Geo-spatially Web-interfaced Telemetric Monitoring System to Track Contaminant Transport

Analyzing contaminant loading from individual storm runoff events is expensive and often insufficient for realistic catchment-modelling predictions. We developed a near real-time telemetric monitoring system that measures base and storm flow and contaminant transport on a campus waterway. The monitoring system was implemented using a mesh network of radio transmitters linked to environmental sensors. This costeffective system is equipped with in-stream sensors for monitoring discharge, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity. A coupled weather station provides complementary data including rainfall intensity, duration, droplet size, temperature, and other climatic parameters. Data are relayed through the wireless network and logged onto an online computer, which is interfaced to Google maps on a dedicated web portal. An automatic sampler can also be added to the system to provide programmed sampling to track event driven contamination. Continuous water quality and discharge monitoring is helping to refine our modelling predictions of contaminant loading to urban waterways and is being extended to trigger an alert system when significant contaminant transport occurs. Supplementary metal analysis of baseflow water and in-stream sediments is revealing insight into contaminant transport and fate in a unique hydro-ecosystem that is actually dependent on contaminated water for flow.