Real-time Monitoring of Water Quality in Lake Nakuru Using Telemetry

Abstract

Water quality monitoring in water bodies is necessary to determine the instantaneous and temporal variations of major pollutants and key water quality parameters. Such monitoring leads to informed decision making and timely interventions using appropriate mitigation measures. In this work, a low power, low range communication technology for wide area networks (LORAWAN) was applied with sensor nodes to collect real-time water quality data on Lake Nakuru waters. The network consisted of wireless sensors, a communication network and data visualization with cloud storage. The sensors were connected to the sensor node deployed on a floating buoy on the lake and was powered by a solar panel. The sensors captured environmental parameters such as temperature, electric conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. The sensor node transmitted the data to a gateway over the long range at a very low-data-rate with low power consumption. Cloud server applications, Things network together with Things speak, were employed to receive, present and store measured data. The implementation of the wireless sensor technology has enabled long-term data collection at scales and resolutions that are difficult to obtain manually. In addition, the sensor’s real-time connection with its immediate physical environment provides localized and updated measurements that are hard to obtain through traditional methods of data collection. Further, this wireless sensing system can be used in telemedicine applications.