Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Distributed Fiber-optic Turbidity Sensor Network
EPA Grant Number: SU840152Title: Distributed Fiber-optic Turbidity Sensor Network
Investigators: Wu, Tingting , Duan, Lingze , Savoir, Gabrielle , Rakinul, Nabil Md , Sheppard, Sarah
Institution: The University of Alabama in Huntsville
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: December 1, 2020 through November 30, 2021 (Extended to November 30, 2022)
Project Amount: $25,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources
Objective:
This project aims to develop a low-cost, distributed turbidity sensor network that utilizes glass optical fibers as both the light-transmission medium and the sensor probes for real-time water quality monitoring in Drinking Water Distribution Systems (DWDS). The innovative technological approaches undertaken in this project will enable a true distributed sensor network with low cost, contributing to safe drinking water supply to the public. Water is critical to sustainability in the 21st century. While much research effort has been devoted to improve the treatment efficiency and to develop novel purification technologies, maintaining high-quality water supply goes beyond treatment. Water distribution network is an important component of the municipal water system. However, water quality deterioration may occur in DWDS due to reactions within the bulk water or interactions between the pipe wall and the water, which can only be exacerbated by the aging infrastructures in the U.S. Moreover, intended or unintended contamination in DWDS also poses threats to public health. Therefore, real-time information of the water quality in DWDS is a necessary prerequisite for operational response or critical decisions to safeguard our drinking water supply.
In this project, the research team utilizes the compactness and low optical loss of glass fibers and develops a novel sensor network with distributed fiber probes and a centralized interrogation-detection-data processing system for real-time water quality monitoring in DWDS. During phase I of this project, we focus on two objectives: (1) Development of a glass fiber based optical system with high sensitivity and low detection limit for drinking water turbidity measurement (2) Performance evaluation of the glass fiber based optical system under drinking water relevant conditions.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Findings obtained from this project have demonstrated proof-of-concept that glass-fiber sensors can be effective tools for drinking-water turbidity monitoring. In particular, the outputs include:
- Design and assembly of a glass-fiber turbidity measurement unit in the lab
- Methods to overcome the low signal level challenge associated with glass optical fibers
- Correlation between the sensor output voltage and the sample turbidity
- Comprehensive evaluation of the novel turbidity sensor in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, repeatability, stability, and detection limits as well as effects of influencing factors including temperature and flow velocity
- Demonstration of the performance in environmental matrices
The outcomes of this project include:
- A first and successful attempt to design and develop a glass optical fiber-based water turbidity sensor
- Groundwork for future development of sensor network with a hub-spoke architecture for real-time turbidity monitoring in Drinking Water Distribution Systems (DWDS), and multi-parametric fiber-optic sensors that may be applied in water quality monitoring
- A sensor platform that may be transferred to other industrial applications
- Potential to help alleviate concerns and potential societal financial burdens associated with the aging water infrastructures in the U.S.
Conclusions:
The results obtained from Phase I of this project have demonstrated proof-of-concept that glass-fiber sensors can be effective tools for drinking-water turbidity monitoring, which has laid solid groundwork for the development of a glass-fiber-based real-time turbidity-sensing network. Future research should focus on mitigating the effects of water flow on the reliability and consistency of remote turbidity measurement and evaluating the long-term performance under realistic conditions.
Supplemental Keywords:
drinking water; monitoring; remote sensing; turbidityProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.