Assess Turbidity in Water
activity:turbidity

As explained [in @donblair's primer](/notes/donblair/08-25-2015/turbidity-001), measuring turbidity means "measuring the amount of suspended solids in water -- solids that haven't fully dissolved". That is, "turbidity, an optical technique for assessing suspended solids in liquid -- is an important water quality parameter. Typically, light is shone into a liquid sample, and the amount of light scattered back out of the sample (off of particles suspended in it) is measured; the intensity of this scattered light is considered to be related to the amount of suspended solids in the sample." ([reference](/wiki/turbidity_sensing)) _image credit: https://castlebrookestreamstudy.weebly.com/_ This page needs help! * Info about regulations * Info about ecological or human health impacts * Advocacy leverage points * Constraints we're working within: cost, complexity, sensitivity, time There are a LOT of resources available on these pages by @donblair and others: * https://publiclab.org/notes/donblair/08-25-2015/turbidity-001 * https://publiclab.org/wiki/turbidity_sensing **** ## Questions [questions:turbidity] **** ## Sensors Here's a list of different turbidity sensors and measurement systems. See below for some Do-It-Yourself approaches to measuring turbidity, and [this page](https://publiclab.org/wiki/turbidity_sensing) for more information on how turbidity sensors works. * Kelley et al., An Affordable Open Source Turbidimeter http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/14/4/7142/pdf * Hackteria.org, Turbiduino: http://hackteria.org/wiki/DIY_turbidity_meters * Lambrou et al., A Nephelometric Turbidity System for Monitoring Residential Drinking Water Quality: http://www2.ucy.ac.cy/~faniseng/publications/SENSAPPEAL09.pdf - Fondriest review: http://www.fondriest.com/environmental-measurements/equipment/measuring-water-quality/turbidity-sensors-meters-and-methods/ - Hach overview: http://www.hach.com/asset-get.download-en.jsa?code=61798 (see [Water sensors](https://publiclab.org/wiki/water-sensors) for more, and [click here to add to this table](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UwjRqU8kHTwEcnDdO2Zxkr8zkFkaGfyePJ-cdnxJzw0/edit#gid=28737041)) **** ## Activities Activities for people to test methods (these develop over time) [activities:turbidity] **** ## Existing work [notes:turbidity] ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
jhondue123456 "https://www.google.com/ " | Read more » 8 months ago
MadTinker "Just a quick update on the status of this project. Willow Creek is going through a couple of serious events. First, the stretch of the stream where..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
hpprinter1995 "Nice And Informative Website. Please Keep Continue Such Kind Of Effort. Contact Us And Get On-Site HP Printer Support & HP Scanner Support. Our..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
pdhixenbaugh "I'm also looking to measure Conductivity, and I have a Riffle. So you have any advice for what sensor to buy, with the memory constraints and other..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
DrJohnBarrett "I have more sophisticated instruments for water quality testing, if needed.. " | Read more » over 6 years ago
Paquicamus "I have done many calibrations to correlate Conductivity vs TDS. One thing that I have found out it will only work for one Creek, river or any surfa..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
stevie "Also, we split up the kit before the workshop. We had the students divide into groups and rotate through the testing, so everyone was able to get h..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
stevie "Here's the page we put together to make a worksheet for students. It's from the materials in the book, but since we were doing this with 10 or so s..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
stevie "I posted a question this morning about how to choose between different methods for monitoring turbidity. Does anyone on this thread have some insig..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
programmer1200 "I'm doing great, school (zoology was harder than I thought lol ) been keeping my busy but I have not forgotten my projects, still working on perfec..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Hi, @programmer1200 -- how are you doing? Any updates about your project? Hope you're well! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
Vendy "Thanks to you man! " | Read more » almost 7 years ago
gretchengehrke "@programmer1200, This is great! I agree with Chris and Holger that light scattering at a 90-degree angle is the standard approach for turbidity, an..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
programmer1200 "Totally understand where your coming from , its very possible im having some loss because of that, to account for the possible over bright light so..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
Holger "If I got it right, your photometer is measuring amount of light traveling through a solution or suspension. The loss of signal could be due to abso..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
programmer1200 "Thanks That's a lot of good information, now for hands on river work that design works pretty well , I was more working toward collect and then tes..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
cfastie "There is also lots of good information in this research note by Don about some testing he did. " | Read more » almost 7 years ago
cfastie "There has been a lot of information about measuring turbidity posted at Public Lab. Don Blair posted an excellent review of the common approaches t..." | Read more » almost 7 years ago
xose "So cool! Thanks @programmer1200!! " | Read more » almost 7 years ago
xose "@xose awards a barnstar to programmer1200 for their awesome contribution! " | Read more » almost 7 years ago
donblair "Hi @gretchengehrke! Sorry for the much-delayed reply :) and thanks for the comment. I, too, liked this approach -- basically, using the differenc..." | Read more » about 7 years ago
gretchengehrke "@donblair, I was just reading this again, and am again impressed by your elegantly simple approach -- such a great idea! It seems like this alterna..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
gretchengehrke "@bhikman, that integrated optical filter is neat, and surprisingly inexpensive! If you do pick this back up, I am super interested in seeing how we..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
bhickman "Hi @gretchengehrke. I kinda let this project fall though the cracks. I did have the sensor working pretty well, the only issue was interference fro..." | Read more » over 7 years ago