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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ramarro | "@shanlter using 2 arduino (or 20) doesn't change anything, unless you use galvanically isulated ac/dc converter. if you power them from the same s..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| shanlter | "@ramarro totally agree! When I first use their sensors, I also have the same problem. I asked them and was told to use several Arduino boards for e..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| ramarro | "@shanlter did you have the opportunities to talk with dfrobot team? i have purchased a ph shield from them, and after some experiment i noticed th..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| shanlter | "@MadTinker, according to my knowledge, the reason why to use "isolation" is to avoid interrupting between sensors. Both OPR and EC need isolation. ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| shanlter | "Hi @MadTinker, thanks for your question! I just saw your questions around dataloggers for pH! I think DFRobots' isolation module is not online yet ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| MadTinker | "This is great! I'm starting an effort that will involve the parallel build of a simple in situ data logger (e.g. Riffle or maybe Cave Pearl) and a ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| EdMallon | "I really appreciate the encouragement guys. But I need at least a month before I could do anything about it. We've already turning away other offer..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "For starters, we would be very interested in cross posting your last post on our blog -- i think even if there's more you'd like to add to it, many..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "I strongly echo everything Chris said - and honestly, we'd really love to give your work more exposure -- I wonder if even simply posting a lot of ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| EdMallon | "Aside form the research goals, I've always wanted to create something that everyone could make on their own. And don't worry about the soldering - ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| cfastie | "Ed, The new Mini Terminal Logger is brilliant. Those Nano terminal shields are a great find. They not only reduce the number of solder joints requ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| EdMallon | "Hi Warren, I think that would be a good idea for the screw-terminal logger, as it's a generic, and would provide people with lots of flexibility to..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "@warren awards a barnstar to EdMallon for their awesome contribution! " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, Ed - thanks so much, I always love your updates. We'd love to feature your work more prominently -- would you be interested in posting this upd..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| EdMallon | "While breadboard loggers are quick, the connections tend to be a bit too fragile for serious testing. So I've come up with a configuration based on..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "@xose - awesome. And even "having some troubles" is ok to post -- if we break out the issues perhaps there are folks who can chime in with solution..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| xose | "Wooow!! Great @warren! I'm having some troubles with the orange pi by now. This week we'll lift up a raspberry 2 with both a drone and a ballon. Le..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "@xose - i've tagged it as an activity, but if other related (next steps) activities were added, and a Q+A section, this could be the first post on ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| shanlter | "Thanks @liz and @Bronwen, if you are going to order the parts from DFRobot, let me know. The isolation module been used hasn't been online yet (but..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| shanlter | "Thanks for saying so @xose! Compared with Riffle or Mae d'aigua, this one is much simpler, we use Arduino board, haven't do many field test yet, et..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| xose | "@bronwen, @liz, am I wrong or this could be considered as "method"? It's own particularities made the KnowFlow a different one than Coqui, Riffle o..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| Bronwen | "@Bronwen awards a barnstar to shanlter for their awesome contribution! " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| Bronwen | "Absolutely, @liz ! This is a really exciting (and well documented!) research note. Thanks for sharing, @shanlter ! " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| liz | "Thank you for these well-written and elegantly photographed instructions! I found this note very inviting and i can't wait to order the parts and m..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago |