Low Cost Water Quality Monitoring by Radio Telemetry

Abstract

A radio telemetry water quality monitoring system has been designed and constructed at the Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL). The system consists of a central base station at the laboratory and remote field stations located in the river to be studied. The remote field stations operate in the stand-by mode until interrogated from the central base station. Each station is capable of monitoring dissolved oxygen (D. O.), hydrogen ion concentration (pH), electrical conductivity, and temperature. Other variables could be monitored by using appropriate sensors. The prime features that characterize the UWRL system are low cost and relatively small size. These are both realized through the use of printed circuit boards and integrated circuit amplifiers. The remote station is small enough to be portable and can be installed either permanently or temporarily at almost any river location with a minimum of effort. Such a system, costing about $3,000 per field site, will make feasible the monitoring of water quality at points which previously were uneconomical to investigate.