Remote, automated nitrate and nitrate water quality monitoring

The development of reliable, low-cost environmental sensors is essential for effective management of our valuable water resources.

Traditional water analysis involves manual collection of sample, transport and subsequent analysis in a laboratory. We are working with emerging microfluidic technologies that facilitate miniaturisation of colourimetric analytical methods on portable sensing devices, as well as functionalised microelectrode arrays to build effective real-time monitoring networks.

With the advantage of realtime nitrate monitoring, especially in a situation where discharge concents are in place, treatment processes could be amended in the fly to accommodate high nitrate fluxes in order to ensure the nitrate levels remain withing consent limits, for example, in waste water treatment technologies.