Open-source mobile water quality testing platform

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This project details an open source water testing platform derived from the open-source colorimeter, which is made from open source electronics and 3-D printable components. This is part of a larger project to reduce the cost of scientific equipment using open-source hardware. ^[1][2]

Source

Bas Wijnen, G. C. Anzalone and Joshua M. Pearce, Open-source mobile water quality testing platform. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 4(3) pp. 532–537 (2014). doi:10.2166/washdev.2014.137 open access

ABSTRACT

The developing world remains plagued by lack of access to safe drinking water. Although many low-cost methods have been developed to treat contaminated water, low-cost methods for water-quality testing are necessary to determine if these appropriate technologies are needed, effective, and reliable. This paper provides a methodology for the design, development, and technical validation of a low-cost, open-source (OS) water testing platform. A case study is presented where the platform is developed to provide both the colorimetry for biochemical oxygen demand/chemical oxygen demand and nephelometry to measure turbidity using method ISO 7027. This approach resulted in equipment that is as accurate, but costs between 7.5 and 15 times less than current commercially available tools. It is concluded that OS hardware development is a promising solution for the equipment necessary to perform water quality measurements in both developed and developing regions.

Keywords

BOD; COD; nephelometry; open-source hardware; turbidity; water testing

Design

• Design files:

• Firmware:

The device’s firmware: https://github.com/mtu-most/colorimeter

BOM

Source Files

For the most up to date - see the github page.

For 3D printing use :

• File:Colorimeter v02.stl
• File:Board-clip.stl
• File:Adafruit-lcd.stl

For editing use:

• File:Board clip.scad
• File:Colorimeter v02.scad
• File:Cuvette holder.stl
• File:IV tracer box.scad

For any libraries - again go to github.

Instructions

Applications

• COD^W
• BOD^W
• nephelometry^W, turbidity^W
• Decreasing turbidity to optimize solar water disinfection^[3]

See also

• Open-source colorimeter
• Open-source Lab
• Open source optics
• Building research equipment with free, open-source hardware
• Open source science
• Open source 3-D printing of OSAT
• Open-source hardware

In the News

• Open-Source Water Quality Tester - Hackaday
• Open Source Water Testing Platform is 3D Printed - Make Magazine
• 3D Printed Water Quality Testing Device Offers Affordability and Portability to Test Potability - 3D Print
• Open source 3D printed water quality tester- 3Ders
• Solar Water Disinfection - The Water Network
• 3D列印的開放原始碼水質測試平臺 - Make Taiwan

References