Super fast water monitoring technique

(new version) - A new technique that allows continuous monitoring of water quality in accordance with many pollutants.

A new technology using existing technology has allowed researchers and natural resource managers to collect the necessary information about water quality. This new technique promises better information-based policy decisions.

At the same time, this technique will allow researchers to develop more complex models to solve water quality evaluation problems. For example, researchers can use new techniques to determine the extent to which fertilizer pollution flows, contributing to how water pollution in a particular area is and the role of the region. What is the wetland in minimizing the impact of that flow?

"Currently, the lack of adequate water quality data or data that is not updated regularly can make us look incorrectly about what is happening - and making decisions. based on inaccurate data is very dangerous , 'said Dr. François Birgand, an assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of North Carolina, who is also the co-author of an article. Describing this study, François Birgand said, their approach will help natural resource managers and researchers get more detailed data more often, giving a panoramic view and giving allow them to make informed decisions.

In addition to the utility of this technique for natural resource managers, the technique will also allow researchers to develop more complex models to answer water quality questions.

The researchers used the existing technology called "UV-Vis" spectroscopy , which measures the wavelength of light absorbed by water to collect water quality data. These devices can help researchers collect data every 15 seconds and for a long time. This will provide more frequent data than water sampling and sample analysis in laboratories using conventional techniques. However, the disadvantages of these devices are that they are only designed to measure a small number of water quality parameters, including nitrate, dissolved organic carbon and turbidity - or clarity of water.

But the research team at the University of North Carolina has developed a new technique that uses a set of algorithms to significantly expand the information that can be extracted from spectral data obtained by UV-Vis device mentioned above. Specifically, new techniques allow researchers to get more information about organic nitrogen, phosphate, total phosphorus and salinity of water.

Data on this water quality can provide important insights, including understanding of nutrient pollution.

The researchers tested this new technique in a tidal recovering saline swamp of this swamp up and down, changing the water level by about 70cm - and a salinity could change from being freshwater. to the point of becoming saltwater within minutes when the tide changes.

"We found that our automated results using this technique were comparable to the results we obtained by analyzing water samples in the lab , " Birgand said. "So by using this technique, we have increased the monitoring frequency without losing accuracy."