Remote Monitoring of Surface Water Sources to
Detect & Warn of Contamination
Andy Balogh, Kyle Butler, Mohammad Minhas, Anton Semechko
Abstract --- This paper outlines the application of technology
related to "Remote Asset Monitoring" (RAM), such as "Machine
to Machine communication (M2M), to the problem of designing a
system for monitoring surface water quality and relaying appropriate warnings to the proper authorities when contamination levels have been breached. The system was implemented using
electronic sensors to take continuous readings of contaminant levels in the water to be fed to a microcontroller to process and interpret whether they were acceptable. If not, an appropriate warning
message would be sent through a satellite network which would
then relay the message to necessary base stations through an
internet based website. A milestone of the design was to show that
the system is able to detect abnormal levels of contamination
related to water quality and report an alarm if they exceeded predefined tolerance levels through use of a simulation using a series
of test inputs.
Index Terms -- Machine to Machine Communication,
Remote Asset Monitoring, Sensors, Surface Water Contamination, Surface Water Quality
I. INTRODUCTION
A design was proposed to meet the problem of monitoring
surface water quality with respect to possible contamination
upstream of water supply intakes so that in the event of higher
than acceptable levels being detected; appropriate warnings
would be relayed to the proper authorities.
Major aspects of the design with respect to operation called
for real-time water quality monitoring and fast, reliable delivery of contamination warnings when triggered. With respect to
implementation; the design was to allow for high portability in
deployment, posses its own independent rechargeable power,
and have the capacity to monitor for additional contaminants.
As far as the environment the design was to operate in; it
was assumed that it would be deployed in surface fresh water
sources located upstream of water treatment facilities; either
close by or in remote areas, and would operate on a continuous
basis. In terms of the base station(s) it was assumed they have
existing access to phone and internet services.
Currently existing solutions to the design problem fall under
the category of "Remote asset monitoring" (RAM). whereby
appropriate sensor units monitoring some aspects of the "asset"
communicate gathered information through radio frequency
(RF) transmitters over given distances back to base stations for
analysis, know better as M2M communication. This technology was developed to save on man-hours in traveling to relatively remote locations to perform menial tasks.
The solution taken by our cooperative basically applies the
template of RAM to the situation of surface water quality;
where in this scenario the asset being monitored is a surface
water source.
The approach taken to conceive and eventually complete the
design involved analyzing the major aspects that were
demanded for the solution, using what was learned to create a
conceptual design, compartmentalizing this then into major
component groups, determining the best method to implement
each component, then viewing the overall design and ensuring
all methods chosen were compatible with one another.
A milestone of the design was to demonstrate the ability of
the system to detect levels of contamination related to water
quality that exceeded pre-defined tolerance levels and send a
warning as result, through use of a simulation using a series of
test inputs.
II. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN/METHODOLOGY
A. Overall Design
The conceptual design envisioned from the major criteria &
constraints put forth by the problem involved an array of sensors that would be used to take measurements of different characteristics of the surface water on a continual basis which
would be sent to a digital control device to be processed and
analyzed to determine if a situation warranting a contamination
alert had arisen based on pre-defined tolerance levels, if so a
message appropriate to the situation would be relayed to the
authorities at a base station however far away they were.
B. Major Components
The major components of the design were compartmentalized into application specific groups for analysis and review of
method alternatives.
Sensors had to be picked based on what characteristics to
monitor for, as well as the form of the sensor output (i.e. digital
or analog) to interface with the digital control unit; of which
would be implemented using a PLC controller, microcontroller, or perhaps a dedicated computer terminal.
Alert communication could be done by data cable such as
fiber optic or by RF transmission via short range transceivers
or through satellite. Power supply to the system would depend
mostly on the amount needed for full operation; it could be
provided through renewable energy, long running rechargeable
batteries, or by an efficient combination of the two. General
design considerations as to how the system components would
be arranged with respect to one another would determine the
system orientation. Of course an additional factor as to the
choice of alternative for each major component was the associ-
University of Guelph, Proceedings of the ENGG 3100: Design III projects, 2007
33
ated cost involved, where the intent was to keep things from
getting too expensive.
III. DETAILED DESIGN
After careful consideration of the alternatives available for
the major components the following methods were chosen to
implement each:
A. Sensors:
Measurements relating to depth, turbidity, temperature, conductivity, oxidation reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, pH
and chlorophyll-a fluorescence were chosen as water quality
monitors. Electronic sensors providing digital output by serial
interface were used to take measurements for each.
tery and solar panels would be connected to the components as
shown in figure 2.
The system would be made satellite ready by setting up an
airtime service plan with a satellite service provider as well as
web based access to information, and having the satellite
modem set to dial them up before data transmission.
At this point then the system is ready to run simply by setting the on switch located on the microcontroller.
A future recommendation with respect to the design of the
system would be to use simple long range RF transmitters and
receivers to communicate data where the transmission distance
is known to be less than 40 miles to the base station, for the
reason that this would reduce system complexity as well as be
free of overhead service costs.
B. Digital Control:
To implement this; a standalone microcontroller integrated
chip was obtained. It was programmed to process input from
the sensors, then interpret whether a warning would be output
to the satellite modem. It was configured to posses the proper
serial inputs and outputs to receive data from the sensors and
communicate with the satellite modem respectively.
C. Communication:
Satellite was chosen as the means of transmitting data from
the system to the respective base stations. Equipment including
a satellite modem and satellite antenna were required, as well
as a satellite service provider to facilitate data transmission and
provide services to redirect it to the internet via a dedicated
website set-up to display the information.
D. Power Supply:
To supply power to the system and all its components, a
Nickel Metal Hydrate (NiMH) rechargeable battery in conjunction with solar energy generation panels were chosen.
Figure 1: Diagram of overall system design and intended orientation.
IV. DISCUSSION
Figure 2: Electrical circuit schematic of system
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The final overall design is as shown in figure 1; the sensors
and its connecting base would be placed at the waterbed of the
surface water site. The microcontroller, NiMH battery, solar
panels, satellite modem and antenna would be placed a few
meters in from the shore. The sensors would be connected to
the microcontroller via RS-232 serial interface cables running
along the waterbed and up to the shore. Likewise the microcontroller would be connected to the satellite modem using an
RS-232 serial cable. The satellite modem would be connected
to the antenna using the proper RF connector. The NiMH batUniversity of Guelph, Proceedings of the ENGG 3100: Design III projects, 2007
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