Real-time monitoring of water quality using smart sensors: Feedback of large pilot lab tests

Abstract

The control of the drinking water quality is a major concern for public health. This control is generally conducted in laboratory, which requires long time. This type of control is not adapted for accidental or malicious pollutions, which can have serious consequences to the population health. Therefore, accurate real-time control of the water quality is required for ensuring a safe water supply. This paper presents results obtained within the European project SmartWater4Europe for the analysis of the capacity of an optical-based device (EventLab, Optiqua) to detect water contamination by chemical substances. Analyses were conducted in a large-scale Pilot Lab, which allows the injection of chemical substances in a water circuit under controlled conditions. Tests conducted with 4 chemical products (cadmium chloride, mercury dichloride, sodium hypochlorite and glyphosate) at different concentrations showed the capacity of EventLab device to detect the injection of concentrations exceeding 5 mg/L.