Techneau

JANUARY 2007

UV-Vis monitoring
station for calculating
“integrated parameters”
Techneau
JANUARY 2007

UV-Vis monitoring
station for calculating
“integrated parameters”

© 2006 TECHNEAU
TECHNEAU is an Integrated Project Funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework
Programme, Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems Thematic Priority Area
(contractnumber 018320). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a database
or retrieval system, or published, in any form or in any way, electronically, mechanically, by print,
photoprint, microfilm or any other means without prior written permission from the publisher
Colofon

Title
UV-Vis monitoring station for calculating “integrated parameters”

Author(s)
dr. Joep van den Broeke

Quality Assurance
By Bart van der Burg

Deliverable number
D 3.2.1.

This report is:

PU = Public
 Summary

Enhancement of source water monitoring capabilities of the well established

s::can UV/Vis spectrometer probe (spectro::lyser™) is the central issue of
s::can activities in work-package WP3.2.2. In the first 12 months the following
developments were made;
Online and real-time access to monitoring stations at remote location
was realised. The data, transferred to and stored on a central server in real
time, can now be accessed over web application. This type of set-up can be
realised with any suitable third party equipment with the new standardised
communication protocols were developed for both the spectrometer probe as
well as the computer terminal. These protocols allow easy and direct
communication between the instruments as well as with third party systems.
In this way the flexibility of the monitoring station was greatly enhanced.
This type of set-up facilitates on-line access to data from remote measuring
stations with the need for expensive infrastructure.
Additionally, one monitoring station (spectrometer probe + computer
terminal) was installed at a location of Vienna Waterworks to gather data on
source water quality and fluctuations therein as well as to gather performance
data on the measuring station. Algorithms for detecting changes in the
UV/Vis spectrum, so called alarm parameters, were tuned for detection of
changes in source water quality.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -1- January 2, 2007
 Contents

Summary 1

Contents 2

1 Development of a new early warning system for drinking water sources

based on integrated UV/Vis spectrometry 3
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 The monitoring station 3
1.2.1.1 State of the art december 2005 4
1.2.1.2 Progress towards objectives 4

TECHNEAU s::can
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 1 Development of a new early warning
system for drinking water sources based
on integrated UV/Vis spectrometry

1.1 Introduction
Performance and reliability of UV/Vis spectroscopy already contributed to
several early warning systems for drinking water protection. The method of
"integrated on-line UV/Vis spectrometry" has opened a new perspective for
detecting changes in water composition and the aim of WP3.2.2 is the
exploitation of this ability of on-line UV/Vis spectrometry for drinking water
source monitoring and protection; Not only can changes in parameters
derived from the spectrum be monitored, UV/Vis spectrometry also offers
the possibility to perform qualitative interpretation of spectral deviations
from the normal source water quality, and recognition of patterns using both
spectral and additional sensor signals.

A system that makes possible this type of monitoring and data interpretation
will be developed. Primary targets in WP3.2.2 are:
- build a monitoring station for calculating "integrated
parameters" based on spectral and additional sensors, for
actuating early-warning tasks and for providing automated
data transfer to one central station
- develop a central station for centralised data storage, handling
and access and for providing remote access to several
monitoring stations.
- research for "integrated parameters" exploiting spectral and
additional sensors signals and providing distinct information
needed for early warning systems of drinking water sources

This report describes the first deliverable of this work package (D3.2.1): a
UV/Vis monitoring station for calculating "integrated parameters".

1.2 The monitoring station

All developments for TECHNEAU with respect to on-line UV/Vis
spectrometry build upon the spectrometer probes (spectro::lyser™) and
terminals developed by s::can before the start of the project. These products
are commercially available and already in use with hundreds of customers
worldwide.

The report will only detail the system selected for the monitoring purposes of
WP3.2 and the additional developments performed under WP3.2.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -3- January 2, 2007
1.2.1.1 State of the art december 2005

For source water monitoring the spectro::lyser™ instrument, which is a fully

submersible UV/Vis spectrophotometer, in combination with a con::stat
industrial computer for operation, control and visualisation of results, was
operated. This system was capable of recording a full UV/Vis spectrum
every 30 seconds, as well as reading and displaying signals from additional
sensors. This system was capable of calculating the parameters turbidity,
TOC, DOC and nitrate concentrations from the UV/Vis spectrum as well as
triggering relays or calling out over a modem in case of transgression of
alarm levels set on these parameters. Also in use was a generic alarm
software that evaluated changes in the spectrum. This was available before
the start of the TECHNEAU project and forms the baseline of the monitoring
station developed in WP3.2

1.2.1.2 Progress towards objectives

WP3.2 focuses on monitoring of sources for drinking water, which often
means monitoring of water courses / springs located in remote locations.
Furthermore, many drinking water utilities rely on multiple sources, and
collection of data from all sensors in a central database is important for
generating an integrated overview of the water quality of the sources.

Development of the envisioned system was approached along two lines:

1) installation of a monitoring system at an end-user to demonstrate

capabilities and identify areas for further development
2) develop remote access capabilities and link to central station for data
collection

1) Installation of monitoring system and results

In April 2006 one complete monitoring system (sensor, terminal, mounting)

was installed at a source of Vienna Waterworks. This monitoring station was
built to the specifications for this application site, and has been running at this
location until November 2006. During this time it collected data that will be
used for the development of parameters for source water monitoring in task
3.2.2.e.

The system installed was of the following configuration:

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -4- January 2, 2007
Figure 1: Configuration of system installed for testing at Vienna Waterworks.

spectro::lyser (ser. no. 00305013) with 100mm measuring path length (for
highest sensitivity), UV/Vis detector, aluminium housing, no automatic
cleaning
con::stat III equipped with GSM modem

The probe was suspended from a long PVC pipe, and the con::stat was
positioned on a stone ledge. No problems were encountered with this very
simple setup, despite high humidity and low temperatures on site. This
demonstrated the robustness of the system and easy of operation.

Figure 2: Pictures of the instruments during the test. Left the spectro::lyser™ and right the
con::stat.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -5- January 2, 2007
During the test period, following data was collected:

- fingerprints
- turbidity
- TOC concentrations
- DOC concentrations
- nitrate concentrations (NO3-N)
- temperature
- alarm parameters reporting changes in the fingerprint

Figure 3: Time series depicting data recorded during test (units of measurement deleted
because of data confidentiality reasons).

Precision for the measured parameters was the following:

turbidity: 0,05 FTU

TOC: 0,005 mg/L
DOC: 0,007 mg/L
NO3-N: 0,003 mg/L
temperature: +/- 0.1 oC

The measured data clearly showed a number of events in water quality. The
system was trained to recognise these events. Furthermore, the alarm
parameters were revised to achieve better monitoring capabilities for this
type of water source. Performance of the new alarm parameters was verified
by a mathematical exercise: the spectrum of toluene was added to the spectra
recorded for the water. This cumulative spectrum was passed through the
alarm filter and the response was checked. Toluene could be detected in this

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -6- January 2, 2007
way down to 0.8 mg/L. With the old alarm parameters sensitivity was
limited to 2 mg/L.

Areas for further development were also identified:

- integration of additional sensors - this is currently possible with the
con::stat terminal but not evaluated under WP3.2. This will be part of
the work in WP3.5 and WA7
- GSM modem was installed for use of remote access to the monitoring
station. The modem connection over GSM is, however, not suited for
continuous reading out of measurement data (too slow and too costly
to transfer large data volumes or to keep open continuous connection).
It is only suited for checking of functionality of the system and
changing of measurement settings. Alternative communication
interface was part of development under WP3.2.2, see next paragraph.

Figure 4: Spectral response to addition of 2 mg/L toluene to the water

2) Develop remote access capabilities and link to central station for data
collection

To achieve the highest flexibility, the first focus was on the development of
standardised communication protocols between s::can equipment and third
party equipment. Before the start of TECHNEAU, all s::can equipment used a
proprietary s::can language, which was not compatible with third party
equipment. The use of a standard protocol allows connection of s::can
equipment to other modules, such as a GPRS modem, and allows easy

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -7- January 2, 2007
integration in other systems, networks etc. The standard language selected
for this type of communication with third party devices, as well as for
communication in between s::can devices, is the MODBUS RTU protocol.

Both the con::stat and the spectro::lyser now can communicate measurement
results via this MODBUS protocol. This allows the following new system
configurations:
1) connection of con::stat to central server over GPRS modem, for
transfer of all parameter data in real-time and availability of all control
options at the measuring site
2) direct connection of spectro::lyser to central station, limiting power
consumption and allowing battery operation. No control of
spectro::lyser is possible in this configuration but measurement result
are available in real-time.

Figure 5: New configurations available with new MODBUS protocol. Left configuration 1, and
right configuration 2.

Using this standard language a commercially available modem could be used

to set-up a continuous connection with the monitoring station using a GPRS
connection, which is more affordable, more reliable and much faster than the
previously existing GSM connection possibility. This allowed a real on-line
access to remote stations without a fixed infrastructure.

This capability was demonstrated by connection this measurement system to

a modem from the company Xeo4 and transferring measurement results, on-
line, to the central server of Xeo4. The data could then be requested and
displayed on-line over the Rilheva web-based application of Xeo4 (see figure
6). This allows selection of the measuring location over a geographical map
and display of the measurement results as values or as graphs.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -8- January 2, 2007
The website is available under www.xeo4.it and can be accessed using:
company: s::can
user: TECHNEAU public
password: techneau

Note: this website was not developed under TECHNEAU but is a

commercial third party product. It is not optimised for the specific
application envisioned in WP3.2.2, but only used to demonstrate
remote access capabilities. An improve website / concept will be
developed in subsequent TECHNEAU activities not covered in this
report.

Figure 6: Selection of monitoring stations from geographical map.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik -9- January 2, 2007
Figure 7: Display of status of the monitorign station and measurement results.

Areas for further development:

- currently only the parameter values calculated from the spectra can be
transferred in real-time. Transfer of the spectra themselves is not
possible with the standard MODBUS protocol. The transfer of spectral
data and development of a (web based) application to evaluate this
information will be part of the further activities under WP3.2.

TECHNEAU s::can
© scan Messtechnik - 10 - January 2, 2007