Wireless sensing for water purification process monitoring

We have developed a novel wireless sensor network configured based on the Teco uPart wireless platform to monitor a common water purification process based on Fenton reaction. The purification process involves the oxidization of contaminants in water and can be monitored using spectrophotometric methods. The reaction conditions such as temperature, light level, contaminant concentration, concentration of reagent and catalyst can all be monitored using specific sensors. A star network configuration was used such that all sensors returned information directly to the basestation which was linked to a PC. The data were then collected, stored and then analysed. The network system is composed of two parts: (1) hardware and (2) software. The hardware consists of a pump, a fluidic chamber and sensor motes to monitor the colour change in the liquid in the channel housing chamber and in the bulk solution. Other motes are used to monitor the ambient conditions such as light level and temperature. The java-based software allows for real-time monitoring via a simple web interface. An experiment was carried out which demonstrate the efficacy of using wireless sensing for monitoring water processing plant.