Hi all…technology is improving rapidly and real-time water quality monitoring is getting closer to being available, reliable, and affordable. A paper entitled “In-stream detection of waterborne priority pollutants, and applications in drinking water contaminant warning systems” summarizes the current status of online water monitoring and contaminant warning systems. Included is a bar chart (Fig 8) which provides an assessment (scores) of capability, reliability, and O&M requirements for existing physicochemical in-pipe sensors for the most common online quality parameters (13 listed).

Table 10 lists in-pipe physical and chemical parameters with currently available technologies for their measurement (17 in total). They include general parameters (pressure, temperature, pH, ORP, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, chlorine [free, total], chloramines; general optical parameters (turbidity, color, UV254, spectral TOC/DOC, UV spectral alarms); and spectral parameters for special purposes (NH4[chloraminating systems], NO2 [chloraminating systems], NO3 [groundwater under agricultural influence], and hydrocarbon alarms). The authors caution though that some of the technologies mentioned, although promising, are not at commercial or at the online, standalone application stage.

Bill

In-stream detection of waterborne priority pollutants, and applications in drinking water contaminant warning systems

Andrea G. Capodaglio

Water Science and Technology: Water Supply May 2017; Vol. 17, No. 3, p. 707-725. http://ws.iwaponline.com/content/17/3?etoc andhttp://ws.iwaponline.com/content/17/3/707

ABSTRACT

“Advancements in real-time water monitoring technologies permit rapid detection of in-stream, in-pipe water quality, and alert of threats from waste loads. Legislation mandating the establishment of water resources monitoring, presence of hazardous contaminants in effluents, and perception of the vulnerability of the water distribution system to attacks, have spurred technical and economic interest. Alternatively to traditional analyzers, chemosensors operate according to physical principles, without sample collection (online), and are capable of supplying parameter values continuously and in real-time. This review paper contains a comprehensive survey of existing and expected online monitoring technologies for measurement/detection of pollutants in water. The state-of-the-art in online water monitoring and contaminant warning systems is presented. Application examples are reported. Monitoring costs will become a lesser part of a water utility budget due to the fact that automation and technological simplification will abate human cost factors, and reduce the complexity of laboratory procedures.”