Water Quality Sensor
water-quality-sensor

Developed during the Water Hackathon on March 23-25 in New York City, the water quality sensor is a multipurpose tool for collecting data remotely. This tool is rapidly changing and is being used as part of the on going research initiative called [DontFlush.me](https://web.archive.org/web/20160111004345/dontflush.me) (archived). This tool consists of an Arduino microcontroller, a set of water quality sensors, and a network connection module. As currently developed this tool uses a GSM based cellular module to send data via SMS. For this design a custom arduino shield was created. This shield allows the arduino to be powered by a 3.7v lithium ion battery. The shield includes a 3.3v to 5v setup circuit based on the Adafruit Mintyboost. Currently there are two versions of the shield. Both versions use the waterproof digital temperature sensor from Adafruit. The shields differ in the electrical conductivity probe they are designed to use. Electrical conductivity (EC) is basically a measure of water's purity. The more pure the water the less conductive. When pollutants enter water it usually causes an increase in EC. Lots of details about EC are available from the EPA site. The first probe is DIY. It was created using designs published in the book Environmental Monitoring with Arduino. This probe uses readily available parts from most Radio Shack stores. More details about this probe will hopefully be posted with permission from the book's author. The second type of electrical conductivity sensor is much more expensive but is lab quality. Its available from Atlas Scientific. Here is the shield designed for the Atlas Scientific probe. Connected between the battery and the Arduino is a solar charging circuit. And also use for [quality control systems](http://www.aquar-system.com/). This is connected to a 2w 6v solar panel. Both of these are available from Adafruit. The data from this sensor is uploaded to Pachube using a GPRS shield from Seeedstudio. The initial prototype was using a TCP/IP connection, which requires a SIM card with a data plan, but the Arduino code is poorly optimized for long durations. The second prototype is sending SMS messages directly to Pachube's beta SMS gateway. Here is the sensor all wired up in a pelican case with the solar panel on the top. ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
EdMallon "Like a great Hollywood franchise I finally released the prequel to that "Configuring I2C Sensors" post from a few months ago: Adding Sensors to an..." | 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
EdMallon "I've been working on an overhaul of the code base for our data loggers and in the process I standardized some of that spagetti code into a simple s..." | Read more » about 7 years ago
rockets "@Madtinker Can you find the code like below? You may change the setting here to make the RTC in your loc time. " | Read more » about 7 years ago
MadTinker "@shanlter I've gotten everything connected and the initial tests are good. " | Read more » about 7 years ago
shanlter "@MadTinker, I just take a look of the Colorado River Watch training, it looks very interesting and I want to learn how Colorado people monitor the ..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@shanlter No worries, things will work out fine. I won't be at the Barnraising, I'm already committed to attending a training class for Colorado Ri..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
shanlter "Hi @MadTinker, I feel very sorry for RTC (also for the cable, and many other things...) When I make this guideline, DFRobot did't have the RTC I'm ..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@rockets Well.... a lot of possibilities for lessons learned. The good news is that between binges of travel, I spent a bit of time getting (somewh..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
rockets "@Madtinker how about your project? Anything we can help? " | Read more » over 7 years ago
liz "Thanks @Rockets ! " | Read more » over 7 years ago
rockets "Everbody we have checked the github, we found that the github code have some problem, then we fix it. So now maybe you can use it now. " | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@rockets Got the cables today. Thanks! " | Read more » over 7 years ago
rockets "@Madtinker I have send a mail to you, let me know the order no. so that I can put the cable to you. " | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@rockets Have you had a chance to check on the cables for the isolation boards? I very (very!) much appreciated the loan of the two boards, but wit..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@rockets Yeah, I was going too fast and assumed that the parts list was good. I still need to order the ORP SEN0165. If you can tell me the SKUs fo..." | Read more » over 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
rockets "@MadTinker obviously you order a wrong one, you should order sen0169, I will help you to solve it. Don't worry. " | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@shanlter @rocket Unfortunately, I was/am in a time crunch and just followed the parts list put together by @shanlter without cross checking it wit..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@shanlter Awesome, Thanks for both! " | Read more » over 7 years ago
shanlter "@MadTinker, I uploaded a pdf to github. There are 2 drawings, one is the mounting plate which should be printed by a laser cutting machine. It's no..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@shanlter Would you mind posting a PDF version of your DWG layout that you have on GitHub? For some reason, none of my code can read the file. Tha..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
MadTinker "@rockets Yes! that is exactly what I was concerned about. I'm too new at this to figure out what's an intelligent Uno question. I think a fundament..." | Read more » over 7 years ago
rockets "hi @madtinker, I know what you worry about it. I will say that the power bank is oK, since the main board is arduino uno. The power input will be 2..." | Read more » over 7 years ago