A system for monitoring water quality in a large aquatic area using wireless sensor network technology

In this paper, a low cost, real-time water quality monitoring system which can be applied in remote rivers, lakes, coastal areas and other water bodies is presented. The main hardware of the system consists of off-the-shelf electrochemical sensors, a microcontroller, a wireless communication system and the customized buoy. It detects water temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH in a pre-programmed time interval. The developed prototype disseminates the gathered information in graphical and tabular formats through a customized web-based portal and preregistered mobile phones to better serve relevant end-users. To check the system effectivity, the buoy’s stability in harsh environmental conditions, system energy consumption, data transmission efficiency and web-based display of information were carefully evaluated. The experimental results prove that the system has great prospect and can be practically used for environmental monitoring by providing stakeholders with relevant and timely information for sound decision making.