Honours Project
Name
AQ Adventure
Project
Portable water tester
Date
September 2023 - May 2024
I designed and developed a portable water testing device which can test for water pollution in seas and rivers from dumped sewage and agriculture fertiliser run off. which is a s a serious problem and is occurring on a significant scale throughout the UK. Also linked to the test will be an app where all users can upload their results, letting others know if it is safe or not and creating a national picture of the state of our rivers.
FIRST STEPS
I started this project by researching and experimenting with already existing water testers, mostly chemical kits that test for things like nitrate, bacteria Ph, and fluoride. I discovered that these tests were either too inaccurate or took hours to show results.
I moved on to electronic testing using sensors, which seemed a lot more promising as it was accurate and gave results instantly. The sensor I used was a TDS (total dissolved solids) sensor, which uses conductivity to test the water. A sudden change in PPM (parts per million) in the water means there has been a spill of something such as sewage or chemicals. Although it does test for the parts in the water it cannot yet test what parts they are and if they are harmful or not.
3D MODELING
As this project is targeted at a range of water sports and outdoor activities the design needs to be versatile and appeal to different user's needs and preferences as well as be durable, grippy, lightweight, and of course waterproof.