Water Quality Sensors—From Transducer Technology to Environmental Application

This article describes the full chain of technical activities from transducer design, method of readout implementation, data transfer, and all the way to environment monitoring pilot study. A silicon-based electrical conductivity (EC) sensor with a radio solution was utilized to study the water quality of the Yser river, Belgium. A voltage-controlled excitation reading out method suitable for four-electrode EC transducers is described and implemented. The measuring electronics were adequately encapsulated and equipped with a proprietary base station for wireless data transfer. Both the transducer and the constructed sensor probe were evaluated in a laboratory to prove the required performance prior to deployment. The small long range wide area networking (LoRaWAN) network of devices was installed for a nearly one-year period at the river bank. A high ratio of successful radio transmission was achieved from the remote site. Sensor probe data from one location show representative high correlation with the reference measurements. The described solutions, and their deployment, provided a prospect for achieving precise, online, surface water quality monitoring systems. The data from the pilot study are expected to bring insight into the dynamics of the water system and influence of the tides and lock management on its water quality.