Keeping an eye on water quality
DESPITE current efforts, water pollution remains a major environmental issue in Malaysia and many other developing countries.
In September 2020, a water pollution incident caused water supply to be cut from hundreds of thousands of households in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A month later, water supply was disrupted again due to raw water pollution in Sungai Semenyih.
“A proactive approach is needed to ensure water quality is maintained at the required standards. Currently, the water is monitored and sampled manually or through dedicated stations installed near the river bank, lake or reservoir – which may not fully represent the overall water quality and does not provide real-time information to enable raw water plant operators or relevant authorities to make quick judgements,” said Research Excellence director at Monash University Malaysia, Assoc Prof Poh Phaik Eong.
Surface vehicles can be a potential alternative to monitor the water and provide timely information to prevent possible plant contaminations that would lead to water cuts, affecting the livelihood of many.
“BuoyScout is an autonomous vehicle that can travel on the water’s surface, including rivers, lakes and water reservoirs. It is equipped with a wireless transmitter, GPS and various sensors to navigate the water and monitor water quality. It also has a unique autosampler that can collect water samples and store them for laboratory analysis,” shared Dr Darwin Gouwanda from the School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia.
According to Dr Gouwanda, BuoyScout is an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) with a lightweight autosampler that autonomously collects water samples. It can hold up to 10 samples despite its compact size.
“This is in contrast to the commercial autosamplers, which tend to be bulkier and heavier as they are designed to be used in labs,” he stated.
The existing surface vehicles are expensive, heavy and bulky. They are primarily designed for hydrographic and bathymetric surveying, meteorological monitoring and geophysical exploration.
Therefore, it is not economically viable for poor and developing countries and may not be suitable for water monitoring and sampling of lakes, water reservoirs and rivers.
BuoyScout is a small, lightweight vehicle that can collect and transport water samples for laboratory analysis. It is inexpensive and can be easily stored and transported in a conventional car boot.
It manages the whole sample extraction process. “BuoyScout adopts a multi-hull airboat design that allows it to navigate through shallow waters and waters with a high concentration of vegetation. It can be controlled manually or autonomously. This means that it can be controlled via a wireless controller, or autonomously using GPS coordinates,” Dr Gouwanda remarked.
The use of USV is expected to provide a convenient yet economical method to monitor water quality to ensure it is well maintained, and pollution can be detected early to avoid or minimise water disruption.
For example, it can be deployed periodically once a week or once a month on water reservoirs, lakes or rivers to monitor the water quality and provide the relevant data to the authorities, industries or non-governmental organisations.
Dr Gouwanda, Assoc Prof Poh and Master of Engineering Science (Research) student Lee Khai Hoe have been working on the USV since 2020. The USV was tested in a lake around Klang Valley to test its feasibility. The team won the silver award at the Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX) 2022.
BuoyScout provides an avenue for authorities, industries, and other non-governmental environmental agencies to monitor waterways and water bodies and collect water samples conveniently and effectively.
Other potential industries include agriculture and fisheries, where the water quality may affect the quantity and quality of their yields.