This collaborative project between ClearWater Sensors Ltd (CWS) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) addresses a global, and well publicised UK crisis in water quality. It will develop a new sensor that measures both ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) in water, which are markers of untreated sewage. They are nutrients used in natural processes, but ammonia is toxic at elevated concentrations. A newly enforced regulation, Section 82 of the environment act UK 2021, requires continuous real-time monitoring of NH3/4 upstream and downstream of all the UK's ~30000 outfalls and sewage works. Measurement is also needed in Aquaculture (particularly in recirculating / tank systems due to toxicity) as well as wider Utilities, Regulator and Scientific markets.
To address this opportunity, we propose the first ever sensor using a new chemical technique (assay) which will enable world leading (ten times improvement) performance and longevity whilst reducing reagent toxicity and sensor energy consumption. This will enable widespread use of sensors in regulation and management of water quality for the first time. The sensor hardware will be an adaptation (new optics and fluidic layout) of the lab on chip (LOC) technology developed since 2004, by the NOC / the University of Southampton and commercialised under license by CWS. This LOC technology is a world-leading microfluidic platform for in situ (submersible) chemical sensors that can be deployed remotely, including on autonomous vehicles in hostile environments. Sensors for pH, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate and iron are products offered by CWS, and other sensors are in development. LOC sensors have been successfully deployed over 200 times, are extremely robust (e.g. depth rated to 6000m) and offer world leading metrology performance.
We will iteratively test the new sensors in market relevant environments and feedback results to our stakeholders and into our R&D.
Assuring good water quality is vital for the health of our rivers, lakes and oceans, and is also important in regulating a range of industrial processes (including drinking water supply). At the moment, collecting data about important parameters such as nutrients (e.g. nitrate and phosphate) and dissolved metals (e.g. iron) is difficult and expensive. This is because it relies on the manual collection of individual water samples that are sent back to the laboratory for analysis.
This project advances a range of miniature chemical analysers that are able to perform this task automatically. They can be submerged in rivers, in lakes, or at the at the bottom of the ocean, collecting high-frequency data about the chemistry of the water. In many cases the data can be sent wirelessly back to the user for real-time information.
Compared to other sensors that are already commercially available, these miniaturised analysers provide data quality that is as good as (or in some cases better than) data collected via manual sampling and laboratory analysis. The analysers use microfluidics and lab-on-chip technology, meaning they use miniaturised versions of the high-quality wet-chemical analysis methods used in the laboratory, meanwhile consuming very low volume of reagents, sample, and power. This makes them suitable for long term (several months to one year) deployment. These analysers provide data that can be better trusted with very little human intervention, and are not subject to the same kind of sensor drift and interferences that plague many existing sensors.
The miniature analysers were developed for ocean science applications via 10 years of R&D at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. This project will allow necessary engineering steps to turn the miniature analysers from research tools into commercial products. Once commercialised, the technology will be available worldwide for many industrial and environmental applications.
This project overcomes the final hurdle in turning this technology from a research tool into a globally-accessible viable product. The true impact of this technology will finally be realised, as it is turned into a range of market-leading tools available to water quality mangers, regulators, water companies, and industry worldwide
At the end of this project, the technology will have been turned into a product suitable for both ocean science and new larger markets, adapted so that it can be produced in a cost-effective manner, and validated via a series of demonstration deployments in new markets.
Assuring good water quality is vital for the health of our rivers, lakes and oceans, and is also important in regulating a range of industrial processes (including drinking water supply). At the moment, collecting data about important parameters such as nutrients (e.g. nitrate and phosphate) and dissolved metals (e.g. iron) is difficult and expensive. This is because it relies on the manual collection of individual water samples that are sent back to the laboratory for analysis.
This project advances a range of miniature chemical analysers that are able to perform this task automatically. They can be submerged in rivers, in lakes, or at the at the bottom of the ocean, collecting high-frequency data about the chemistry of the water. In many cases the data can be sent wirelessly back to the user for real-time information.
Compared to other sensors that are already commercially available, these miniaturised analysers provide data quality that is as good as (or in some cases better than) data collected via manual sampling and laboratory analysis. The analysers use microfluidics and lab-on-chip technology, meaning they use miniaturised versions of the high-quality wet-chemical analysis methods used in the laboratory, meanwhile consuming very low volume of reagents, sample, and power. This makes them suitable for long term (several months to one year) deployment. These analysers provide data that can be better trusted with very little human intervention, and are not subject to the same kind of sensor drift and interferences that plague many existing sensors.
The miniature analysers were developed for ocean science applications via 10 years of R&D at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. This project will allow necessary engineering steps to turn the miniature analysers from research tools into commercial products. Once commercialised, the technology will be available worldwide for many industrial and environmental applications.
This project overcomes the final hurdle in turning this technology from a research tool into a globally-accessible viable product. The true impact of this technology will finally be realised, as it is turned into a range of market-leading tools available to water quality mangers, regulators, water companies, and industry worldwide
At the end of this project, the technology will have been turned into a product suitable for both ocean science and new larger markets, adapted so that it can be produced in a cost-effective manner, and validated via a series of demonstration deployments in new markets.