University said the new invention will reduce the response time to wastewater discharge by up to 30% and save on laboratory research costs by up to 20%. The innovation was published in the journal Applied System Innovation, Sputnik reported.

This new method could simplify and speed up the process of water research. (Illustration: Sputnik).

Water pollution is one of the hot environmental topics in today's era. Every day, tons of wastewater containing various toxic substances are discharged into aquatic environments.

According to data from the Russian Federal Statistics Service Rosstat, the content of chlorides and phenols in wastewater is increasing . This shows the urgent need for constant monitoring and development of new methods for water quality control.

From this starting point of awareness, scientists of Volgograd State Technical University have developed a new method that can simplify and speed up the process of water research . The method they proposed determines the presence of harmful substances based on intelligent analysis of the data obtained with the help of special sensor chips. This method does not require constant collection of new samples or additional analysis in the laboratory.

'For laboratory wastewater testing that is carried out infrequently, it is important to be able to identify changes in the composition of the water through indirect signs. Our software product allows to practically identify the discharge of untreated wastewater without additional measurements and tests in the laboratory ,' says Professor Alla Kravets at Volgograd State Technical University.

To control the discharge of wastewater, indicators such as flow rate and maximum allowable concentration of pollutants are used. The method based on artificial intelligence technology will help to determine whether the actual index exceeds the maximum allowable concentration in wastewater from industrial enterprises.

According to the authors, this method can be used in 'smart systems' that monitor water quality. Experts point out that responding quickly and promptly to changes in water composition will minimize possible damage to the ecological environment.

Most of the work in the field of water quality assessment is based on algorithmically labeled data and suffers from many problems in the analysis process such as class imbalance, noise and lack of value indicators. The distinctive feature of the innovative work of scientists of Volgograd State Technical University is the use of real data on the situation of exceeding the maximum allowable concentrations of pollutants, obtained from the results of laboratory analysis.