6 Water/Wastewater
the failure of a waterbody to meet water quality guidelines, may face fines and have to contribute to clean-up costs.
The researchers are now developing a tool for setting ecosystem- specific water quality guidelines. This will only be achieved through high-resolution monitoring of particulate matter in natural or reference-condition rivers, in a range of environments/climates, including the colder climates of the Arctic.
The Arctic research project will be supported by state-of-the-art monitoring equipment provided by Aquaread Ltd, an award- winning designer and manufacturer of water quality monitoring equipment. The team will be using Aquaread’s AP-2000 multi- parameter water quality testing probe, which will be installed
in-situ within the water column of each river. The Aquaprobe will be recording turbidity (a surrogate measure of particulate matter), dissolved oxygen, pH, total dissolved solids, and temperature on a 15 minute resolution. The data will be logged with Aquaread’s Aqualogger that will be installed streamside with thermal insulation to protect the electronic device from the extreme Arctic climate where mean annual temperatures at the sites are around just 2°C and winter temperatures can get as low as -30°C. Each reference site will be monitored continuously for at least one year to capture temporal variations in water quality. The Aquaprobe and Aqualogger will connected by cables that will be fixed in place and protected from Arctic wildlife such as bears and reindeer.
Dr Bilotta was asked how Aquaread’s water testing equipment was best suited for the research project “Aquaread’s equipment has proven to be rugged and reliable in the range of environments that we have used them within for our previous research and teaching. The design of the Aqualoggers and Aquaprobes also allow us to be flexible in terms of our installation for in-situ monitoring, which is really important given the contrasting nature of our rivers”.
To find out more about the research see: Developing environment-specific water quality guidelines for suspended particulate matter, Water Research Volume 46 Issue 7 May 2012.
You can also follow Dr Bilotta on Twitter @GaryBilotta.
Wastewater Engineers Go With The Flow
The efficiency of maintenance work has been improved by water treatment engineers employing Intellisonde monitors in their final effluent. Designed primarily to measure water quality, the Intellisondes also measure flow, and this reading is being used to detect the accumulation of debris that necessitates a maintenance visit.
Wastewater treatment efficiency is often measured by the analysis of treated water which is continually extracted from the final effluent or treated sewage effluent, and passed through a flow-cell containing the sensors. The readings from these sensors demonstrate that wastewater treatment has been effective and that the treated water is suitable for discharge or in some cases re-use in irrigation, landscaping or industrial applications. In order to prevent accumulation of debris in the flow-cell and to protect analytical equipment from suspended materials such as sediment and algae, it is common practice for this sample stream to pass through an inline filter/strainer. However, these filters can become blocked and this has a detrimental effect on the quality of monitoring; a blocked strainer can result in failure to detect a problem with the wastewater, so it is vital that regular maintenance ensures that blockages are minimised.
Unfortunately, the accumulation of debris is unpredictable and so routine maintenance cannot guarantee a free-flowing filter, so maintenance visits are inevitably more frequent than necessary, which represents an unnecessary cost.
The Intellisonde FE (Final Effluent) monitor provides continuous, long term, accurate monitoring of Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP, Ammonium, Turbidity and Temperature. The monitor’s sensors are solid state and require no recalibration once they have settled following installation. Furthermore, no membranes or chemicals are required and no maintenance is necessary until the sensor head is quickly and easily serviced; usually after 6 months. As a result, operational costs are considerably lower than alternatives that employ chemical/colorimetric analysis. Importantly, in order to provide access to live data, and for the Intellisonde to be able to issue an alarm, a built-in GPRS modem provides access to the monitoring data.
In addition to the parameters mentioned above, the Intellisonde FE also incorporates a flow sensor and an accumulation of debris in the strainer would result in a lowering of flow rate which would be detected by the flow sensor. For unmanned sites the real-time monitoring of flow provides information to service engineers allowing them to prioritise/schedule their visits.
Explaining how the flow alarm is put into practice, Intellitect Water’s (UK) Jo Cooper says: “Ideally, the flow rate should not be allowed to drop below 0.1m/s, so we recommend that the alarm should be set at 0.2m/s or slightly above, to provide time to arrange a maintenance visit.
“Our customers have found that this system works very well; improving the reliability of monitoring whilst avoiding needless maintenance visits and thereby saving costs. “The flow sensor was initially designed into Intellisondes to meet the needs of users in clean water network management, so it is very pleasing that this feature has proved to be so useful in a different application.”
For More Info, email:
26537pr@reply-direct.com A Sludge Milestone Reached
Pulsar Process Measurement (UK) are best known for their non-contacting ultrasonic range of products, but as Sales Director Keith Flint is keen to point out, "At heart, Pulsar is a company of acoustic engineers, and the algorithms and analysis tools that we have developed over the last fifteen years or so are now being applied across quite a wide family of products".
A case in point is Pulsar’s Sludge Finder 2, their well-established and popular Sludge Interface Monitor. Sludge Finder uses a self-cleaning transducer to bounce a sonar signal from the interface layers throughout sludge settlement plant, intelligently analysing the signal to provide a profile of the sludge levels, including RAS and FLOC measurement from a single transducer.
Keith Flint made the point: "There is no mystery to why Sludge Finder 2 has become so widely used, it’s simply because it works so reliably".
Proof of Sludge Finder’s success has been the framework agreements written in the product’s favour, and international sales across the globe. This month has seen a significant milestone, with an order placed for the 750th Sludge Finder, a real indication of how well trusted Sludge Finder has become.
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Bangkok Municipality Trusts in Austrian Measurement Technology
Sommer (Austria) provides Bangkok with the radar discharge sensor RQ-30 to monitor the discharge and water level of main rivers and canals flowing into the city.
Sommer is a family owned company with long experience in developing and producing high quality sensors for meteorological and hydrological application. Besides snow monitoring sensors and automatic weather stations, Sommer’s core competence is discharge measurement of rivers, canals or streams.
Due to the geographical location and the monsoon season beginning end of July, Bangkok is threatened by floodings every year. Besides the Chao Phraya river a complex system of canals crosses through Bangkok. Exact information about the water level and the discharge of these rivers and canals is essential for an optimised water control.
The Sommer RQ-30 is a unique radar sensor which measures contact free the water level and the velocity of the river in real time. The sensor automatically calculates the discharge based on a complex hydraulic model. The main advantage of the sensor is that it is installed outside the water. Therefore, it is maintenance free and gives reliable results especially during high flow condition.
For More Info, email:
IET September / October 2013
www.envirotech-online.com email:
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