According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection there are more than 50,000 miles of rivers and streams, 7,800 lakes, and 4,000 square miles of estuaries in the state of Florida. Keeping tabs on the quality of all of that water is a huge task, and one that can only currently be done using fixed monitoring stations, or by physically collecting water samples and then testing them in a lab.
Researchers at University of Florida are hoping to add another tool to the water quality sampling toolbox: a free-floating buoy dubbed ‘GatorByte” that collects data and transmits it in real time using a cellular signal. The initial focus is on urban streams to determine the critical points where water quality is changing so it can then be determined why it’s changing — to essentially map out the water quality through a system.
In preliminary experiments, the buoy helped scientists monitor four basic indicators of water quality: temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity. In the future, they plan to incorporate sensors for other things that impact water quality, such as nitrate, ammonia and turbidity.
We get an update on the project from Eban Bean, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering at University of Florida.